Make it there on time, the right day and the right place…how I’ve “organized” myself over the years.  Maybe something here will help you too.  Who knows?  Worth a shot right?

There are some things I can’t ignore, things I can’t escape no matter how hard I try or don’t try.  Mandatory is different from taking on too much, making too many promises I can’t keep and just plain not being able to say no to helping.  All those obligations that overwhelm you are mostly your created by a desire to please.  That desire to please is kinda missing in my DNA.  Thankfully.

Nobody else can actually do this thing for me, like go to the doctor.  Mandatory is something that has to be done by me, my responsibility and no one elses.  AND, if I don’t get it done the repercussions are not something I want to deal with.  That is how I measure mandatory.

So here are a few ways I make sure I get them done, my “organizational” tips so to speak.  I truly don’t think this term, organizational, really applies to how I get my mandatory life moments done and I think of these types of methods as “my way”.  They are just my way of reaching certain goals.

1. I make my doctor appointments as I’m leaving the office, with my trusty little calendar that I keep in my purse in my hand.  As soon as I get home, before I even take off my coat, I go to the kitchen calendar and write that appointment down.  Then, I go to the living room calendar and write it down there.  Always in this order.  For some reason, if I write it down on the living room calendar first, or bother to take off my coat first, I forget to write the appointment down or I miss an important step in the process and I never get to the appointment when the time comes.  Go figure.  Anyway.  I put my purse and the appointment calendar on my desk, take off my coat, use the washroom, get coffee, etc.  Then I enter the appointment into my Google calendar with some adjustments.  I start by figuring out what time I have to catch the bus to get there on time.  Then I add 10 minutes to that time.  This is the time I put for the appointment reminder.  I set the alerts to start 30 minutes before I have to leave to catch the bus and for every 10 minutes.
2. My key ring, wallet and pen are big, bright and shiny, never black…not small or regular size, so I can find it quickly and easily without looking or emptying the actual purse to find what I need.  My purse is the smallest, lightest weight I can handle for all the stuff I need, is a cross body so I don’t have to use my hand to keep track of it and I use a purse insert so that I can just grab it and put it in a new purse whenever the season changes.  When I take anything out of my purse it always goes right back in it when I’m done with it.
3. My desk is the smallest size possible to accommodate the iMac, keyboard, mouse, back up, in/out tray, candy dish and my coffee.  I have almost no room for papers to accumulate.
4. I will never remember the name that goes with someone’s face.  Faces I remember, names not so much.  Ever.  No matter what game I play to trick myself into matching the face to a name, it does not work.  So, everyone is forewarned.
5. In the winter I wear pants only.  And they are all dark in colour.  It doesn’t matter which top I grab, they are all bright and warm, so in the morning when I get dressed my mind fog cannot make me look clownish:)
6. I started using online banking when it was first offered by my bank, and paperless statements from every company that offered them.  Then, I taught my hubby how to use the online banking and made him responsible for paying them on time:)
7. I try not to collect anything like I used to.  It’s a sickness and one that I  embraced and cluttered my space with.  Now, all my music is downloaded directly into the computer and iPod, everything gets scanned that has to be kept and I only watch movies through online rentals, play computer games and eventually, my telephone/address book will also be all online if I ever finish that damn project.
8. My kitchen is small, and things are all in their rightful place, like-minded objects stored together.  Hubby the organizing guru keeps the pantry looking like a grocery store shelf, all in order etc.  I’m not allowed to put things away when I try to help him after he gets the groceries, but I can sure find things easy.
9. If you do not have an organized person in your life, then hire someone to come into your home and create an easy system that suits your style.  Best money you will ever spend.
10. In the entrance I have baskets for gloves/mittens, hats/tuques, scarfs and hooks to hang the coats/umbrellas.  I have 3 small shelving units to house all the shoes and a spot for the wet boots.  I tore out the closet to have this system put up instead.
11. The filing system is simple, generalized and colour coordinated.  Credit cards, regardless of what company provides them, banking, pets, etc.  That way is the simplest and easiest for me to follow without getting muddled up.  Filing by topic works best for me rather than alphabetically.
12. Prescription refills used to be an issue for me until my pharmacy started to offer the automatic refill service…yipee ei yeah!  Plus, I use a place that is open late and only 5 minutes away if I forget to pick up that prescription and only discover that fact in the evening.  And when the doctor gives me a new prescription, I immediately put it into my purse and I stop at the pharmacy before I go home so they will have it and I won’t lose it.  My son once lost his prescription between leaving the doctor’s office and his car…he drove to the pharmacy, had to go back to the doctor and wait 3 hours then spend a lot of time convincing the doc he actually lost it and wasn’t a drug dealer so he could get another!
13. Every box I pack has a list of what is in it taped to the top.
14. I bring in the mail and I sort at my desk, using the clear trays attached to the sides to sort it by mail (used for outgoing/incoming addressed to others), to file, to shred, to pay, to call/follow-up, one with just my name on it and one with hubby’s name on it.  If it doesn’t fit in one of these spaces, it’s trash.
15. I use a lot of post it notes that are stuck on my monitor so I will remember to make those calls I have to make, finish the chores I must finish etc.
16. My washing machine and my dryer have buzzers that I use all the time.  My stove/oven timer gets a lot of use as well.  It’s the only way!

So.  That’s my wacky ways to get myself through life with the least amount of repercussions I don’t want.  These are things that I have worked out to work the most efficiently for me.  Some are old, tried and true and have worked for years and years for me.  Others are newer, still open for tweaking if needed since I haven’t been using them all for over a year yet.  One year seems to be the magic number for time…if I still haven’t got any issues using it for one whole year, it will stand the test of time for me.

See what I have had to go through over the years to become the most efficient that I can be?  Some things seem convoluted and too complex but they are representative of how my ADD mind works.  A little messy, a bit messed up but a whole lot better than trying unsuccessfully to be organized like a normal person:)

Bottom line…use whatever means possible that works for you and forget the rest.  forgetting is the easy part, right?