. . . for maybe one of them will come over to my house and clean up for me.
I found out a few years ago, in conjunction with diagnostic tests for another problem, that I am ADHD, have been all my life (as are 2 of my kids and 4 of my grandkids). boy does that explain a lot. the solutions are surprisingly common sensical.
for instance, I now only keep one calendar, rather than one on Outlook, one on my cell phone, one on my desk, one on the kitchen wall, etc. etc. Just one calendar with all info, in my purse, so I always have it with me. It is the size of half a sheet of paper, so bulletins, invitations, notices etc. fit in the back with a rubber band around them, so I always have directions on how to get to the place I entered in the calendar. I toss the old sheets once a week.
I have ONE basket to collect mail and bills, rather than multiple collection spots. it is on the dryer. works for me wouldn’t for you, because I gather the mail from the box, enter the house through the garage, stop at the dryer, immediately toss junk mail, catalogs etc. in the trash can, and put the rest in the basket (actually a plastic dishpan from the dollar store). When I collect laundry from the dryer I bring the dishpan in, sort the mail into 3 baskets in my room (where I will be folding the laundry) of bills to pay, stuff to file, and stuff to read (magazines etc.)… When the basket goes back out, so does the dishpan.
I store things in clear plastic boxes from the dollar store, not cardboard boxes, so I can always see what is inside, yet shelves are always neat.
I put away all knicknacks and dustcatchers, have only one picture of each family, rather than gazillions of grandkids pictures around. They are displayed on one wall. i am still surrounded by books, although I gave away 75 boxes when we moved. I keep only what I will read or use as reference. yes I finally got rid of college textbooks from the 70s.
I have things I need in the room where I will use them. So I have multiple pairs of scissors, staplers, tape etc.–in the bedroom, office, kitchen, and livingroom desk.
I have cleaning supplies in the room where they will be used, so I have no excuse not to clean up a mess immediately. Spray cleaner and bowl cleaner with brush in each bathroom, disposable dusters and swifter in each room, or the nearest closet. For other people, what works is one totable basket with cleaning supplies to take from room to room, for me, this works.
Get rid of clutter, get rid of stuff.
I ruthlessly culled closets, I hang all my slacks together, all skirts, all dresses, all jumpers, jackets, tops etc. and by color and in this order:
black, brown, navy, blue, purple, red, pink, yellow, tan or beige, green. I only have one item of each color. My shoes are in a row on the closet floor in the same order. I only have one pair of the 3-4 colors I wear most often: black, brown, tan, taupe, navy, plus athletic shoes.
If I have not worn it for a year, it goes to St. Vincent. I have one jacket, one raincoat (don’t need a winter coat here), one hoodie.
I organize drawers the same way, so I can find clothes even in the dark. It takes about 5 minutes longer to sort and put away laundry, and saves hours in the morning.
I don’t have kids to look after and DH has his own closet (except my seasonal clothing and seldom worn dress clothes go there), so I don’t have the extra hassles a lot of you have, but kids can be trained to take care of their own clothes by the time they are 10 or so.
for disorganized people downsizing and simplifying are critical. we simply cannot function when there is too much stuff around.
