By Karen Berg
Have you ever met the Uber Organized Mom who seemingly has it all together? Of course you have! And we all know the Totally Disorganized Overwhelmed Mom. In fact, you may be one of these types of moms. But most of us are somewhere in between. We really have our stuff together on some things, while other things keep getting pushed to that back burner where they eventually take up permanent residence.
So what’s the answer? Well, let’s start with some simple suggestions that
might help out a bit. First and foremost: USE LISTS!!! (And no, it
doesn’t count if you make lists and never look at them! You actually have
to USE them.)
1. First, make a list of EVERYTHING that needs to get done, from the huge to the mundane. Then prioritize. What belongs on the "I MUST do or my world will come crashing down" list? What items need to get done, but in no huge hurry? And which ones are in the "Wow, one day I dream of being able to do that but the odds are slim because I know myself too well" category?
2. Once you prioritize your list, begin setting small and realistic
goals. For example, tell yourself that you will work 15 minutes every day
on the A list, and maybe 30 minutes per week on the B list. And you still
want to see some C list things get done, so maybe 15 minutes per week for
them. When you break it down like that, it actually seems manageable,
doesn’t it?
3. Set your larger, or longer-term goals. Perhaps you could pick out two things on your A list and have a goal of completing them within a month. Or two months. Whatever makes sense for you.
4. And lastly, reward yourself when you finish a goal. Even if it’s one of the small goals. We do this with our kids, don’t we? Why not do it for ourselves? Maybe you’ll let yourself get that latte after meeting all your time goals during a particular week.
One area where I was really disorganized was keeping all the information
about my kids in one place. For me, for my husband, for my nanny, even for
the teenager down the street who babysat every so often. Every time I left
my twins with somebody else (and yes, that includes my husband), I would
write notes upon notes. I found a friend, Melissa, was having the same
problem, so she came up with the idea of making a binder for it all. In
fact, her idea was so great, we designed a workbook and went into business
together.
By The Book: Caring For My Kids was born! We got so much input from other moms, that we are convinced we’ve covered everything. Who fills out the book? An expert on your kids, that’s who. YOU!!! We have outlined all the information you’d want somebody else to know, including information you hope they’ll never have to use. From your kids’ likes and dislikes, allergies, to acceptable punishment techniques,
all the way to emergency instructions and contacts.
So really, why did we come up with this? Well, honestly, it wasn’t only to
become more organized for our children’s sake, and it wasn’t only about
saving time whenever we needed to leave our kids with somebody else. We
wrote By The Book so we could actually go out to dinner with our husbands
and be relaxed that the sitter had all the information she might need. We
wrote it so we could possibly go shopping or (gasp!) get a massage without
the worry of "What did I forget to tell the sitter?" So I guess you could
say that we wrote By The Book for peace of mind for ourselves and for every
mom out there who deserves to have some quality time alone!
So start working on your To Do List and visit our website and get that massage. Why? Because you deserve it!
About the author
I live in St. Louis, Missouri with my husband, 8 year old twin boys,
dog, cat and fish (how’s that for a food chain?). Until recently, I have
worked outside the home in sales positions, but now I work full time on my
new business and spend much more time with my family. And love it! Who
knew that getting "downsized" could be so much fun? 
My book is available
at www.bythebookkids.com and my blog is
http://macaroniandchickenfingers.blogspot.com.
