#1 Most Important Thing to Organization - By Far

The number one most important thing to getting organized is PLANNING. Some people like to rave about it, some people hate it, but if you can plan it, you can do it!

Planning makes all the difference in your ability to get stuff done. Planning can be done in many different ways, but I'll share the way it happens in our home. We have a calendar for each month of the year that we print off our computer. On the calendar side, we write all the scheduled stuff. On the back of the calendar, I write everything I want or need to do. I don't write everyday things like make dinner, vacuum, or wipe off the counters, but I would write those things if I didn't do them very often and really needed to get them done. The back of my calendar has things like:
* scrapbooks - June, July, August, September, October, November
* glue closet
* 72 hour kits - documents
* Christmas - decorate, presents - grandma&grandpa, Spencer, neighbors,
* and so on
I like to divide what I need to do into littler, more do-able parts, then if I have a few minutes, I can glance at the back of my calendar and do a little piece of something that helps me get to my goal.

Every Sunday, my husband and I sit down together and go over the calendar for the week. We figure out how we can get things done and schedule in the things we want to do. This puts us on the same page for the week and eliminates most scheduling conflicts and frustrations that could arise. Next, we flip the calendar over and look at the things we want to get done. We decide what needs the most attention and decide on things we would like to address that week. We also add anything else that has come up during the week.

Here's an example of how planning helps me in my life. I was giving a presentation on organization. One week before the presentation, I found out that it was supposed to be at my house. I felt like I should have a totally organized house if I was going to give a presentation on organization, but I was going to be out of town for the next 3 days and felt like there was no way I could get everything ready in time. I worried about it the whole 3 days I was out of town. Finally, Sunday came and it was time for our planning meeting. I decided to write down exactly what I needed to do for the house to be ready for the presentation. It was:
* straighten toy closet
* straighten book closet
* straighten cookbook cupboard
* pick up house
Suddenly, it seemed totally doable, and I didn't need to spend anymore time worrying about "all" the things I needed to do!

Another calendar story. We somehow missed writing down a club activity for my eight year old. When she found out she missed it, I spent about an hour and a half consoling her and trying to help her feel better. If it had been on the calendar, she could have walked out the door, and walked back in an hour later with no help from me. But our forgetting cost me an hour and a half's worth of time.

Planning truly does help you accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish and is the #1 most important step in organization!