When all else fails, organize...

Here's the thing...I over commit.  I feel like we've had this conversation before on the blog.  I'm an overcommitter. 

"We need a faculty advisor for student senate at this very large university that you work at?" 
"I'd love to!"

"Well we could have a really awesome community garden, but the grants we need are really time/labor intensive."
"Not a problem, I'll write and manage them."

And then there's the stuff I do to myself...

"I think I'll start a blog...and actually, like, really blog."

"I'm going to have an Etsy shop...I'll give a short turn around time for people, I hate to make them wait for me to make these things."

"I'm going to have my own garden plot, and grow all sorts of tasty veggies!"

"I think for the wedding we should give everyone wine glasses dipped in chalkboard paint...I'll only have to make 120 of them."

So, basically I'm slowly but surely running myself ragged.  And don't get me wrong...I love what I sign myself up for (for the most part) and I love being busy.  But I also get a little overwhelmed at times.  There's a few times where the Community Garden grants have taken their toll.  Around mother's day I was getting at least 5 new orders a day for birthday boards and they are pretty time intensive.  I would get home from work around 6 and literally immediately start working on them and be up until after 1am still working on them.  I just hate to tell people no.

I've been slightly overwhelmed recently with the wedding getting closer, the blog becoming more of a priority (but talking to people or getting comments from people and learning they are reading...is such a great feeling).  I've decided it was time to go to my old fall back...organize the hell out of my life.

I love lists and spreadsheets.  We have three wedding spreadsheets so far: budget, guest list, and time line.  I love making to-do lists.  I literally start my to do list by writing things down I've already completed and crossing them off.  Is that a little crazy?  Probably, but whatever.  We took a Meyers-Briggs at work and on the organized v. fly by the seat of your pants scale (definitely not the official term) I scored 100% organized.  The lady was like, "hmm, so do you use spreadsheets in your personal life?"  Yes, a lot.  "Do you put things on a list just so you can cross them off?"  See above.  "Do you like hosting family holidays at your house?"  Yes.  This year was our first Christmas together as an engaged couple that have really cemented a future together and I really wanted to host Christmas eve dinner with both my fam and his.  We did, and it was wonderful.  I'm hoping it becomes a tradition.

The other day I found a planner at Target.  I regularly buy at least 3 planners every year and shift between them.  In fact, I made a blog planner and featured it here but have now started using this all in one planner instead.  This is...pretty typical.

I just like the feeling of putting things in a planner.  This one was a lot different than any I've purchased before:

Sorry, the picture isn't ideal.  I haven't been carrying around my big fancy camera like I need to.  I think I will change that over the weekend though so stay tuned.

Anyway, it's bound like a book instead of a spiral binding.  It hold up a lot better and i like the feel of it.  It also has a ribbon to hold the page...and I love that.

Here's my week so far...

So I only use this to track my to dos outside of work.  I have a whole other notebook for work to do lists.  And yes, I did buy this about a week after the calendar in it had started (it's an academic calendar) so I did go back and add things I had already done to my planner.  Part of it is I like looking at old planners and seeing what I've done over the last year. 

While these lists may stress most "normal" people out, I feel better knowing I have a list all written down and a plan to get it done.

I suppose today's post doesn't have much purpose, other then to see if I'm the only one that uses organization and OCD as a coping mechanism???  Whatever gets you through :)