The following entry contains 3 resources to help you establish a sense of organization and control in your life. Planning and making priorities in life allows you to gain a clear picture of what is important. This planning helps us stay focused so we can reach our goals. Here, I present 3 strategies to gaining control and becoming organized through the use of a calendar, planner or other list, expressing yourself through a journal or diary, and approaching chores or other family responsibilities by the use of a systematic method.
Park The Cars:
First, getting control of your life should involve a way to keep track of appointments or important tasks. As I tell my clients, we get overwhelmed when we have many things in our mind that we are trying to keep up with and prioritize. As I tell counselees, those thoughts become like cars driving around in our brains. The more we are trying to keep up with, the more traffic we have in our mind. Using a calendar, list, or a planner is a great way to “park the cars” in our brain and eliminate unnecessary stress that comes from trying to keep up with too much information. Here are some helpful resources to assist you in getting organized and taking control of your daily life.
Resources to help you ‘Park The Cars’:
- This excellent Excel-based planner. It costs almost $7 but that’s way less expensive than any decent paper-based planner!
- Not too keen on spending money? Check this site for a wide variety of free printable calendars and planning templates.
- Make a list or chart to map out your goals and priorities www.freeprintables.net This is one of my favorite sites to find forms, calendars, planners and even business card templates.
Write It Down:
Secondly, another item that clients often find helpful in overcoming their problems is the use of a daily journal or diary. Whether the individual is trying to kick a habit, lose weight or just needs to express unpleasant feelings. A journal is a great way to get rid of emotional information that tends to bottle up inside of the individual. Try tracking your meals, your progress with regard to exercise or your challenges in kicking a bad habit by starting a journal today
Resources to help you keep a daily journal:
Organize Your Home:
Third, another area of life that often becomes overwhelming is that of home organization. When we deal with the many responsibilities of work, children and community involvement, it is easy to get behind on home responsibilities or for chores to be left undone.
Resources to help you take control of your home
- http://www.flylady.net : Whether you are looking for help with homeschooling, assigning chores for your kids, or just trying to get control of the clutter in your house, this is a fantastic resource for gaining control personally and at home.
How has using a calendar, journal or diary helped you stay on track personally? What are some of the benefits to following a system such as that of the Fly Lady?