When I recently gave up my busy work life to come a work-at-home mom, I thought one of the results would be a neat and organized home. My excuse for a more than slightly disorganized home was that, as a full-time traveling working single parent, two dogs, two cats and a tank full of fish, I was just too busy. My fantasy was that more time at home would cure that.
It didn't -- if anything, my disorganization seemed to expand to fit the free time. Worse, even with all the free time, without spending much time on housework, I never seemed to be able to find the time to do a lot of things I wanted to do. My shelves were filled with home craft materials, but even if I had the time to spend on a project, I couldn't seem to locate what I needed.
But when my fourth grader's teacher told me he was the most disorganized child she'd taught in 7 years, and then showed me his desk overflowing with papers, books and homework assignments completed but never turned in, I realized something had to be done. I was training him to live in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). Visions of my son in the future, opening his high school locker only to be buried alive, prompted me to find a solution for him -- which meant I needed to lead by example.
And so -- since nothing else had worked -- I ordered the book, and dubiously started to read it. Skeptically I forced myself to buy some index cards and filled them out (a rather simplistic and foolish notion, I thought). Feeling silly, I began following the instructions (I skipped over the somewhat goofy stories the sisters tell). Slowly my life began to get more organized.
At this point, my house is consistently tidy. My Christmas presents -- some home made -- are finished, wrapped and sent. Instead of taking up all my precious free time, being organized has given me more free time, and some peace of mind. Best of all, my son (whose homework still gets left behind sometimes) is helping with chores (without being ordered to do so) and working on being better organized.
Despite being so simple -- or perhaps because it is so simple -- this system really works for me. If you're lost in chaos and think nothing will work, try this book. It could change your life!