Tell me about being an organized/structured person

Zenya

Whenever I tackle some (of the many) disorganized areas of my life I am so much happier and less anxious.  But it feels like such an uphill battle.  

Please tell me about yourself if you consider yourself structured and organized.

Did you grow up that way?

Have you always been that way?

Do you find it easy or hard?

And anything else you might think of!  Thank you! 

docmay25

I am a person who is always organizing my house.  It is an obsession.  I grew up this way.  My mom is a person who was/is always organizing and cleaning the house.  In my house growing up, every saturday was cleaning day.  I had to clean my room and then we also had to help out with the house.  Everyone had a job. Being the youngest mine was usually the dusting.  Now as an adult, I am never happy with how organized or disorganized my house is.  I drive dh crazy sometimes...but he mostly has learned to live with it.  

For me it is hard because with the way my mom was, I expect a lot of myself.  I put way too much on myself to have a perfect house and it is never even close.  I find it hard to keep up with the kids and dh.  I try to keep organized by constantly cleaning out.  If we haven't used it in the past 6 months, it gets donated.  But for everything I get rid of, we keep bringing more in!  

 

and now for something completely different

I have always been this way. My mom wasn't completely disorganized and she kept the house tidy, but I am way more organized than she ever was. It's easy for me because it's second nature and I just function better this way.

bebemama

I'm better now then ever.  I was completely unorganized growing up.  I have areas that are perpetually unorganized and I let it go (car, certain closets...) but, overall I am becoming a very organized and structured person.

To be organized I keep lots of lists and know my productive times and utilize them.  I can get tons done first thing in the am while kids are sleeping, waking up and watching cartoons and having breakfast, also while they eat lunch I clean and straighten things up again, then I utilize DS2's nap time, but after dinner and dinner cleanup, I am "off" unless it is mindlessly folding laundry while watching tv.  Knowing my productive times really helps and if I cheat and watch read or watch tv during naps, I definitely get behind. 

Being structured to me means following a pretty consistent routine, which we have done since DS1 was a new baby. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DevonPow

I did not grow up this way...our house was clean and organized, but because we had cleaning people for the most part. My room was a disaster in high school, and I was never forced it clean it, my parents never were overly structured, etc. I started getting very organized and structured a little in college and more so after I graduated. Part of it was finally having space of my "own" that I cared about (and paying for on my own made a difference), part of it was that due to a lot of chaos in my personal life, so I cotolled the things I could, and part of it in all honesty was that I spent a few years really caring about how others viewed me, and being organized and put together was important for that.

Now it is pure habit and I am just so used to living in an organized way that I get twitchy thinking about having things unorganized. ALso, with DH's job and DS, I NEED to be organized to keep everything on track. It is pure second nature now.

veloelle

I grew up in a white-glove house. Nothing was ever out of place and if it was, there was hell to pay. I learned extreme organization and rebeled against it because it is so stifling to grow up like that. For our house, we are fairly organized, I try to make DD have her room picked up each day but if there is a pile of papers, I'm not going to loose myshit.

Honestly I force myself to pick up, put away, etc, even when I don't want to. I feel much better and less stressed.

surprise3rd

I am not organized in the least, but everything is put away, just don't open drawers, cabinets, etc.  However, I feel like I am very structured, we are very based in routines and I think that helps a lot with the kids.  Is it possible to be dis-organized yet structured?  Morning & after school routines are pretty much the same day to day, we are never late, we have a dinner time and bed time routine, etc.  I am very nervous about how a baby is going to impact our structure and routine.

FriskyPanda

Zenya:

Whenever I tackle some (of the many) disorganized areas of my life I am so much happier and less anxious.  But it feels like such an uphill battle.  

