You know those people who always seem to just have it all together? The ones who are usually calmly waiting, scrolling through Facebook, when you burst through the door feeling frazzled and out of breath because you're late meeting them...again!? The folks who have the PTA calendar memorized and always seem to have contact information right at their fingertips to meet every conceivable need, from trusty mechanic or top notch medical specialist to medieval jousting expert? They remember to return your book, even though you forgot you loaned it to them in the first place. They know when and where outdoor movie night is happening and exactly when to score free cones because it's National Ice Cream Day. They always acknowledge your birthday and never forget to send in non-perishables for the school's canned food drive (while you, on the other hand, can be found desperately hunting through your pantry at the last minute for cream of mushroom soup or something else you'll probably never eat).

Yeah, we all know at least one of these people, but starting today, you can become one with much less effort than you think.
 
New Habit #4: Take and Use Notes. Keep track of everything as it enters your brain...reminders, to-dos, shopping needs, contact info, events, appointments, due dates... in a central, reliable system and--here’s the key--review it daily. 

Why? The biggest benefit is the confidence and peace of mind you'll find from having a reliable way to tame your brain clutter. Yes...that's a thing...and too much of it leads to stress, whether you're consciously aware of it or it's just bubbling up right beneath the surface. That old expression "too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the broth" means that having no established leader to give clear direction will lead to chaos and, ultimately, failure. Well, that's what happens when you have competing priorities, demands on your time and random thoughts running wildly through your head without a central unified and reliable system in place for managing it all. 

Now, the key word here is "reliable". Lots of people have calendars, address books, fancy apps on their phones, colored-coded giant whiteboards on the refrigerator....you name it, yet still suffer from brain clutter because they aren't in the habit of actually maintaining and using these tools properly. All the fancy pots and top-of-the-line kitchen tools in the world won't make you a master chef unless you know how to use them and do. With proper daily maintenance and a solid habit of reviewing what you’ve noted, you'll avoid overbooking (and overstretching) yourself, missing important appointments or deadlines, or forgetting to do tasks, and you'll be able to plan ahead with confidence. You'll also rest easier knowing you can communicate with your network whenever and wherever needed.

How? This is actually a three-part habit.

First, choose a format that you think will work best for you, be it electronic, paper, cave drawing, whatever, or even a combination of the above elements. This will involve some trial/error and re-evaluation as you go. Expect that...it's okay, and if you have to change formats along the way, it just means you are learning more about yourself and what works for you (or doesn't). There is no right or wrong way...just a right-for-you or wrong-for-you way. Whatever format you choose, it must meet these three criteria:

1. Allows you to keep track of appointments, reminders/to-dos, shopping needs, and contacts (all four!)
2. Is portable and accessible at all times
3. Is easy and convenient to use (never underestimate the power of even the slightest inconvenience to prevent you from completing any task...especially one you didn't particularly want to do in the first place)

​Your system may be comprised of multiple components just as long as they are coordinated with one another. For example, you may initially add an item to your To-Do list but then schedule it on your calendar later during your daily review, or vice versa. Just avoid keeping multiple To-Do lists or calendars for the same purpose.

Next, add anything and everything you need to remember into your system as soon as you become aware of it.

• Need to return that book to your friend when you see her next week? Create a reminder in your calendar to take it with you on that day.
• Need to call the doctor during office hours tomorrow? Schedule it in your calendar or tell Alexa or Siri to remind you at 8AM on Monday (or both).
• Want to take the kids to see the free magic show at the library next weekend? Calendar.
• Thinking of getting the house painted? Put the contact info for the painter who left a flyer on your door into your contacts (and throw away the flyer) and then add calling for an estimate to your to-do list.
• Out of soy sauce? Add it to your shopping list right away.

​
Finally, make a daily appointment with yourself to review the data in your system so that you can bring it to life through an action plan. This is crucial. Without this, your system will not work and you will no longer trust it...reliability is key, remember? Simply sitting down each and every day to review what is coming up so that you can prioritize, plan ahead and share info with others as needed will save you time and stress otherwise spent worrying about what you're forgetting. Having a centralized system for tracking everything not only enables you to address your immediate concerns but also keeps the back-burner items on your radar so they don’t sneak up on you. 

