I STILL haven't decorated my tree! I'm doing that tomorrow. I'm honestly proud of myself that I didn't buy it on the 25th!

I use about 8 billion post-its a week. I have a customizable, small organizing thingy - and I keep a section for to do's -- I'll have a post it on a different page (using post-its make it easy to update/change) for errands to run/things to pick up, shipments I'm expecting, longer term to-do's, grocery list. My calendar is in there, important numbers. So, that's the organizing method.

But omg, I ALWAYS feel like I cannot keep up. And all of a sudden, it seems like nothing is in its place....I get overwhelmed...and don't want to attempt any of it....so yep, I get behind further. My method over the last few months is to talk myself out of that kind of thinking and just say to myself "do 5 mins of putting a few things away, and that's it" -- at least it's something I can achieve, without feeling like I failed bc I didn't do ALL that needed to be done.

I'm really prone to clutter/mess/mail piled up etc making me feel 'cluttery' in my brain. But, I can't seem to find the right way to avoid the clutter. Ya get rid of it, and 2 min later it's back. UGH. Endless cycle.

Confession: we don't make our bed unless guests are coming over. Gasp. Is that lazy or what?

My motto is: If people come to my house and don't feel the need to rinse my dishes before they drink out of a cup or eat off a plate, and they don't feel the need to hoover over the toilet while going, then my house is CLEAN ENOUGH! LOL

Seriously I do lots of things to make my life easier. I pick up every night, esp the rooms that company popping in would see. This makes real cleaning easier because I don't have to put away a million things before I can vacuum or dust.

I buy premade salads that feed 4 and are like $4 at the food store. I make simple meals, usually meat and veggies and rice/pasta/potatoes during the week.

I ask for help. I ask the kids or my fiance to do this or that real quick and they do it. That was hard and still is sometimes because I just think that they should KNOW to take out an overflowing trash or put dishes in the dishwasher and I'd get mad and do it myself. Now I just ask them to do it. I do the floors on the weekends only. My floors are always dirty. 10 mins after I sweep and mop them they are dirty. Now the person who tracks it in, cleans it up. I also invested in slippers that I like and now I never have to walk on dirty floors in just socks or bare feet bc I hate that!

No TV, computer or anything until after dinner. We all pitch in before dinner and then immediately after dinner to do the dishes ... 4 people can keep the house cleaner than 1 person can.

Decorating for christmas, I picked a weekend day in Nov and I set aside 4 hours to get decorating done. I wrap presents as I buy them so I don't have a whole pile that will take me 20 hours to wrap. I bake little things here & there so I don't do it all in 1 day. I really encourage others to help out. Its the only way to get it done really.

I worked for many years, and can tell you now.........it's impossible to be perfect in your job and your home at the same time. Something has to suffer, unless of course you have a cleaning lady and dog walker. I didn't have these luxuries and I had 6 sons and a dog. It wasn't until I was able to retire and stay at home that my house and dogs were all kept clean and organized. I do certain things each day Monday thru. Thursday. Friday & Saturday are spent going places with the girls and hubby and Sunday is church day. I always put a roast or large chicken in the slow cooker after church to have for dinner, (We eat lunch at the church since we have pot luck every Sunday). then we go for long walks or down to a beautiful park complete with a tiny lake and ducks and walking trails. The girls love it down there, but since we got Jilli Ann, we haven't been yet. Don't want to take her till she's had all her shots, and I don't want to leave her home. I wouldn't trade my life style now for anything.

Oh oH I now have a cleaning lady, but no dog walker, and well my house, my life is really not up to organized snuff!. But I've been thinking, just who do I have to keep up with? After all it is my rules, my house, my life. How can I be behind in my life? I make almost all of the decisions, including those ones that have me doing too much, in too little time, and on top of that procrastinating.:eek:

I think if I get the truly important stuff done that can't be avoided that is irritating, boring et al, the rest of the "stuff" is just the gnats of life(OOPS I make an exception for education-that helps you to earn plenty of $$ to do the next sentence):D. Pay your bills, your taxes..... the rest of the to do's is time negotiable. What isn't is; loving your family, your pets, your friends. Too often we put off the later, to do the former. :confused: Hope I said that the right way around.

Learning to say NO, is a great time saver. Particularly if your persona includes a truly fine character, coupled with a willingness to give and to help.

Lists have always helped me; in fact I am procrastinating right now about making my TO DO list, and then my Grocery List, and am just spending some time, enjoying Xmas music, having a lunsup, and relaxing.
How-ever once made, I love the sense of accomplishment ticking off an item. They do tend to keep me straight and getting done what I do truly want and need done.

The short answer is, I don't keep up. It's basically impossible. I can just keep everything at a level that doesn't cause stress and anxiety.

One of the best things I've been able to do over the past couple of years is having my younger brother (he's 22 now) move in with me. I went from living alone to living with a sibling, which was an adjustment...but it's been wonderful. He works very different hours than I do, so taking care of the pups, having someone home during the day to run errands...it's all gotten a lot easier.

I am very, very lazy about cooking during the week. I use my crock pot often, and that helps a lot. And then I eat leftovers for a couple of days because there are only two of us here. I wash and cut fruits and veggies as soon as I get home from the store, so when I'm ready to use them, there is little or no preparation.

I try to clean as I go. Dishes immediately in the dishwasher after use. Fold laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer. Put makeup and toiletries away after use. That makes a big difference when I'm not coming home to clutter!

My house is almost spotless, but I suffer in other areas... exercise for one. I don't get any. I work full time, help look after the house, cooking, the puppy, and always have homework to do evenings and weekends because I'm almost finished my accounting designation and a university degree. Sometimes I just have to sit and cry my head off because I feel so overwhelmed, but then I wash my face and carry on because I have to.

One thing most important to me is a clean kitchen. My kitchen is always, ALWAYS spotless. One place where I lowered my standards is that I stopped making the bed every day. If my b/f didn't do yard work I would hire someone to do it. I would love to hire a maid to come in twice a month to clean bathrooms and floors, and we can afford it, but it seems like such a waste of money. Maybe next year!