January-Getting Organized

Is anyone else constantly trying to get organized?  I didn’t make any resolutions this year, but I always find myself on a quest to get organized in January/February.  I’ve gone through a few systems for getting organized over the year and I don’t know that any one particular system words better (or worse) for me.  Most I have abandoned by the middle of the summer.

Last year, I tried switching to an online calendar-I am on a mac and was trying to coordinate my calendar between my computer and my iPhone.   For some reason, it kept pulling up my yahoo and Facebook contacts and birthdays.  Even if I hid them-it would still come up.  I would add things to my phone but then they disappeared.  I think these were all user errors.  My first experience with a computer was with a Commodore 64-I think I am pretty good with technology but there are certain things that I just can’t seem to get myself to learn.  For instance, I can do some HTML coding, but I can’t figure out how to turn on the Xbox my brother gave me three years ago.  I can set up an online meeting through my TV and google hangouts but I can’t figure out how to turn off our TV without accidentally shutting off the cable and ruining our DVR scheduled recordings.  I can tape a screencast for orientation videos-but I can’t use my phone’s calendar.  I am a mystery.

This year, I am back to paper.  It’s a busy year because I forgot how to say “no” and ended up volunteering to serve on a 2 year religious education committee as well as becoming a policy council member for our state association.  And I accidentally agreed to be the committee chairperson for something called Family Fun night at my son’s school.  I didn’t know what it was exactly-it turns out it is one of the bigger fundraisers for the school each year and it involves coordinating a silent auction, a huge game room, prizes, refreshments and some kind of fundraising jail.  Whoops.  So I really need to have a reliable organization system that works for me.

I have a four part system.

In box:   

I have successfully trained my husband to associate putting my mail in my in box with a loving back massage.  Now all of the paper that comes into my house ends up in one place where I can sort through bills etc when I am able.  This is an older picture-but I have found some better spots for my paint with water books.  

 

 

 

To Do List: 

I am using an app called Wunderlist to track my To Do lists.  I have this on my phone, work computer and home computer.   I have separate lists for groceries, phone calls, work to do items, volunteer items, home items, blog ideas and TPT ideas.  One of the great features of this app is that I can click on a To Do list and add sub category tasks, notes or set due dates or alarms to make sure I am getting my work done on time.  It’s great for capturing ideas that I have when I am on the go as well.

 

 

Fancy Calendar:

I’ve seen a lot of bloggers praise Erin Condren’s planners.  I finally decided to order one-and so far I really like it.  It is smaller which makes it easier to bring with me-but not so small that I can’t write what i need to in it.  I like that it is bright and fun.  I purchased the photo stickers so I can stay on top of birthdays and customized label stickers so that I can stay on top of all the meetings that I need.  It was definitely an indulgence but so far it working well for me.  I included a link above to Erin’s site which takes you to my referral link for planners.  

Blog & TPT organizer & Calendar

I needed to get better at tracking my blog posts as well as where I am marketing them.  This last year I have started more subscription based services and wanted to make sure that I was tracking the renewal dates (some of them get really expensive after one year).  So I created my own blog organizational system.  One of the things that I am really excited about is a new system for tracking the clip art that I have purchased.  I definitely forget what I have and end up buying additional clip art.  Can anyone really have too much clip art?  

I have been looking for a binding system and decided to go with the Levenger Circa system after reading some reviews.  Instead of the coil binding, this uses plastic discs.  It’s pretty easy to change papers too.  The discs and covers are more expensive than I realized though-it is a great product for ease of use and I like the style-but it is not cheaper than a three ring binder system.  

My Blogging Calendar and TPT/Blog Organizer are on sale at my TPT store if you are looking for something to keep you organized.  If you have an idea for another tracking/organizational sheet-I am happy to create one and add to the binder as well.

 

How about you? Are you trying to get organized for 2015? What tools do you use? I’d love to hear about it below!