Alternative Option
Already got this one down? Fabulous! Have you tamed your paper piles? Having a system in place for keeping track of appointments, reminders and contacts is a prerequisite to eliminating paper clutter. If you've already mastered Habit #4, go ahead and begin a daily triage of your incoming papers into these categories: action, file, pay, and read. Create calendar reminders/contacts for action and pay items, file reference papers and contacts regularly, and keep reading material handy and to a minimum (seriously, if you haven't read the fashion article you bookmarked in that 2010 magazine by now, it's probably safe to go ahead and toss it).

Tip of the Week
Speaking of taking notes, one way to improve your odds of adopting any new habit is to take note of what has (and hasn't) worked in the past. Was there a particular person who encouraged you (or sabotaged your efforts)? Is there a specific strategy that kept you motivated? Repeat the behaviors that have led to success and try to identify and eliminate the ones that led you astray.

It’s still not too late to join the official Good Habits Challenge! From this point on, only those who have actually joined the challenge will receive weekly emails introducing the remaining six habits of organized people. Plus, those who join get some free tools to help in adopting any new habit (not just these ten) and are eligible for free accountability check-ins and a chance to win a prize at the end. Joining is FREE, so what have you got to lose?

Email valerie@easypeasyliving.com if you have questions about the challenge, need more suggestions or encouragement, or just want to share your success story!

You’ve got this!

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Running an efficient household requires some organization and lots of communication, especially in today's hectic world. In some ways, this has become easier with the advent of shared calendars, electronic reminders, to-do and shopping lists, and menu planning apps. But there's something to be said for leveling the playing field with an old-fashioned, low-tech solution that everyone in your household can access the same way. One has only to glance at Pinterest to see that household "command centers" are more popular than ever for keeping families connected and informed. 

No two command centers are the same. Aside from being an effective means of communication and organization, yours should also reflect the personality of your family and blend in with the rest of your home, something that takes a little planning.

Here are a few tips for setting up an effective command center in your home:

1. Location, location, location - Finding the right spot is key. Ideally, you want a central spot, like the kitchen, where everyone will see it as they are preparing for the day ahead or near the most-used entrance/exit so that it is the first and last thing family members see as they are heading in or out the door.
2. Keep it simple - Nothing kills organization and communication like a cluttered, visually-noisy message board. You don't want vital information getting lost among a gazillion pieces of paper or important meetings overlooked on a crammed calendar. Give some thought to the most important components to include in your design, and consider the amount of space you have available to comfortably display each element.
3. Remember function over form - Obviously guests are going to see your command center if it's centrally located in your home, so you don't want it to be an eyesore, but as with all other organizing systems, you won't use it if it isn't easy to use. Therefore, take into account the mechanics of changing calendars, writing on whiteboards, pinning notes and reminders, etc. Make sure you can reach things adequately and easily maintain your system, whatever it is.
4. Consult your family - You may not need tonight's dinner menu posted, but the kids may want a few hours to get mentally prepared for liver night. Since this system is for everyone's benefit, make sure you design it in a way that will benefit everyone by asking for their suggestions on what to include.
5. Measure twice, drill once - It's helpful to create paper templates of each item and tape them to the wall in the layout you want before you put holes in the wall, just to make sure everything fits the way you envision it. 

To get you started with a few ideas, here's what I've incorporated in my family's "Command Central". We were very tight on space, so I had to be selective in what I included:

Dinner Menu:  I've included a spot for posting the weekly menu. To save space, I display only today's dinner (to warn the kids) and tomorrow's (to remind me what I need to thaw out or prep). The cards area easy to swap out and can be saved to give me meal ideas for future weeks.

Weekly Calendar:
My husband and I share a Google calendar, but I post just the key events and reminders for the coming week for the kids' benefit. I purposely chose to make this a "white board" (just a glass picture frame that can be written on with a dry erase marker) rather than a traditional-style calendar to give me more room to write in. I find that merely transferring the weekly highlights from my online calendar to the board helps me better focus on the week ahead.

Mail holder: I collect the mail and sort it immediately into a file system I have that works great, but occasionally my husband gets mail he needs to deal with himself. Rather than leave it lying around on a table for him to ignore, I put it in the top slot of the mail sorter. After several weeks in here, I feel I can safely throw it away, and it least it isn't getting in my way in the meantime. ;-)

I use the other slots for important/emergency phone numbers so that we don't have to look them up and for my kids who are at the age where I am just beginning to leave them home alone for short periods of time.

The full-year calendar (with paydates circled) attached to the front comes in handy for quick reference without consuming lots of extra space.