Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Organization of life

My life is really chaotic. I just got married a couple weeks ago and my husband (so strange to type that) and I are trying to get our house and lives in order. We are both in our 30's which means we have each individually accumulated everything a person needs to run a household. So we have at least 2 of everything crammed into a 700 square foot condo. So the equation looks something like this:

Lots of stuff + 2 Adults + 2 Dogs = Chaos

I freely admit that I have a lot of clutter type stuff all over the condo. I need to get my magazines under control and learn how to keep my closet organized (sharing a closet is harder than I thought).

House
My husband and I are both committed to organizing the house. When we are going through all of our things we will have multiple "piles". Everything we touch will have to go into one of these "piles" - Keep, Donate, Sell, Storage or Trash. We are going to go through the different rooms in the Condo and get organized. I know this will be a long process for us to complete but I would like to get things done by the end of this year. Start off 2010 with a organized slate!

Work
My work life also feels cluttered. I have been working in the same company for many years but I have been in multiple departments. This means I have accumulated a bunch of paper filed and laying on my desk. To me this is not just paper. It is my hard work that caused stress, tears and sometimes anger. It is hard to just throw these things away. However, I'm not using them and I don't see myself using these materials in the future. I need to go into work with a clear head and just trash everything that does not pertain to my current job. For some reason this has been something that is really hard for me to do. But, with that said, it will get done, promise!

Finances
Weddings are not cheap, especially weddings in big cities. Finances are hard for me to talk about, I tend to get defensive and not much fun to be around when the topic comes up. This probably is due to the fact that I don't know much about personal financial topics (ex: stocks, 401K, credit cards).
This is not a topic I will spend time discussing on this blog but I felt it was something I needed to mention. Finances stress me out and when I'm stressed I make poor food choices. I will get my head wrapped around a budget that my family can live with. I think knowing where the money is going and how it will be spent will help with the financial stress therefore aid in eliminating stressed food choices. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one!


I'm really thinking that when my life is more organized that I will feel better. I will sleep, eat, work and exercise better.

Does anyone have any organization tips that have worked for them?

3 comments:

  1. Hmmm...tips? I don't know if I have any great tips. I love organizing things, so your having to organize your condo sounds like a lot of fun to me. But the work and finance stuff sounds stressful. I'm the same as you when it comes to finances...don't know much so I just try not to spend too much and to save as much as I can. I leave the 401ks and all that stuff to other people.

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  2. Organizing your home and managing your finances are both projects that never end...just like balancing veggies 'n' cake.

    The trick is to break them up into little projects that can end, and preferably in the amount of time you have to spare. So tackle just one drawer in an evening. Pull together just your work clothes on a Saturday. Devote one visit to a coffee shop to learning about your 401(k)-- preferably with a date who knows enough to teach.

    Trying to hold all of a massive project in your head at one time is completely overwhelming and, at least for me, usually results in a day where the only thing I've done is thinned out the contents of my DVR. And, honestly, I enjoy that task a lot more when I feel like I've actually accomplished something meaningful.

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  3. I'm not sure how many "tips" I have but I'm definitely a firm believer in getting rid of things! I'm still trying to get my BF to get rid of a lot of his stuff though, so our apartment is a work in progress. I say anything you don't need or have double of - donate or dump! Good luck!!!!

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