When I first got married I was a “messy.”

Messy at work

Messy at home

Messy in the car

Messy pretty much everywhere!

It’s funny to think about because it was only John and I. Honestly – why was it so hard to be neat and organized? I’m not really certain, but I’m pretty sure it’s because I was lazy. After work I didn’t want to spend time cleaning the house or cooking so we’d just go out to eat and then see a movie. On the weekends vacuuming seemed like such a waste of time, and it was much more fun to go shopping or visiting with friends.

Once the children started coming along my organization skills picked up considerably, and by the time we brought baby number 5 home from the hospital I finally had my act together.

Why am I mentioning organizational skills on a weight loss/maintenance blog? I am mentioning it because I think it is important when working on such an important area of your life like losing weight to get healthy, it’s also important to think about other areas of your life that could help you in your endeavor to get healthy and fit.

And I believe that being organized in general can be helpful when attacking a weight issue. At least it has been for me.

Here are some things I do to stay organized, even with seven kids: (And although I TRY, I’m definitely not saying I’ve got it all together!! Definitely not!)

I try and only touch papers once. Whether it’s mail or papers the kids drag in, I look at it, file it, toss it, or handle it.

I loved the FlyLady website and daily emails. For a time I followed her plans and it really helped teach me how to keep my house cleaning without cleaning all day long! (And by the way – I don’t like cleaning!)

I have a set schedule for the big jobs – like cleaning windows, the garage, the game closet. That way if it gets messy I know that it will get clean shortly.

I involve the family. Even though I have a large family who can help, I don’t want them to feel as though they are constantly cleaning. So we have small things to do each day, and then have a Friday cleaning time, where I make a list of everything that needs doing and they pick what they want to do. We can clean our whole big house in about an hour. Then we are done!  Here’s what a list may look like:

• dust everything
• sweep all the wood floors
• mop the kitchen
• general straighten
• organize library books
• clean all bathrooms
• vacuum house
• straighten up pantry
• clean your own room

As a reward, after we are done, we have homemade pizza and watch a little kid movie. It’s amazing how fast cleaning happens when something good is waiting at the end.

I make daily to-do lists. This helps a lot – even if I don’t get it all done.

I look at a room as I’m leaving it. When I leave the bathroom I take a quick glance over my shoulder and see if there is anything I need to take out with me, or something I should put away before I walk out. Training myself to do this has helped a lot. Now if only the kids did this too!

Being organized around the house has helped me with my weight maintenance. Because I don’t have to spend a lot of time and/or energy with the household chores I find it enjoyable to plan meals, precook foods, and fix healthy snacks for everyone. It also frees up exercise time without guilt.

How do you feel? Do you think that trying to be organized can help you in achieving your goals? Diane

One place I still don’t have any good organizational skills is the car. If you have any “keep the car clean” tips I’d love to hear them!