For years I was constantly in search of the perfect organizational system.  Somehow, somewhere, I was certain that I would find the key to keeping it all together.  I tried various systems each one more complex than the previous.  All of them seemed to work…for awhile.  And honestly, the systems that were the most involved to set up and implement seemed to serve me for the shortest amount of time.  Slowly God showed me several truths in this area.

The first was that I was the mother of many children.  At that time, I was the mother of many young ones.  For many years I had at least 4-5 children under 7 years old.  Looking back, those years were simply harder than when you can have some older helpers.  Now, it isn’t impossible to feel peaceful, rested and blessed but it takes different expectations, focused planning and good old-fashioned hard work.

Next, I had to accept that there was no magic system.  While different techniques and strategies can sometimes seem to be “just what the doctor ordered” at some stage in our mothering careers, for the most part, the best system is one that I could easily use and maintain.  I recently lost a lot of weight and everyone asked me how I did it.  However, no one really wanted to hear the answer (which is…I ate very little and exercised like a crazy woman).  This same simple principle is true for most situations I find myself in.  This truth for me is somewhat disappointing.  I still want there to be some elusive magical entity that if I can just wrap my fingers around, will change my whole life.  Alas, other than the transforming power of salvation, all else pales by comparison.

Finally, I had to admit (at least to myself) that I was in love with the idea of organizing and planning.  I like to mess with my schedules and homeschool plans and how to rearrange my house.  I can easily while away the hours “planning” instead of “doing”.  If I wasn’t careful, I would rework the homeschool plan more than I was homeschooling the children.  Part of it was escapism on my part.  I was secretly lonesome for other adults and though I loved my children and my calling as a wife and mother, thinking and writing allowed me to feel more intellectual again.  Let’s face it, there isn’t a lot of intellect that goes into diapering and vacuuming up Cheerios.  Whenever I was working on the “perfect” organizational system, I felt intelligent and in control!

Upon realizing and embracing these truths, I hit upon the idea of the Purple Planner.  Almost perfect!  Now, I had to spend all of that time introducing the concept, because it will take all of one paragraph to explain its high-tech usage!  The purple notebook is a one-subject, 10 for a dollar, spiral tablet.  Now, I do prefer the ones with the tear out pages, but any will do. It wouldn’t have to be purple, but at my house, I’m the only one who can have purple.  I like a standard 8 ½ x 11, but you could choose a different size.

In all of my years of looking for the perfect planner, I could never find categories that were exactly what I needed.  I also realized that while many of my categories remain constant, I have projects that are ever-changing especially during different seasons of the year.  I simply write everything in this one notebook, and each “topic” gets its own page.  If I finish a page, I tear it out.  If I run out of pages in the notebook, I look back over all of my notes and file what I need or copy it into the next notebook.  That way none of my projects go stale for too long.

Now, since I’m sure you are probably curious, I will tell you what some of my topics are.  Yours could be wildly different.  I have a page with my husband’s name at the top, as well as each of my children.  I also have a page with my closest friends’ names and my mother.  When I think of something I want to talk to them about, I write it down.  If I see an academic, character or prayer need in a child, I jot that down.  There are pages of lists: Walmart list, buying club list, grocery store list, library books to request, children’s sizes, Christmas idea list, prayer requests, errands to run, and phone calls to make.  I make lists of people’s phone numbers and addresses and type them into my computer all at once.  I write down websites I want to check out.  Right now, I have a huge section devoted to the planning of the upcoming school year.  There are pages of quotes, inspirations, and funny things that my children did or said.  I keep track of milestones.  Now, I’ll admit that I sometimes have to hunt for the right page, but I know it’s in that notebook.  In a pinch, I just start a new “people to call” page, and I don’t sweat it one bit.  Some days I know I need a “to do” list, and I make one in the notebook.  At the end of the day, I simply tear it out.  I take the planner with me when I leave the house, and write my personal data in the front cover with a “reward offered if found” statement.

If I misplace a notebook at home, I know it will turn up and I simply start another.  This summer with my daughter’s wedding, I had one purple planner just for that event.  I know it seems silly, but this method absolutely works for me and I continually get comments about how I manage minute details.  The wedding probably had 5000 tiny details, and they were all remembered thanks to the 10 cent Mead purple lifesaver.

The only other item in my organizational arsenal is a (purple) binder that holds information I don’t want to leave our home.  It has emergency phone numbers, a photocopied page of our social security cards, credit/check cards and medical insurance cards, a pocket with take-out menus, sports calendars, the permanent phone/address list, copies of school and chore charts for each child, and account numbers and online passwords.

So, there it is.  Complete organization in a couple of hours for under $10.  I probably should package it up and market it!  You get the “free” pilot program.  Let me know if I missed anything!