How to be more organised - I need help

Pthree

I am not the most organised of people at the best of times, but on the whole I manage to keep on top of stuff at home and at work and I suspect if you asked anyone they would say I, at least one the outside appear organised (at work at least!).

BUT.... due to family illness I have been trying to fit 5 working days into 4 so I can go home at weekends, this means getting in early, leaving late (something I did anyway) I am also falling way behind on a NVQ course I am doing. I just can't seem to get on with anything, my mind is wandering at the slightest thing. My flat is a tip, I really feel like I am about to lose the plot.

I need some structure!!

I am sure there are people out there that juggle all this and a family life too :eek: (I'm single) so I was just wondering............ how???????

Thanks
P3

19lottie82

A compressed hours job, an NVQ and having an ill family member must be hard to deal with, It's all about maximising the spare time that you have.

What time do you get home from work, and what do you do then? It's easy to get in to a routine of sitting down in front of the TV and not moving until you go to bed, but it's also easy to get into another routine, where you spend half an hour tidying / cleaning, then an hour studying, before chilling out for the night.

re the cleaning, can you take a days (or even a half day) holiday so you can tackle your flat and give it a deep clean? If so, do this then as above dedicate half an hour each night to keep on top of it.

re the studying, can you stop off at your local library for an hour on your way home, 3 times a week? And fit in other bits of study when you can? If you use public transport to get home at the weekends, can you use the travel time to hit the books? Or do a little at the weekends while you are in the family home?

Raksha

I schedule a room per day for a good tidy, and I used google calender to remind me which day. If its not that rooms day, tough. I also menu plan

podperson

Try and get things planned out so you have the best use of what spare time you do have. For example, when you get home from work say 2 nights a week you spend an hour on studying the other two you spend an hour on the housework - and then you can relax for a bit. Think of time saving methods, things like batch cooking so you have things you can just pull out of the freezer and reheat. When you travel home or you drive or take public transport - I used to find trains were great for catching up with study time.
Also if you live alone then it doesn't matter that much if all the housework is done, does it? Prioritise the things that 'have' to be done - so like laundry, washing up, kitchen etc from the things that aren't exactly going to be the end of the world if they get pushed aside for a few weeks, so things like dusting, paperwork etc.

Counting_Pennies_2

For post have boxfiles for each bank account, job, credit card receipts etc. When the post comes sort it as you open
Put a bin by the front door for paperwork. Unless it is something that needs to be kept shred and bin there and then as you open it.

Food, arrange an internet shop delivery to come instead of going round shops. You could sit on train to do it, or in a waiting room etc.

If you are tackling a room, just spend an hour of your time on it solidly, you will be amazed what you can achieve when you focus solely on something.

If you drive, try to go by train and do your NVQ work while you travel. If you need to drive to have freedom when there, make sure you schedule some time in your diary each week to focus on it.

Put washing on the minute you get in the door at night, and hang it up to dry over night indoors, when you come home the next night it will be dry and ready to turn the next load around.

Each day write down what needs to be done then schedule it by putting in an A,B, C category, a being important, b needs to be done but not urgent c being it can wait. Then 1,2,3 ...... along side the letter, so it focuses your mind on what to tackle first.

hth

Hermia

For me the only thing that works is using a day per page planner (I love gadgets, but just cannot get on with planning on a computer/phone). I sit down on Sunday and plan the week ahead. I will even go through the TV schedules and write down must watch TV programmes. So I write down a schedule for each day. I also have a list of 'would be nice to dos' on a post-it note stuck in my planner and will do an item on that list if I have the time/inclination. It is the only thing that works for me. I am the sort of people who needs to be made accountable and to have deadlines in black and white.

You may need to think about shaking up your day. Getting out of a usual routine seems to work for some people. A friend of mine was really struggling with completing an Open University degree. In the end the only thing that worked was getting up early (she is not a morning person BTW), going into work early (with the added bonus of there being no traffic) and doing a couple of hours each morning before her colleagues got there. She just found trying to study later in the day when she had other demands and was tired was never going to work.