Unorganized Life 2017

Raise your hand if you’re unorganized (Raises hand)…

Raise your hand if you envy people who are organized (Raises hand)…

Now raise your hand if you have all the tools you need to be organized at your disposal and you still do not use them (Raises hand)…

However my “year of yes” officially starts on September 8th and I will do everything in my power to get organized. I have my tools and I am ready to go!

Tool number 1: my bullet journal. I have been using it religiously since the beginning of July and when I say I LOVE it, that’s an understatement. If I ever lost it I’d probably friggin cry like a baby. It is more than a journal, more than a planner. It is essentially my life in book format. It tracks my workouts, tracks my habits, keeps my schedule, keeps my dreams, goals, bucket list and everything visible for me, has my meal planner in it, has my thoughts and ideas, things I like, things I should be doing on a daily basis (yes this is a ridiculously long run on sentence however I recorded these thoughts this morning while driving and this is exactly how they came out so just go with it).

Because I’m still familiarizing myself with it, my layouts change every month right now. I’ve planned ahead through October but have since decided not to create anything beyond that. I’m still trying to determine if the layouts I’m using now will be effective for what I have planned; especially since starting this blog. I have to figure out how to incorporate this into my bullet journal as well.

But yes, organization is something I seriously need to work on and plan on working on A LOT in the coming year.

Another tool I’ve had at my fingertips and have been overlooking forever is podcasts. I know you’re like what does a podcast have to do with organizing however there are so many that, not only teach you to organize, but make you believe it is so simple and because I finally believe it I am able to do it. My favorite organizational podcasts at the moment are:

These are the three most essential podcasts to the transformation I am currently going through. I used to be annoyed at the traffic to work in the mornings but now I listen to podcasts and it doesn’t even bother me. There’s little or no traffic on the ride home but I still listen. Probably the only time there’s music in the car as of late is when hubby and the kids are with me.

Is my bedroom still a disaster? Absolutely! But my pantry and the kids’ school supply closet aren’t. Now listen, I know this blog is supposed to be an open and honest space however, there are no before pictures…. y’all will not judge me! Just know it was chaos and now it’s not! See look how pretty:

I’m getting there slowly but surely. One of the habits in my bullet journal is to declutter for 15 minutes a day. This was initially very hard for me to do and some days it is still hard for me to do however, I notice that if I plan it and pencil it in, it happens. That’s the biggest hurdle for me planning and penciling things in so they happen. I’m working towards that end and I doubt I’ll ever be perfect at it but I am so much better than I was.

I strongly believe that this disorganized/chaotic environment that I’ve been living in has spilled into so many other areas including this never ending battle that I’ve had with losing weight. Every single time I keep a food journal, keeping a log, not even tracking calories just simply writing down what I’m putting into my body or planning out my meals for the week, packing lunch… every single time I commit to doing those things and stick with it for the duration I am successful at weight loss. However, every time I don’t I fail miserably.

I am very disorganized and I don’t know why that is because that is not supposed to be a Virgo trait. Virgos are supposed to be very on top of things. So I am working to get there. I will put all my resources to use including my beloved Dollar Tree (they will pay me for plugging them so much one day WATCH!).

Dollar Tree was instrumental in cleaning out and organizing the pantry and school supply closet. They have all these awesome containers and storage boxes in so many different colors, labels and the list goes on and on. This was one of my biggest projects to date. I did it on a Saturday a couple of weeks before school started and it literally took all day but when it was done oh my God the pride that I felt was insane. I mean, I was SO proud. And yes the kids helped here and there however it was MY project. And I completed it and it was the best feeling ever.

And guess what? Everything is still organized exactly as it was three weeks ago and I’ve even added items since then without making a mess and I’m still beyond proud.

It’s kind of crazy though because now I’m thinking, okay I bought all these different trays and compartments but what if I don’t like the color at some point? Am I going to spend even more money to buy different ones? Doesn’t this totally go against my quest to be frugal and get out of debt? Unfortunate that’s how my brain works. Something may be okay for now but a month from now? Not so much.

But organization has been the bane of my existence and I really need to figure out a way (and I will figure out a way) to get organized and stay organized. I know it will help me transform so many areas of my life.

I have so many goals that I want to accomplish including self publishing a book I have been writing forever o_O, monetizing this blog , getting out of debt, finally reaching fitness goals. I know I have to get it together in order to make any of it happen.

Will my bedroom every be organized? I sure hope so. I’ve at least bagged things up and given them away so now its just a matter of releasing more clutter (including emotional) one day at a time.

Are you tired of living an unorganized life?