Lunches, what your wearing, washing put on the night before. Life seems to run so much more smoother prepping everything the night before and always thinking ahead. Another helpful tip is aiming to be places ten minutes earlier, I’m hardly ever late, it’s awesome.
Know when you will be exhausted and plan around it. I’m always at my best in the mornings and tend to be bloody exhausted by the time the clock hits 4 pm. I plan to have all my housework, errands, appointments and that nights dinner prepped in the mornings so that if I need to have a rest I can before I pick my son up from daycare. It also allows me to have more free time in the arvo to play him.
The days my son is home we have a routine that’s similar to a day at daycare and every arvo I try have him fed and bathed by 6pm so that it let’s my night be over quicker as well. I like to clean up after dinner so that the next day is easier. It’s a hell of a lot quicker and easier if I am left to deal with my son especially when he’s completely lossing it. I won’t stand back when my child is cutting sick and let someone else try do my job, if anything it makes things much harder for me.
Before I hang the clothes out I go to all the bedrooms and collect all the empty clothes hangers. I hang all our shirts, singlets, dresses etc so that they dry quicker and I can put them straight away saving time and energy and cutting my folding down by half.
I find writing lists helps a heap with remembering things like what you need to buy from the grocery store and what jobs have to be done. I’ve got an organisation board in the kitchen which is a cork board I pin all my appointment cards and letters to. There’s a calendar on there as well where I write all my appointments on. I walk past the board numerous times a day so if I do miss an appointment it didn’t make it on to the board. I also have a diary that I write everything in. I take it with me everywhere I go as I prefer to write things down so it burns into my brain.
Because of my disabilities, I have an NDIS plan and because I need much less support than what I used to I get my house spring cleaned once a year, all the jobs I can’t do with my impairments get done. It’s a great feeling when your house is clean. My house is always relatively clean therefore I live a much more organised life because you can always find everything.
My husband bought me a thermomix a few months back and it has changed my life! With one functioning arm, dinners are so much quicker & easier giving me more time to sort everything else out. Not to mention it can do almost bloody everything! Sorbet, meals, bread, butter, you name it! My husband would tell you if there was a possibility I could have sex with it, I would! (And I don’t think that’s far from the truth!)
My head injuries from my accident aggravated my impulse, and because of my memory problems I have had to train myself to be organised. Most days now you wouldn’t be able to tell I have any impairments at all. I don’t have freak outs all the time because I’ve forgotten doctors appointments or forgotten to rock up to something I said I would attend.
Life does just run smoother when you bring organisation and routine into it. You may think “Oh your full of shit.” But seriously, stop being so negative, start trying to be organised, push yourself, and start a routine, even if you don’t have kids – start a routine for yourself. You will start to feel better in yourself and things will start looking up in no time – wait and see!
Aquo Xx
Organisation – How to live a life that runs smoothly…
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