The Organize Now 12 Week Challenge

As part of the gearing-up-to-get-organized process I've been engaged in, I pulled out some of the tools I've picked up along the way when trying to get organized. Last summer I spotted Jennifer Ford Berry's Organize Now! on the rack at my local Michael's store and fell in love with the cover so, of course, I bought it. I read it for a few nights and thought it was just wonderful, but never got as far as putting any of it into practice. The other night I spotted it on my nightstand and pulled it out to add to the pile of helpers. I read some of the sections again and thought, "This will be mighty helpful. I just have to figure out where to start."

With most projects, I have no problem figuring out where to start. I can look at the end goal and logically think through all the steps required to get there and just where to start. BUT, getting organized has just never been so simple. Even with this fabulous little book in my hands telling me just how to get there - all the steps I need to take broken down into a week-by-week format - I didn't know where to start. My problem being the idea that I don't want it to take 40 weeks to get there. (The book actually has a full year of week-by-week tips, but some don't apply for me and others only apply to special circumstances.) At the very least, I knew I wanted to see progress in some areas of my home much sooner than I would if I started with week 1 and worked through the book in order. So, I would need to come up with an action plan of my own... (Yes, I was definitely finding ways to procrastinate and getting hung up over something silly, but it is what it is.)

So, I decided to Google the author and see if she maybe offers a quick-and-dirty-crash-course in organization. I didn't know that January is National Organizing Month. It turns out that in recognition of that, Jennifer Ford Berry has started a 12 week Organize Now Challenge. She selected 12 chapters from her book to kick-start the organization process. Five wonderful ladies have been selected to blog about their progress on the challenge each week. I'm not one of those ladies, but I've decided to jump in with them. It's always easier and more fun to do something when you're not doing it alone. The plan for the challenge is:

Week 1:   Organize Your Schedule
Week 2:   Organize Your Kitchen Cupboards
Week 3:   Organize Your Bedroom Closet
Week 4:   Organize Your Routines (weeks 53 & 54 in book)
Week 5:   Organize Your Papers/Files
Week 6:   Organize Your Pantry
Week 7:   Organize Your Entryway
Week 8:   Organize Your Memorabilia
Week 9:   Organize Your Medicine Cabinet
Week 10: Organize Your Refrigerator
Week 11: Organize Your Books, CDs and DVDs
Week 12: Organize Your Home Office

I'm only a week behind here, and not really all that far behind. As part of organizing your schedule, Jennifer recommends buying one planner to use for both home and work. Separate planners leaves you open to confusion and overlapped appointments. I purchased a small planner back in December and sat down just before the new year and put everything I could into it - birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, etc. 

Jennifer suggests gathering all of your To Do lists, sticky notes, scraps of paper, and so on and combining them into a single list in your planner. My planner doesn't have a good place for this (there's room for daily to-dos, but not for the long-term running list I always have) so, rather go shop for another planner, I have attached my planner to a pad-folio with a couple Smash bands so that they open in opposite directions. (I should probably get some pics to post.) This way I can keep running lists, have a place for brain-dumping, and jot down whatever, whenever, wherever. I take this with me wherever I go, including upstairs when I head to bed (Jenn recommends keeping a small notebook by your bed for when you lie awake thinking of all the things you need to do) so I always have access to it.

So, I already have week 1 underway. Keeping your schedule organized is, obviously, an on-going task. I will need to refer back to this chapter regularly to stay on top of it and complete the tasks I have not yet addressed. The Challenge also doesn't address some areas of HUGE concern for me (living room, dining room, kids' rooms...), but I expect that stepping up to the Challenge will help me find the motivation/determination to develop my own plan for tackling the rest of the house.

Up next is the kitchen cupboards. Oh boy...