Now that all your presents are unwrapped, give yourself a big present: get organized in 2009!
Keep Track of Your To-Do List:I’m a busy mama, and I keep track of all my appointments, playdates, volunteer commitments and work projects using the 2009 BusyBodyBook Personal & Family Organizer. As a type-A person who actually enjoys organizing things, I’ve tried lots of calendars and planners over the years.
I first discovered the BusyBodyBook in 2007. Its 5 column grid design has made it my favorite. Plus, you can tell it was designed by a mom since Saturday and Sunday have as much planning space as Monday-Friday because moms work a 7-day week! (Read our full review here.)
Get a Family Calendar: I can’t live without my BusyBodyBook planner, but it’s still necessary to post a family wall calendar in a prominent location in your kitchen, family room or office. That way Dad, the kids and even your babysitter know what’s going on.
The 2009 BusyBodyBook Wall Calendar
Best Online Calendars: Google Calendar & Famundo
Google offers a free, shareable calendar, which makes it easy to keep track of appointments, birthdays, and all those pesky tasks on your to-do list. You can send invites to your family & friends, “share” your calendar with your family, and even set up nifty email reminders. You can even “search” your calendar, which is handy if you forget when you last saw the dentist or something like that.
I’m also a fan of Famundo, which is another free online calendar. Famundo was designed specifically for families, and it incorporates to-do lists, shopping lists, and more. I prefer the Google calendar since it is so convenient for Gmail users, but I like the Famundo display better than the Google calendar display since Famundo lets you see your calendar, to do list, documents, messages and more in a single glance.
I’ve only used the free Famundo version. But if you want to sync Famundo with your Outlook calendar, you’ll need to pay $99 to upgrade to Famundo Plus.
Organization Help:If you’re feeling overwhelmed with clutter, tasks, householding cleaning…and life in general, Organize Now!: A Week By Week Guide To Simplify Your Space And Your Life
The very idea of cleaning and organizing seems intimidating to most people. But if you take it step-by-step, organization becomes easy and simple. In fact, the hardest part of organization is getting started. Once you get moving, doing the organizing is actually easy. For example, I organized more than 30 years of family photos for my parents in just one weekend a few years ago.
Jennifer Berry’s book is genius. She gives fast, simple and straightforward guidelines that will help you stay organized for the rest of your life. Each week she sets a series of small goals for you to complete and even includes a handy checklist.
She’s broken the book down into seven categories: Organize Yourself, Organize Your Papers, Organize Your Things, Organize Your High-Traffic Areas, Organize Your Personal Spaces, Organize Your Storage Areas and Organize Your Special Events. Many of the weekly tasks are simple enough to accomplish during naptime, but some may require an entire afternoon. For example, one week’s task might be “Organize Your Medicine Cabinet” (super fast!) while another week’s task might be the more time-consuming “Organize Your Child’s Memorabilia.”
Do just one task a week, and you’ll be completely organized and unburdened by clutter at this time next year. Jennifer Berry even inspires you to tackle bigger projects like organizing your photos or your child’s memorabilia. She provides practical tips to help your break these projects into doable pieces.
Want It:
2009 BusyBodyBook Personal & Family Organizer is $17.95 at Amazon.
2009 BusyBodyBook Wall Calendar
Organize Now!: A Week By Week Guide To Simplify Your Space And Your Life
Get free organization tips online from BusyBodyBook creator Joan Golder at busybodybookblog.typepad.com and from Organize Now author Jennifer Berry at www.jenniferfordberry.blogspot.com.
