I'm Ultra-Organized Now, But Will It Last?

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I struggle with organizing my time. (An example of that is HERE.) You also know that I've been nesting, and somehow, that has caused a change in me. Actually, I honestly don't know if this change came about because of nesting or if I was just ready to change, but it feels wonderful. My house, literally, has never been this clean, and I am loving it. That is not to say that every corner is spotless, but for me, this is huge...which reminds me of a time when a dear friend once said to me, in such a chipper, Mormon-y voice, "Don't you just love it when every last corner of your house is perfectly spotless?" I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression and said, "I don't know. That has never happened to me." Yeah, Tracie, I'm talking to you. It still hasn't happened, but I'm getting closer to that ideal day by day.

I'm pretty sure this is all going to be swept away when the baby comes, but for now, I'm relishing!

Okay, so my point is, I now have a system. Instead of roaming around the house aimlessly, I've come up with a tactic to accomplish most of what I need to do. Here is how...

First, I write a list. This may seem like common sense, but it is sense I have lacked for the last 20 years. I guess I just thought I would see what needed to be done and do it, but now that I have a larger home than before and more kids than before, I guess I get confused and lost...but no longer! Here was my list of things that needed to get done on Monday, which included beginning preparations for my mother and sister's visit this weekend...

(Sorry I kinda of broke out into Spanish there at the end. Sala means living room.)

Now this is not to say that I needed to do all this myself. The dear children were assigned about three-quarters of the tasks, leaving me with only a few things to do. Of course, this list didn't include changing diapers, doing laundry, fixing meals, doing toddler time, laying down for 2 hours to gestate, etc., so I definitely kept busy all day.

So that's housework, now let's move on to blogging. People who blog know how time-consuming blogging can be and there are those who have marveled in awe that I now keep three blogs running. I've come up with a system for that, too! I find that it helps if I can think of topics in advance, because then my wheels can be turning until the day I write the post. This especially comes in handy for the toddler blog, as I've found that if I haven't planned out an activity to blog about that day, it usually doesn't get done. Here's my list for this week's blog topics, starting from Monday...

Speaking of blogging, when it comes to having a successful blog (in this case, meaning a monetized blog that receives good traffic), one has to do more than just write. One must network, comment on others blogs and in forums, send reciprocal emails, and much more. (P.S. If you'd like to know much more about taking these steps to have a successful blog, you should check out The BlogStar forum.) This takes even more time than actually writing the posts, so I've worked out a way to do that as well. Here's how...

First thing in the morning, after the babies have had breakfast and the 5 olders have left for school, I change the babies diapers and get them dressed. When I say dressed, I mean into clean sleepers. If you want my full explanation for that, you can go HERE. After accomplishing this, I fold a load of laundry, then network for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then the cycle repeats itself....one chore, on load of laundry, a little bit of networking, one chore, a load of laundry, a little bit more networking, until about 11:00 AM. At this time I begin to prepare lunch for the kids, who, as you remember, attend a school which does not provide a cafeteria. And just so you know, in my ultra-organized current state of being, I have even begun to make special casseroles that can easily be doubled, thus allowing for one meal for the fam, plus leftovers, and one meal for the freezer, in preparation for the birth of the baby.

Can you just believe how amazing I am? I can't believe it, okay? Strangely, though, for some strange reason, I do keep thinking that this is all temporary, that it will all be washed away soon, and that I'll be going back to my old self, falling back into my old, wandering ways. Weird, right? Maybe with your encouragement, I'll stay this way. Wish me luck!

And thanks, as always, for listening. :)