Resources to Help You Get Organized

September 12, 2011

They say January is the official new year (depending on your culture, we celebrated Chinese New Year last February). But for many of us moms with kids in school or homeschooling September feels like the real new year when the rhythms of family life find their groove once again after summer. 

I have always loved the shift of season after summer, into fall. Once I get over the transitional bump of it all.

This time of year feels new to me. Full of possibility. A time of year, quite frankly, to organize the heck out of my life in attempt to make at least some of my goals a reality during this next calendar season.  

For as long as I can remember, first as a student and then as a young mom learning to manage a home, this is the time of year I put it all on paper. I often revise those plans in January, the second new start on the year (don't you just love fresh starts?) after I realize how unrealistic some of my plans were (smile). But September is when I like to get it all going. 

Home management central is a bookshelf
I share with my parent's wine glasses (smile).

Now, keep in mind I am an organizing sort of gal. I like making my own planning master sheets, I love putting our life on paper. Some people don't have that same passion for organizing (it's like a high for me) but still want some tools to help them.

Thankfully there are some handy women out there in this online world of make-a-business-from-your-passion who love organizing so much that they've put together resources for those who need a little help. 

This post features some of those products.

Life Your Way Printables

Over the last year I've watched Mandi at Life Your Way grow her blogging business. Kudos to her. That girl knows what she wants and goes after it. She's written an e-book to help other moms do the same thing (go after what they want) and her site also has a lot of free organizing resources. 

Mandi is really good at making printables - master organizing sheets that you print out to use for your own purposes. Menu plans, weekly plans, maintenance logs... all manner of organizing sheets related to keeping home - you name it, she has it. And if she doesn't have it she is open to suggestions. And they're all free! She's just really cool that way.

But Mandi knows that some people just want to get the whole kit and kaboodle without clicking each and every link. So she's put together all her printables, more than 150, in a pack you can download all at once.  They're simple, easy to use, and aren't graphics heavy (save on printing). Also, if you purchase the printables kit she'll e-mail you new ones for free as they are created.

I'm currently using some of her blogging printables. 

Organizing Life as MOM

Jessica is one of my fellow contributors at Simple Homeschool. She has six kids and is uber-organized. She also does a ton of writing here, there and everywhere. So I'm guessing her organization helps out with making that happen as a busy mom who also homeschools.

Jessica has put together a pack of inspiration and planning pages for moms to create their own home management notebook.

What's a home management notebook?

I've talked a bit about my own home management binder in this planning post from last year. Here's a few more links that describe what I'm talking about:

• Home Management Notebook
• Creative Ideas for Household Notebooks
• Make a Household Notebook
• Using a Home Management Notebook: The Ultimate Guide

So, if you're thinking you want to put together a home management book you might want to check out Organizing Life as MOM. Jessica even has a blogger's pack and homeschooler's pack that can be purchased separately or mixed and matched with her basic kit.

I use Jessica's calendar pages (the one page portrait size is perfect for me) in my own planning book and some of her blogger pages.

What's cool is that Jessica's forms are fillable on the computer before you print them. I'm not so technically savvy in my own planning and prefer pen on paper but I thought this is a neat feature if you like that kind of thing. 

List PlanIt - Home Education ePlanner 

List PlanIt publishes lists. Lists for everything. 

I haven't used any of their general list products (it's a subscription service) but I do use some pages from their Home Education ePlanner. A lot of the pages in this planner allow you to fill in the subjects, goals, weekly activities, etc according to your own family's education style. I like that part. I've adapted several of these pages for my own homeschool planning binder.

There are a bunch of other ePlanners also available on their site.

An honest note about buying planners and printables (from any of these sites). Anyone with a bit of spreadsheet experience and some time can put together their own homeshooling or home management master planning sheets. I do that, because I like to make things exactly to my specifications. I also use looseleaf sheets with lines drawn with a ruler. Very high tech, I know. 

Some people though either don't have the time or desire to do that and just want something ready made. All of these products offer that. These businesses are also home based, mom run enterprises that you can feel good supporting. That's why I'm happy to endorse their products here. 

One last resource to share with you:

One Bite at a Time

This is where I eat humble pie. You see, when Tsh launched her new e-book I was like "yeah, been there, done that, I know the gig". Really, the only way we were able to make this move was with some serious simplifying of our life and a lot of what Tsh writes about we have been living for years. 

But I wanted to see what the buzz was about so I got a copy for review to see if I wanted to recommend it to you all. 

Reading her e-book I was put in my place. Renee, you don't know it all (duh). You have stuff to learn, or at the very least remember and practice once again. Yes, even about getting organized and living simply.

Having read Tsh's print book Organized Simplicity, I personally feel this e-book is a better value. Even though almost half of the content is already on the blog.

Let me explain:

In this e-book Tsh breaks everything down very simply (oh, she's good at that isn't she?). There's a checklist of 52 concrete life projects that will move you further along the path of simple and intentional family living.

This e-book is not about simplifying, organizing and cleaning your house nor is it about some abstract, simple living theory. It's about looking at your whole life and taking bite sized steps in a positive direction. You tackle the projects, that range from finances to relationships, at your own pace and there are plenty of links and resources for further reading and inspiration.

One of my favorite parts is the checklist. I LOVE checking things off in my life. I am so task orientated, it's scary. But what I really love is how manageable Tsh makes it by encouraging us to take one bite at a time. 

Yes, you've read this stuff on her blog (there's a lot of new content also) but it's more manageable somehow in this e-book. It's presented in an easy to follow format and is very adaptable so that no matter where you are on the journey, you can start and do something. Tsh pulls all the best of her blog together in this e-book so you're not surfing the blog trying to find that key post on how to simplify your life.

In case you're curious, I'm working on projects 3 & 4, establishing a good (early) morning routine and evening routine. I am loving the inspiration and accountability of One Bite at a Time. I think you will too.

Getting organized. Living simply and with intention. Working towards your goals. Making dreams happen.

It's a journey. Not a destination, as much as I struggle with that reality (I just want to arrive!) And being organized can help you make progress on that journey, at least it has for me.

How do you get and stay organized? What resources do you find helpful?