Hi!! Happy Tuesday!

I’m back today to talk about my tips on staying organized.

I am definitely one of those people that has to have things organized in order to function. So with a new year, I thought I would share a few of my tips and tricks. Keep in mind, they are all very practical!

-First things first: I LIVE BY MY PLANNER! Back in college, I use to buy planners because they were cute and I would use it for about a month then stop. Now that I’m teaching, I live by it!! I write down EVERYTHING! I get tons of emails each day and if I don’t write down deadlines and important info. I will forget!

-I have to use a planner that has blank pages at the back for notes because I use those pages! I have a page for:

-daily work duties: change lunch choices, change sign in sheets, etc.

-weekly work duties: send home newsletter, change book boxes, etc.

-monthly work duties: change bulletin board, print monthly words, etc.

-home: quiet time in the word, pay bills on Sunday, grocery shopping on Monday, etc.

I don’t necessarily have to look at the “note pages” each day. I just like knowing that its there in case I do forget something, especially with work because there is a lot to keep up with! I only named a few things above 😉

-I bought Harry a planner to start using this year. Will he use it? Probably not! At least I’m trying tho lol

-I use a calendar at home to write things down that Harry and I both need to know about. For example, I wouldn’t write down my work info. here and he wouldn’t either unless it was something that we needed to know about like if we are going to be out of town or have an event, etc.

-I use one of these small file organizers for bills! I write down everything that we have due each month and write down due dates. Every Sunday, we sit down and pay bills that will be due that week ahead of time. That helps us when we are crazy busy throughout the week so that we don’t forget!

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-“To buy” list: I keep a piece of paper on the desk each week so that when I think of something we need the next time I go grocery shopping, I go ahead and write it down so that I don’t forget. The only thing on the list right now is a lent roller HA!

-I have established Monday’s as my grocery shopping day! I go on Monday’s with a list (always!) and come home and write down dinners for the week. (If I’m lucky, a few of those dinners will actually turn out right!) I always make my grocery list before I go to the grocery store. Now there are definitely times when I am able to skip a Monday because it’s just the two of us so we always have left overs and we always have a date night out!

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Miscellaneous Tips:

This is my list of random things that help me keep things in order

-Last year, I started organizing all of our Christmas cards in gallon size ziploc bags by the year!

-I organized party invitations, save the dates, and wedding invitations the same way!

-When I took all of my Christmas decor out to decorate a few months ago, I told myself I was going to buy storage bins to organize all of it. I use to have stuff in a million different bags and random boxes. So when it was time to take everything down, I went to Walmart and bought storage bins for everything. I have them labeled by Christmas decor, fall decor, and a miscellaneous box for random party stuff!

-I also find use for them at work! HA! I keep my storage closet organized by subject too but I’m not super crazy about how its organized or stacked as long as I know the math materials are in the math closet, etc. I’m only OCD to an extent lol

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Again, all very practical tips but they definitely help me! If you have any good ideas that work for you, please share!!