I’m an Executive Assistant/Personal Assistant/Executive Officer by trade and that role requires me to be good at organising things. Not only do I look after myself but I look after a very busy senior government executive.
Here’s how I manage.
Calendar app
I couldn’t survive without my iPhone and in particular the calendar app. Each member of the family has a calendar with their name on it and each of us adds events and appointments that are coming up. Each calendar has a different colour which makes it pretty easy to see if it an appointment belongs to Miss P or Mr P etc. We have a pretty hard and fast rule that things must be in the calendar and that helps us know where everybody is at any particular time.
In the last few years getting fit and healthy has been a big focus. With every goal set it is vital that enough time is allocated to working towards it. Fitness is important to us so we schedule our gym sessions into the calendar. We work our life around our gym routine rather than the other way around. It means that we are getting good value for our gym membership. Consistency is the key.
Reminders app
This is another iPhone app that I couldn’t live without.
I’ve created a number of sub-lists, such as Things To Do Today, Groceries, Health and Wellbeing, Miss P, Master P, Birthdays, To Buy, Household, Presents. I use these lists to record all of the things that need to be done and not forgotten. You can also assign alarm reminders to each item to further jog your memory.
Notes app
I love a good list and this app is a great way of capturing them.
Examples of the lists I keep are:
- lists of movies I’d like to see and have seen (I love great Oscar and Golden Globe nominated movies)
- menu plans/ideas for parties or dinners I am hosting
- photos and details of things I have lent to people
- restaurants/cafes I want to try in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast
- if someone tells me about an interesting app to try, I’ll note it down
- details of my kids’ epilepsy diagnosis in case I’m ever quizzed on it
- skincare and makeup products I’m interested in
- reviews of products as I try them
- notes on recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals (because I can never remember)
- my clothing and shoe size in US, UK, Europe and Australian units (helps with purchases at Zara and H&M)
- fragrances suggested to me or ones I’d like to try
Clutter
I have a couple of rules I try to follow and they are - less is more and everything has a home and everything in its place. Each storage area of our home is the home for specific items and I keep things together i.e. candles together, cook books together, videos/DVDs together. The same rule applies in the pantry. It’s organised in a similar way to the supermarket where all breakfast items are together, oils are together, biscuits are together. I also like to do a once over of the house most days to make sure that all clutter is removed and things are returned to their home. Any loose items are left on our internal stairs and each of us clears our own bits and pieces at the end of the day. Again it all works based on consistency and the face that we all like a clean and uncluttered space. I also try to follow the idea of an item out for an item in. For example, when purchasing new piece of clothing, something old needs to be removed to allow for something new. But Master P’s room is full of clutter and there’s not much I can do about that other than constantly nag him to tidy it up. Ahhh teenage boys!!
Groceries
I always shop with a list as there’s little hope of me remembering things if I think I can just commit it to memory. I normally walk through the house with paper and a pen in hand and add things as I go. I also use the reminder app on my phone to write down things I think of when I’m away from home. The family will also text me if there’s anything they need. Most of the time my husband will do the groceries with me so we can keep to the list and limit spontaneous purchases. We are trying to cut down on wastage as much as possible and generally plan our meals for the week ahead.
Sometimes I also use the Woolworths (supermarket) app. You can load grocery lists into it and it sorts the list into aisle order to match your store of choice. Very handy.
Memories
At the end of each calendar year I compile a list of things we have done. It may be that someone started their 1st year of university, someone turned 18, some major health event, significant parties, holidays or major activities. I have been keeping track of this information since my husband and I met back in 1986. As you can imagine it contains an interesting list of things that have occurred over the years – jobs we’ve had, houses and cars we’ve bought, school events, birthdays, holidays etc. I also use this document to compile our Christmas Newsletter. The newsletter is written yearly instead of writing Christmas cards and the memories document makes writing it a whole lot easier.
Quicken
I have always recorded every cent earnt and spent since Mr P and I married. At first I used Microsoft Money but eventually that program was discontinued. I now use a home version of Quicken. You can record assets, loans, home inventory, share investments, superannuation and bank account transactions. The program helps so much when we are preparing our tax returns as the program can create numerous reports. It also has budgetary functions and tracking. It does require the effort of regularly inputting information but the ability to analyse financial information and be notified of bill payments is well worth it.
Medical Information
We keep Word documents for each of us which holds all of our medical information. It contains vaccinations and dates, details of any hospital admissions and information on each visit to a doctor, specialist, optometrist, physiotherapist and dentist. This information has been especially valuable when both Master P and Miss P were diagnosed with epilepsy and have any kind of recurrence. Doctors always want to know when this or that happened and a document like this is the only way we can remember any of it. It’s also valuable when applying for travel insurance which can be tricky when your family suffers from complex medical conditions.
Each member of our house has a file where physical medical information is held. It includes prescriptions, receipts, brochures, reports, results etc.
Packing List
In a previous post called Packing I talked about a packing list that I have compiled. We pull it out each time we travel and it serves as a reminder of things to consider when packing a suitcase and travelling.
Housework
I might be a tidy and neat person but I wouldn’t say I’m a clean-freak. We don’t have a house cleaner and to be honest we really don’t need one. I do however find that cleaning is best done on a priority basis – obviously clean the areas that people will see as a priority. We do however have a few rules and they are that bed sheets and towels are changed and washed every weekend. Dirty clothes are stowed in the laundry basket and that is then sorted into 4 separate laundry bags that are in the laundry.
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| One of our labelled laundry baskets - makes sorting easy |
Our dishwasher has a sign on the front that says either Dirty or Clean to help us know whether the dishwasher needs to be filled or emptied.
We all create mess and we all need to be responsible for cleaning it up – and for the most part, in our house, that works.
Washing
Given we are a very busy family, with 2 of us working full time and the other 2 studying full-time and working part-time, we need to be super organised. Our washing machine runs daily, literally if someone’s home the washing machine is on. That way we are always on top of it. We do have someone doing our ironing weekly and we need to be sure that we have enough items for them every week.
Consistency
I think with most things if you set up a really good system and do things consistently, then everyone in the family knows what needs to be done and what expectations need to be met. I’m lucky that we all like a neat and tidy environment (well most of us).
Books
A couple of good books I’ve read that really got me inspired.
- The Family Manager's Everyday Survival Guide by Kathy Peel
- Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Mogenstern
- Family Survival Guide The Essential Family Organiser by Lucy Kelly
A book I’ve just started reading.
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo
Until next time xx
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