As Organised as You Need to Be

Are you a naturally organised person?Me? No. Definitely not.I have always been a last-minute-finisher kind of person. And it's really only been since the kids were born that I've started to realise the benefits of being organised.But there's a danger lurking in that organisation.An insidious, spontaneity-sucking, stress-inducing, shadowy devil. And it's name - The Joy Vampire. (And here ends that particular metaphor.)If you over-do the organising, if you schedule the bejeesus out of your days, weeks, months, school terms, you risk losing one of the biggest joys in life - spontaneity.The feeling that grabs you on a Sunday morning, saying, "Let's blow off the chores and go to the beach".The feeling that leads you and your daughter to fling paint with wild abandon.The feeling that says its not only OK, but encouraged, for you to call your friend and organise a coffee/chocolate morning tea in say, oh, ten minutes time.So my tip (as passed on to me by one of my sisters):

Only be as organised as you need to be.

For you, that may mean a to-do list, a daily routine and a weekend each month strictly for chores. Or it may mean knowing what's for dinner by 5:00PM each afternoon. It looks different to everyone, and there's no point in comparing.For me, it means:

• a list (in my head) of things I LIKE to get done in the mornings. But if these things don't happen, I'm learning to accept it and not let it spoil my day.
• a general list of tasks to do each day (EG Monday is change linen, sweep and vacuum floors, laundry)
• trying to avoid having housework to do on the weekends, so that those days are ours as a family
• most importantly though, it means understanding that its no tragedy if these things don't always happen. Do it when you can, so that when you can't, the house won't fall into complete disarray.

It sounds like a simple thing to do, doesn't it? And the tricky part is that what this looks like will change, depending on where you are in your life.If you have little kids, it may be helpful for you to be more organised than someone with older children, or someone who lives alone, or with a partner or housemate. Regardless, it only has to work for you and your family, so what this looks like to anyone else should barely matter.That being said, I'm quite nosy and would love to know if you have a system that keeps you on track of your home organisation? Or do you wing it and do what needs doing at the time? Or are you quite strict with your schedule? A mix of all three?Share your sage advice, folks. I'm always picking up juicy tidbits of wisdom from you!