Life Ain't So Bad At All...

... if you live it ON THE WALL.

I've tried, so many times, to organize my life.  Tried the Pam and Peggy 3x5 card method, and its subsequent FlyLady method. Tried the to-do list method.  Google calendar.  Cozi.com.  Outlook.  Some people like having an appointment book, which I've also tried - many trees (and Bothans) died in my numerous attempts to get comfortable using an appointment book.  Nothing ever worked.

This brilliant organization idea came to me while I was watching MegaMind with my babies. (Except MegaMind hangs everything on the ceiling... which is another Motown artist reference entirely)

Hubby came home, saw what I did and told me I had a wonderful possible future as a detective.

Here's why it works - I mean, NOTHING ELSE has worked for me this long, it's pretty amazing:

1) I can see everything all at once.
2) I can see how many days I have until a certain event.  (!!!!) 
3) A place for everything, everything in its place (which is wherever I decide).
4) It's huge.  It can't get lost and forgotten under a pile of papers on the kitchen counter.
5) It accommodates all the stuff my kids bring home from church, school, etc.  I don't forget anything anymore.  I'm not caught off guard. 
6) It's fun.  Who but MegaMind and the peeps on Law & Order: SVU live like this?
7) The sense of peace is amazing and worth every bit of office supplies, time, effort and cluttered wall space.

I keep it in our room next to my side of the bed, so I can see it every morning.  It isn't portable, but I find that I don't really need so many reminders now.  I can look at each day one at a time (impossible for me to do before), focus on it and get things done.  AND I'm better at working on long-term projects.  I'm just dumbfounded at how well it works and the funny way I discovered it.

Day 1 - April 22

Day 7 - April 28

Day 16 - Today

Yeah.  Sixteen days in and it's still working.  I've almost made it to that magical three-week "form a new habit" point.  Incredible!  This girl doesn't DO habits!!  At least, not intentionally.  :)

I cannot stress enough how much better I feel about my life since I have started this on-the-wall thing.  Time management has been a struggle for me since ... well, forever, and to find something that works - FINALLY - is life-changing.  It's like I was born with a missing gene that just now showed up and clicked into place.  Yay!

And, now that all my references are dated and require explanation...