It doesn’t take joining a mailing list or reading one of the countless self-help books to know that you’re not alone in the struggle to get (and stay) organized. For starters, if it was that simple for everyone, there’d be no need for professional organizers and I doubt the Container Store would be nearly as successful.

For someone like me, it’s actually not difficult to GET organized. It’s the staying part that’s always been a problem.

Back when I was in college full time and managing the household expenses quite nicely with my late husband’s survivor’s benefits, it was easy to stay on top of things. I was in class when the boys were in school and there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for them to do damage in my absence. Flylady was awesome and I was singing her praises to everyone I knew.

It was a very different story once I graduated and started working full time again.  Two 15-year-old boys can create a large mess in the space of three hours. Add to that their penchant for magically disappearing and it didn’t take long for me to feel resentful.  Flylady’s ideas, quite frankly, started pissing me off. I felt that they were very unrealistic where working moms were considered and even more so when it came to single parents. One can only do everything for so long before one blows her top.

The key to any system of staying organized is keeping it as simple as possible. Unfortunately, for people like me, keeping it simple frequently translates into spelling everything out so thoroughly that it doesn’t require thought. If you’re spelling it all out, you’re adding more work without even realizing it. A lot of people have jumped on the Getting Things Done bandwagon, trying to integrate into their home lives. I read the book and was overwhelmed with the idea of having to think about Next Actions. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad system. It’s just a bad system for me.

I’ve seen discussions on paper vs. electronic organizers. Which one is more effective? The answer is neither, if you don’t use them. Paper planners need to be opened up and electronic organizers need to be turned on. I’ve spent money on both and watched them do nothing but gather dust.

So, how does one do it and stay with it? Hell, if I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t need to blog about it. Part of the key is understanding how your own mind and body works. For example, I know that I’m not exactly a morning person, but I would much get up earlier to do chores just to get them out of the way. So, if I can’t vacuum the living room because The Boyfriend is sleeping on the couch, it will throw off everything else I’d planned to do and consequently, little (if anything) gets done. And yes, I can hear some of you saying, “I’d just run it anyway,” and yes, theoretically that’s my mentality as well - WHEN I’m on top of my game. But when I’m trying to get there? Any justification to not do something will do.

I also know that when I’m PMSing, I am more motivated to clean. Is this related to the nesting that pregnant women do? Am I the only one who does this?

So, I’m in search of a simple system and the patience to stick with it. I know that I can establish good habits. I do the same things in the same order every morning when I get ready for work. It’s not impossible. But there is a difference. When I brush my teeth, no one else in the house is unbrushing them right behind me. The obstacles created by family members don’t exist beyond someone getting into the bathroom when I’m in the midst of getting ready (and believe me - there is hell to pay when THAT happens).

The system also has to be flexible enough to accommodate a changing schedule. My hours and days off both change according to an academic schedule. It’s not vastly different, but again, for someone like me, even a slight deviation from “normal” can throw off an entire routine.  Throw in a cold like the one I have now, and the best laid plans go right out the window.  It’s really quite depressing at times.

Since the whole point of launching Disorderly Conduct was to blog about (mis)adventures in overcoming these obstacles, I think it’s about time I took a step in the right direction, don’t you?  Stay tuned for more…

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