Organizing My Life (and Maybe Yours, Too)

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Lately I’ve been feeling like my life is totally out of control.

All of the changes and adjustments we’ve made since my dad moved in are starting to add up. I have little piles of clutter here and there. My schedule feels like it should belong to at least two other people. If I gave up sleep, I’m not sure I could keep up.

Surely you know how I feel.

I’ve had a number of ideas for getting my life back in order. One of them is finding the elusive perfect planner. Even though I think we as ADDers ought to rely on technology rather than a paper planner, and even though I preach that you should only use one calendar, I don’t listen.

I have an Erin Condrun planner that I love cause it’s so pretty, but I’m sure I’m not taking full advantage of it.

And I have an iPhone which I try to use as my go to calendar, but still, nothing is perfect. And I shouldn’t expect it to be either.

Anyway, organizing my life is about much more than a planner or calendar. It’s about to do lists and then actually doing the things on it.

I’ve been looking at the state of my life lately and those piles of clutter and thinking if I could just get things straightened out a little bit, I might feel better, but I just don’t have the time.

We all tell ourselves that little lie, don’t we? That we just don’t have the time?

But we do have time for our favorite TV shows, grabbing one snack too many, spending time online, and so much more.

I’ve come up with a plan, which I’m going to share with you. It’s supposed to help me put my life back in order and not make me crazy in the meantime. Well, you know, crazier.

So here it is:

It starts with a list. My famous dump list. Dump everything out of your head and put it on a piece of paper (or in a file in your computer). No order, no editing. Just do it.

Now, even though it’s not Sunday night (cause you know that’s when you’re supposed to be planning your week), choose one thing to get done. Yes, I know you have 453 things on that list and one just won’t be enough. It will. Trust me. Get it done and then you will only have 452.

Make the task as small as possible. Not “clean the bedroom” or even “clean out the closet”. How about setting your timer for 15 minutes and just working for that long? Start by clearing out things that don’t belong or that you don’t want.

Set aside time for this every day. Just 15 minutes.

You know what would be even better? If you actually put that into your calendar each day. An appointment with yourself that you keep no matter what.

Now I know you’re thinking “well, that takes care of the clutter, but what about not having any time or control or organizing her life? She didn’t mention any of that.”

You’re pretty sharp, aren’t you?

But you know what happens when you start to clear out the clutter in your life?

You start to feel calmer. More in control.

You have more time because you’re not spending it digging through a mess to find something that you need.

And when the peace and calm and feeling in control happen, your self confidence goes up. You feel better about yourself. Maybe you even do something nice for yourself like sign up for that class you wanted to take but didn’t have time for, cause now you do.

So let’s start now. Take 15 minutes and start your list. And then you’re done for today.

P.S. Want to see my list and watch my progress? Click on the tab labeled Dump List.

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle is the writer of Lacyestelle.com and the Podcast host for An ADD Woman.

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