How to organise everything in my life OS?

Penelope_Penguin

Mrs_Weasley wrote: »

I'm sure its not just me .... but i can't get organised!!! Have been lurking a nd posting for a while now so i know what to do, i just struggle to put it all into practice:o

I've got loads of things i need to/ want to do, i just end up chasing my tail! Its not that i'm lazy cos all i seem to do (apart from when i'm sat at comp Reading various threads )is run round here there and everywhere! I know i need to be more organised which is easier said than done:rolleyes:

I've done a list and am going to try and work my way through it and see if i can work through the jumble (even this post is jumbled!)

:eek: Thats what i can think of so far brain getting addled now:rolleyes: Don't get me wrong we have sorted a lot of things out its feels like the list is never going to end and i would like to spend some quality time with my family!!

suggestions welcome

Lists, lists, and more lists I have a pad, with a page for each day. I add tasks that need doing, and cross off once they're done

I also have a list for outside jobs in the garden, jobs I need to do for w***, jobs that DH or the children need to help me with , shopping lists.

I then have my longer term jobs. I then make them into small tasks, which I add onto my daily list bit by bit.

I've found another thread with more organisation tips, so I'll merge this thread, to keep ideas together.

Penny. x

Butterfly_Brain

I know how you feel , it just seems so daunting. The way I tackled mine was to start on a cupboard a day, then when the cupboards were sorted I did a room a day and now I have a set routine and can finish all my housework in 2 hours flat, hope this helps - GOOD LUCK! x

sophistica

I am pretty useless at tidying but recently I have found one tip which was useful which is basically not to move to much when you are tidying up and making beds i.e.

Tidy a room before leaving it
Put what doesn't belong in a basket or outisde the door (rather than running round the house putting things away. They do this in hotels)
Make one side of the bed first then walk round it just once to do the other side
Start at one end of a room and tidy up in one direction.

I know the not moving too much idea sounds crazy but it saves time and energy.

ceridwen

Yep - I like the idea of moving round a room. I read that back some time ago and find its a good idea to tackle a room like that - rather than picking out a bit here and a bit there.

Still a great advocate of the lists on the fridge scenario. If I'm not at home and think of some "tiny bit to do" - I add it to a list in my handbag. I keep the overall "tiny bits to do" list on the fridge (eg mend this item, clean mould off that item, throw out dead plants from garden, etc) and try on all except the busiest days to be able to cross at least 1 or 2 things off that list.

For next year I am planning on having 2 diaries - my diary and a spending diary. My diary being the usual small one I carry round. The spending diary being one of those medium-size desk diaries - I'll keep the left-hand side of each daily entry space for writing food spending in and write other spending in the right-hand side. This will help keep track of how much money I need to live on and where its going - so I can see if theres any mismatch between the two. Will be an easier system than the intermittent keeping track in a notebook (which quickly becomes tatty/lost/etc).

Olliebeak

Teria wrote: »

.......although if she wees in the bath one more time... :rolleyes:

ooooh somebody else has this trouble as well, phew!

Mine will do it if we've put his litter tray outside, due to it being a bit whiffy, but then forgotten to clean it and bring back in again before locking up for the night. That's when we find a little bit of 'yellow' by the plug hole in the morning - he's such a good aim with that plug hole though!!

I know it sounds disgusting, but it's soon sorted with a kettle of boiling water and good scouring - PLUS it's better than the alternative of puddles on the carpet/cushionfloor.

Jo_R_2

Help!

I'm looking not so much for recipes and ideas, but OS 'strategies'.

I'm a stay-at-home mum of 3 aged 6, 3 and 1 (soon to have another addition come September/October time), and have been finding recently my inspiration and energy are at an all-time low:o

Me and DDs are veggie, OH isn't and baby is somewhere inbetween:D I've always really been into homemade meals, but recently we've been delving into the murky depths of pizza and chips for tea, okay now and again but not really something I want DDs to see as 'normal' teatime food.

What I'm interested in is finding out how others fit being OS into their daily lives. Eg, is there a particular pattern through the day/week people have, such as baking a loaf in the morning, batch cooking one day at the weekend, a particular shopping day/time - plus where do you shop, do you frequent local small shops/greengrocers/butchers or utilise the supermarkets more, do you do a daily 'fresh' shop for veggies/meat/etc for dinner, that sort of thing? Do you kill two birds with one stone and always make extra with dinner to use the next day, do you stick the slow cooker on in the morning so dinner is sorted?

Also how do people cope with watching the pennies and catering for veggies AND meat eaters in the same meal? The principle is fine, I do work around it but I'd like to be more economical with buying meat - even if it is just for OH (and baby a bit:))

I just feel soooo busy at the mo during daytimes that I wonder how to fit in the things I want to do to be more OS, and come evening it's game over - at the mo I'm too tired to do anything except sit down!

BitterAndTwisted

I'm not surprised you're tired with three young children, anyone would be, especially when preggers with number 4.

My own strategy (although an imperfect one as I don't consider myself a true O/S) is to ask myself when I'm reaching out for something in the supermarket is "Do I really need this? Could I make this myself?"

As I'm unemployed at the moment one of the things I have which you do not is plenty of free time so I can cook things from scratch. I generally make soup two or three times a week depending on what's on special offer in my local supermarkets. I've also taken to baking a fair bit as I find it so rewarding.

Because I thought it would be fun (it was) I recently made 10 litres of laundry gloop at a cost of less than £2 which I think should last me for months and months and it's doing a great job as well.

nikki_angel

Laundry gloop? Do you have a recipe?

keza

hi Jo, ive just started with the OS thing last year.

I usually set aside one day a month (normally a sunday) and batch cook some spag bol base (for spag bol, cottage pie, chilli, lasange etc) and also buy half a sack of potatoes and boil and mash them into individual portions and freeze them. I work in the city and dont get home till 6pm so i cant be bothered with cooking when i get in.

Somedays we might use the slow cooker so teas ready when we get in.

I meal plan too so we're always prepared for dinner.

I buy most of our food in supermarkets. i make sure i go either thursday night (quietest if i only need a few bits) or sat morning before 9am as thats when my store has all the reduced meats, bread etc and u can pick up some right bargains then! maybe check when your supermarket reduce their bits. its a certain time of the day.

I also keep up with cleaning and housework by doing a bit each day. last night i folded the washing (ready for the wet load in the machine to go up today), i wiped the kitchen surfaces and i watered the plants and cleaned the loo. doesnt take 15 mins to do all that. tonight i will do a few more bits and so on. saves spending loads of time slaving over chores! xxx

maman

Personally I prefer to be flexible fit my OS habits around me rather than other way round. So for example, in your situation, I might do my batch cooking (obviously when a particular meal was running low in the freezer) on a day when OH/mum/friend could have the children then I'd ensconce myself in kitchen with radio and get on with it. Or I might get up a bit early and set something up in the slow cooker and then portion/freeze it when they'd all gone to bed. So my shopping list/weekly menu planner is a mixture of HM stuff from freezer and scratch/batch cooking and I can shift around which days depending on how much time/energy I've got.

Personally I haven't yet but I know lots of people who do extra veg/potatoes deliberately to make 'bubble and squeak' type meal next day.