How many times have you wearily told yourself you could accomplish everything you had ever dreamed of ‘if only there were an extra hour in the day’? Since it is not likely that we will ever see 25 hours in a day, the only other option for us women who are juggling both families and careers is to get a little more organization in our lives.

Now I know what you are thinking, as you roll your eyes with a sarcastic snort of laughter… “like my family is going to let organization into the house.” Organization has somehow become a bad word in today’s lifestyles, but I think that you can interweave it to where organization is actually appreciated as well as wanted by everyone in the home. I want to share some ideas on how to ease organization back into your home, little by little, so that your family is unaware that you are actually taking back control of the household.

The first thing that you need to do is understand what the advantages of some organization in your life will bring you as you create a personal schedule that works for you, not for others.

• You will gain time.

• It will reduce your anxiety.

• It will motivate you.

• It reduces your avoidance.

Now, you will have to do a little homework to begin with, but it isn’t so much to ask that it would be worth the risk of continued chaos. What you need to do is take a journal and keep it with you for one week. Write in it at every opportunity, to track for that one week, everything that you do so that you can find out where you are at what time of the day. You should also write down your goals, in this journal, of what you are looking for from getting organized. Your goals should be specific, realistic and achievable. This will make it easy for you to organize and prioritize your life so that you can manage your time successfully. Having an awareness of what your goals are will assist you in prioritizing your activities so that when you schedule your time, you can do it in a manner to use your time wisely, but don’t forget to leave yourself some flexibility in your schedule to allow for interruptions and distractions. Every working mother has some.

Once you have your schedule, you need to create a ‘to do list’ for yourself. Some like to create this list every morning when they wake up, others like to do it before they go to bed at night. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just do it…it will make your life simpler. Flag or highlight the items on your ‘to do list’ so that you know if they are Urgent – items that have short-term consequences, or if they are Important – items that have long-term, goal related consequences. Work towards reducing the Urgent items so that you can work towards the Important items. Try to give the Important items a deadline so that they do not become Urgent emergencies. At the end of the day, or in the morning, remember to transfer over to the next day’s list whatever you did not get to off of your list. Make sure that you keep your list handy, so that you can check off items as you get them done. This will give you a sense of accomplishment that will in turn give you a desire to accomplish more.

It is always a good idea to get yourself a daily/weekly planner so that you can write down appointments, meetings, and kids schedules to stay in control of your time. First thing every morning, check what is planned for the day, and always check the planner before you go to bed so that you can go to sleep knowing that you are prepared for the next day. If you get a good planner, it will have a monthly chart in it as well, which can be a big help to constructively plan time for yourself. Organize your planner in a way that makes sense to you. If you need colors and photos to help you make sense of your day, put a lot on your planner. Maybe you like to have everything neatly hidden away; a pocket planner is probably the way to go then. What I am saying is to forget the ‘format’ on how to plan, do what makes sense to you. Planning is a key factor in every organized schedule. Here are a few suggestions:

• Organize your week so that you are doing the same thing on the same day each week.

• Shop only ONE day per week (this will save you gas by taking fewer trips to the store).

• Cook the week’s dinners on Sunday (pick a day that fits your schedule best), and package them for the night’s during the week when you’ve been working all day.

• Put a load of wash in when you leave for the day. Dry and sort them when you get home, while warming dinner.

Find your prime time and utilize it. Your prime time is when you are at your best. Are you a ‘morning person,’ a ‘night owl,’ or a ‘late afternoon whiz?’ Knowing your primetime and utilizing it for your priorities is the most effective time management for women with families and careers. Conquer Procrastination! When you are avoiding a task, try breaking it into smaller tasks and doing just one of the smaller tasks. By doing a little at a time, eventually you will reach a point where you will want to finish the task. When you succeed in completing a goal, you must reward yourself so that you can maintain the necessary balance in life between family and career. Reward yourself with what you desire…a babysitter so that you and your husband can have a romantic dinner, some time to yourself, or a girl’s night out with friends. It’s your reward, you earned it.

Using time to think and plan is time well spent. If you fail to plan, you are, in effect, planning to fail and your life will remain stranded in chaotic confusion.

This is a guest post by Michelle Noe. Learn more about Michelle on our featured writers page.