I feel the same way you do, and was hopeful I'd see something in here that would help me.  Unfortunately, things always seem to be very chaotic for me.  I'm trying to get better with timers (forcing myself to do things for x amount of time) and schedules.  It's just not me though.  I'll stick with something for a while, but one wrench in my plans screws everything up.  I feel like such a disorganized mess most of the time.  I hate it, and wish there was a switch I could flip to change things. 

lollitots

I like to be an organized person, but am failing right now. However, my closets and drawers are very organized (closets hung by type of clothes, short sleeve, long sleeve then color, everything folded in its space, etc.). I get that from my Mom. She even labeled the linen cabinet so we knew which sheets were which size. I find that I am much happier when it is organized. The more stuff I have, the more it is harder to control and the more stressed I get. I guess that the biggest key is to get rid of stuff. This is my challenge.

As far as structure, I have to maintain that. The house runs much smoother with the kids if they know what is expected. It has stopped the homework fights since we make sure we do it every day at the same time. They do better in school if they go to bed the same time.

peekaboo716

I wish I was more organized. I am, however, a very structured person. Times are planned out and we are like clockwork with everything. I wish that my house was though. I grew up in a household that was disorganized. I craved the order that I saw in other people's homes. A place for everything and everything in its place, like my grandmother's house. I was super organized when planning my wedding, though!

I find it incredibly hard to be organized, but I am very interested in doing so. I just don't know how to get there. I did rearrange a cabinet in my kitchen and a shelf in my linen closet a few months ago. My accomplishment is that these areas have stayed that way. I think I need to do more of these smaller projects so that I can continue to become more organized and have that order I crave.

I read blogs like iheartorganizing for inspiration hoping that it will get me moving.

Zenya

Thank you for the responses!  When I think of some of the progress I've made I think a lot of it (for me) has been habit and awareness.  Like there was a time when a really messy kitchen all day wouldn't even have pinged my radar. Now it drives me nuts.  

I hope I can improve. 

melmax

Zenya:

Whenever I tackle some (of the many) disorganized areas of my life I am so much happier and less anxious.  But it feels like such an uphill battle.  

Please tell me about yourself if you consider yourself structured and organized.

Did you grow up that way?

Have you always been that way?

Do you find it easy or hard?

And anything else you might think of!  Thank you! 

 

I am very structured and organized. I just feel more "at peace" when I am home in an uncluttered, neat and tidy house. It's hard to keep this up with 2 young kids and a H who is not a neat freak.  As much as I love to be orderly, it does have it's price: I rarely relax when the kids are awake. It seems that if I sit down to read or watch something on TV my whole house goes to hell--they trash the rooms they are in, and they are having some sort of argument anyway, so I have to get up anyhow. On the off occasion that I DO relax, it almost seems not worth it. I do take 10 minute breaks here and there to nest, FB and check email, but other than that, I'm always moving.

 I don't think I was always this anal...I think once having my own house and own kids I became more neurotic about keeping up with the chaos. To me, having 2 young children feels chaotic enough, that it feels good to have something under my control, lol.  My mom DID instill cleaning, etc from an early age. She never said no to anything, but we were expected to do our chores every saturday morning. Once those were done, the rest of the time was ours, whatever we wanted to do.

But back to your question--I find it easy if I keep up with it.That way, there is never any major project that you need to totally psych yourself up for. A little each day, and your life hums along nicely.  Which bring me back to the catch 22....as much as I prefer it this way, I don't get much time for 'me'.  I'm this way in most areas of my life though- I always shower and dress,makeup and put myself together every day, etc....so it's not just a house thing.

debs1018

I grew up in a very cluttered and unorganized house. I was embarrased to have friends over because of it. It was not dirty, but very messy. I keep my house very neat and tidy. I am very anal about it. I started to be like this in college. Once I was out on my own, I knew I never wanted my place to look like it did when I grew up.

However, I know I am very extreme at times about the mess. It makes me "nervous" to live in a messy/unorganized house. I am not a mommy dearest by any means, but I like to live neatly.

My suggestion would be to tackle one thing at a time. Once it is all in place, it will be easier to mantain as time goes on. Once the kids are asleep I usually clean the kitchen and pick up the living room. This way I can relax the rest of the night. I also try and clean up the kitchen in the morning before I leave for work.

Good luck! And sorry if I rambled. I took a Zrytec and I am in a "fog" like you wouldnt believe.