TIME SAVER: Write It Down!

As with many a Mom, I find myself suffering from "Mommy Brain".  That wonderful label that refers to a busy Mom who just can't remember what she needs to remember.  Really I think it stems from A. having too much that needs to be remembered (Remember the kids' mitts, hats, diapers, the car keys, don't hit your elbow on the door like you did last time, feed the cat, etc, etc.) and B. we are sleep deprived!  Do you know how hard it is to remember your own phone number when you've only had 3 hours of actual sleep!?

So what's a good Mom to do?

Write it down!!

I often write myself notes and lists.  This is a TIME SAVER because I don't need to rely on my memory.  Have you ever stood in a room of your house and wondered what on earth you were just doing?  I hate wasting time like that so instead I post stickies all over the house to remind myself of all the things that I don't want to forget.  But I found that often I would misplace my lists. Or I would have 2 lists on the kitchen counter and 1 list on the kitchen table and another list someplace else.  It was creating a lot of work (and lost time) keeping track of all my lists!

My "Mom Binder"

I decided I needed to choose where I wanted all my lists to be so I could keep track of them all.  But where?  I often kept them in the kitchen, but sometimes I needed them in the bedroom (to write them out before I went to sleep) or at the kitchen table and sometimes even the bathroom.  I needed a movable place to put them.  How was I going to manage that?

And thus the "Mom Binder" was born!

On the front cover I keep my cleaning lists (I will blog on them later).  Inside the front cover, in the pocket, hold my other lists.  I have 4 note pads for 4 different needs. And my monthly calendar.

1. Far left note pad: things to do in the near future but have no assigned time frame.  Currently my son need to send out Thank You cards for gifts he received for his birthday.

2. Long note pad: I write out all the things I need to do that day.  I would like to get fancy note paper that already has the day written at the top of the paper (to save time) but to save money I'll just keep writing it out.

3. Pink sticky note pad: These are for all the "don't forget" notes I write myself (and sometimes for Hubby) but I also use them as book marks (I don't like to dog ear books) and subject dividers in my Mom Binder.

4. Short blue note pad: I write out my ideas on this pad.  All the things and ideas that pop into my head or the ideas and inspiration I get from online sites and blogs.  Also if I find a new site I'd like to visit again or a book I hear about that I'd like to read.  It all goes on this pad.

Note: except for the pink stickies I got all these pads free from a nice gentleman stranger at the recycling station by my house.  He was recycling paper at the same time I was.  He started throwing out all this old stationary but then decided to ask me if I wanted it.  I was so excited! I go through many lists in a day and VERY happy to receive it for free!  Thank you God!

I have a wall calendar for doctor's appointment and birthdays but my binder calendar is absolutely necessary because it I can write out my future plans on it.  I can write when I'd like to shop for so-and-so's gift, what I'd like to blog, who we'd like to invite to dinner and so forth.  I can plan a whole year in advance if I'd like.  It's a "big picture" list of a daily to-do list.

I have a final list (are we up to 7 lists now?) and that one stays on my fridge.  It is where I write out all the things I need to get at the store.  This list never leaves the fridge unless it's coming with me to the store.  That way I and Hubby always know where to write the things we're running low on or are out of.

Do you write lists?  How many notepads do you use?  

Do you have a method of organizing them?

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