With school back in session and extra-curricular activities starting to rev up, I’m hearing a lot of talk about overwhelm. Busy schedules, as you know, can get overwhelming and chaotic especially if you are juggling activities of multiple kids. But don’t you worry, these simple organizing strategies will help you combat the dreaded overwhelm and calm chaos that comes with it.

I was feeling overwhelmed at the beginning of September. We jumped right back in to school stuff and sports and all of a sudden I didn’t know if I was coming or going. Overwhelm can quickly rule the day when our brains try desperately to remember everything we feed it. When all the little details that parents have to worry about swirl in our brains as we scramble to remember everything, well it can be exhausting and stressful.

Thankfully once I got back into following my system it finally felt like I could take a deep breath again. This system not only helps me manage life on a regular basis, but it’s especially helpful when going through challenging life seasons like a new school year, a new baby, a big move or managing an illness. Because let’s face it, while typical advice might be to just put down some of the balls we’re trying to keep in the air, that isn’t always possible. So instead, the purpose of today’s blog post is more about managing the chaos instead of the chaos managing us. Yes, let’s do this!

To-do List Notebook

Now this isn’t revolutionary but lists are the lifeline to my overwhelm. But not just any list or post it note reminder stuck to every nook and cranny. Nope it’s what I like to call my Master List Notebook that keeps all my to-do’s in one place. Otherwise known as my brain dump basket. You all know how I love to contain things! I’m an old fashioned pen and paper kind of gal so this is what I keep going back to time and time again. It’s simple and easy to use.

Brain Dump

I write down every single task that is taking up more space than it needs to in my head. We get overwhelmed when our brains are trying to process and remember a lot of information. By getting it out of our heads and written down, it eases the burden and allows the brain to slow down and focus on one thing at a time.

The trick to this brain dump is to list your tasks in detail and this comes in handy for batching tasks. The more detailed I am, the less stress I feel. Mental clutter is bad news. It’s why we start forgetting what we need when we leave the house.

Batching Tasks

Having a running master list like this makes it very easy now to batch tasks, saving you all sorts of time, energy and money. When I need to run downtown to do an errand I can quickly scan my list to see anywhere I noted that I needed to purchase or pick up something saving myself multiple trips. Nothing is more annoying to me than making a trip to the grocery store, only to remember when I get home that I forgot something. Making another trip is such a waste of valuable time. In addition to shopping trips, I also try to batch phone calls, content, and emails  etc.

Calendar/ Planner

Another key organizing component to decreasing overwhelm is utilizing a planner of some kind. Whether it’s a digital one or paper (or both), it’s essential to organizing your time. Once you’ve had a successful brain dump, now is the time to take that master list and schedule those tasks into your planner. Each morning I go through my list notebook and find three tasks that are my must do’s for the day. I may still fit in others as time allows, but first I select three items that are my top priority. I then jot those down in my planner along with any relevant sub-tasks required to make those three tasks happen.

If we aren’t intentional about this step it’s easy to procrastinate the tasks believing that we have more time than we really do. Or put things off simply because we are too overwhelmed with the volume of items that need to get done. Be realistic about your time, when we get over ambitious we set ourselves up for failure.

There are many calendar apps out there and I’ve tried many of them. I keep coming back to the simplicity of my gmail calendar app because I can sync things with my husband when needed. Simplicity is the way to go for me always. 

If you’ve got younger children I strongly suggest a large fridge or counter calendar (depending on your space) to keep everyone connected. It’s so important! 

When You Run Out Of Resources

If, after implementing these strategies, you’re still having trouble keeping up then it might be time to consider one or more of the following steps.

1. Ask friends for help (not always easy to do)

2. Hire tasks out (is it worth my time to pay someone else to do it?)

3. Simplify (eg: I will buy teacher gifts rather than make them myself)

4. Re-prioritize, delegate and delete (what can I cut from the list)

Remember, whichever organizing strategies you implement, if they aren’t simple enough to use you are just adding to the chaos. So always keep it simple and say no to brain clutter. You’ll feel so much better when you do!

Of these organizing strategies, which one is your favorite?

Happy Organizing

-Jocelyn