But I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with this site and I think I’m finally ready to do more. I get a lot of searches for “organized mother” so there are a lot of people out there wanting to get more organized. I’m going to still talk about my journey to get organized, as well as point out resources and information as I find them.

I hope you’ll join me. And if you have any questions at all, a topic you’d like me to cover, or just a comment, please feel free to leave a note on any post or email me. Thanks for sticking around!

image: morguefile

I’ll be honest – I’m struggling with putting too much on my plate. Something’s got to go. And by the end of the year, I plan to phase out a couple of small projects that just aren’t going to be worth my time any more.

Because, really, neglect is not a pretty thing.

Whether we neglect our house, ourselves, our blogs, we usually wind up feeling guilty about it. Guilt doesn’t help you get things done any more than procrastination does.

So I’m back, and I’ll be working on my to-do list. I need to get it in order and see what I’ve missed. I’m sure there are one or two…dozen.

Have you fallen off of the bandwagon? What are you plans to get back in the game?

It takes a day or two to get back into the swing after travel. I have to catch up on email, regular mail, and all the other paperwork that running a household and business entails. And I’ll need to unpack, process my receipts, and follow up with all of the people I met.

You see, I’m the paperwork person – I handle the tedious tasks that a household requires, since I have more of an affinity for it than my husband does. So after traveling I have to catch up on a lot of things.

I need to pick up where I left off with projects, things that I couldn’t attend to when I was gone. And that means sitting down for a few minutes and remembering where I was the last time. Switching gears is sometimes where we lose a lot of traction. Where did I leave off…? It can be even harder when you’re a mom because you have so much more to keep track of.

Additionally, there’s laundry for me and the baby (since he’s too small to stay home, he goes with me). Somehow I have to squeeze all of this in around his schedule (usually naps).

I tend to feel out of sorts for a bit after I get home, but that could just be me. I don’t do a ton of traveling and I rely heavily on routine to keep myself organized. And sane. So something that’s out of the ordinary can really throw me for a loop. It takes a day or two to settle back into a normal routine. (As normal as a routine can be with a baby.)

Does it seem to take a bit of effort to get back on track after you’ve been traveling? Or do you jump right back in with little down time? Is it different when you travel by yourself, compared to when the whole family goes?

Image: morgueFile

I’m increasingly finding it to be the best day to play catch up on little things that slip by during the week. Throwing away junk mail, filing, cleaning miscellaneous stuff on my desk. Things that I’m too busy for during the week.

And the great thing about them is they’re great to just dabble in here and there, throughout the day. I’ll spend 5 minutes going through papers, tossing what I don’t need. Later I’ll come back for 5-10 minutes more and clean an area of my desk. File a few bills or receipts.

It’s really not much but it goes a long way toward making me feel more caught up and in control of things. And that helps me when it’s time to approach the new week on Monday.

I try not to do too much work, as I want to feel like I’ve had a day off to spend enjoying my family. But just those little things don’t feel like too much work. It’s important, sure, but I do it in such small batches it’s more like fiddling than attacking a project.

Do you completely relax on Sunday? Do you feel rejuvenated? Or is it just another work day or day to get other things done?

Image: mamchenkov (cc)