trying to fix lots of stuff...
 

is your weight the only thing in your life that you arent on top of?

i notice there are lots and lots of things in my life i'm not on my game about.
money, scheduling with work, daily routines, eating...
there is nothing i envy as much as a person who is well organized and lives a regimented life where they make time to take care of themselves!

so i figured while im trying to clean up my eating habits, i should try to clean up everything. becoming the person that i really want to be isnt only about image, its an all around thing! i had a boyfriend once inform me that he never witnessed me be able to do anything with any consistency!

i went out and bought a pda. put a finance tracker on it, put in all my work days and work outs, and found a diet program that monitors everything from body fat to resting heart rates, it is exactly like fitday but for the pda!

what are you doing to try to organize your life? is your weight your only issue or do you find its more like a blanket character issue like it is with me?

Hey there! Organization has been elusive for me FOR YEARS. Have always had the good intent but getting my act together has been another story. The pda idea is a good one. I've taken to making only three new resolutions/goals a month then focus on those. When I'm serious about getting my house,finanaces, nutrition, etc in order I go back to www.flylady.org. I know it's cheesy & campy but hey it works for me to tackle everything I really want to get done in a day. Another BIG help is I stopped obsessing that everything has to be done perfectlyor not at all. It's okay to be human and not absolutely sterilize the kitchen everytime I set to clean it. I allow myself to make 'learning curve' mistakes in my home business and certainly I forgive myself if I fall off the nutritional wagon.

Ideas from others? Have a great weekend!

Marylynn

I think it really helps if you make a SMALL to do list each day. It doesn't have to be huge-and it should be something in different areas of your life.

Make ONE thing to do each day, for each area of your life. This way, you are not overwhelmed with a huge list, and you feel good about getting things done. I am going to give multiple ideas, but write down just ONE each day.


APPEARANCE: paint my toenails/get my hair trimmed/etc.

EXERCISE: get my 2 mile walk in/go to the gym/etc.

CLEANING: clean out the refridgerator/get the floors vacuumed

OTHER: sew the button back on the shirt that has been laying around for 3 weeks/mail out that package to Aunt Sue/go through closet and take items that don't fit to Goodwill/Salvation Army/cash my check and pay the bills

If you can just accomplish 4 things each day for you, your health, your home, and then "other" things...over the week you got a lot done. :D

My credit cards will be paid off in 3 months (thank god!) and my debt consolidation loan will be paid off 6 months later. I took control of my finances at the beginning of the year, and so far DH and I are still following the plan and still on track. I'm very proud of us for that! I've always been an organized person as far as appointments, etc. Only thing I need to really change is that I've been working 50-60 hours a week since the beginning of the summer (partly for that finance thing I mentioned earlier). But at the end of September the OT will end and I can't WAIT because I really need some more time for myself to RELAX :lol:

I often feel like I just can't get it together either. I've always been like this, a chronic procrasinator, I sleep in too late, I can't stay organized. It's a wonder I graduated college and hold a steady job, I swear.

I have found that I'm a creture of habit so if I make changes and work at them for a while till they become automatic I can get things done and change my habits in that regard. It's never perfect, but it helps.

Good luck, the PDA sounds like a great idea!

Organized people baffle me. As for stuff I'm trying to fix apart from my weight... I have a terrible credit rating and maybe I should see a debt consolidation place to get it resolved. However, unlike my weight (the stress around me might have been a factor, but I'm ultimately the only one to blame!), this is not completely my fault. I owned and operated a successful (as in, I could eat, pay my bills, and live comfortably - I didn't make ALL that much, definitely wasn't rich or wealthy or close, just could live without excessive worries) web design business for around a year. Then, I went for TWO WHOLE months and made absolutely NO money. Then, my lease expired and I had to move. I then gave up and hunted for a full time job, though it took about a month to get one. Credit cards paid for a majority of the moving costs - we had to stay in a hotel for two days because of the overlap between the time we could move in vs. when we had to move out - then there was first, last, deposit, UHaul, and storage. I found a job soon after that, but it didn't pay well - just enough for my usual bills (rent, phone, cell phone, cable, internet, insurance) - so I fell REALLY far behind. I'm now in a depressing mountain of debt that's so bad that I had to change my phone number because collections kept calling me! :( Wow... long story... I just always feel the need to explain that, because I don't want people to get the wrong idea and think I'm some irresponsible kid who spent a ton of money she didn't have on frivelous purchases. I now manage my finances exceptionally, apart from the debt that I still can't conquer.

Do I want to fix anything else? Uh, I'd get regular facials, manicures, and pedicures if I could afford them... but I can't... so no biggie, right?

Money and food are my vices, especially in times of stress and depression. I am working on both of these issues at the same time, though and making small progress with both!

Absolutely! Once I lost 20lbs, I became more motivated tie up some other loose ends I had left hanging.

Financial obligations - no more credit cards for this shopping diva!! Not even an emergency card...I make more than enough money and have plenty of money in the bank for that, credit is evil and I finally admit that I am irresponsible, LOL

Finally getting my new ($9000) smile I had been putting off for many years

Taking on a 2nd job

And just generally staying on top of thing a bit more!!

It feels so good to have so little to worry about now :) My life has always been fairly leisurely and laid back, but now even more so!!

Oh gosh, yes, so much to change!

How I handle money (not in debt, but certainly not saving either!), my health, my education, work... all kinds of things. It's overwhelming at times, so I try to focus on just a few things at a time; it took time to get me here, it will take time to get me OUT of here! :D

I have a problem with procrastination and organization! I need to start working on my homework right away, not waiting until Wednesday to even read my assignments. :o

I'm a chronic procrastinator. Oddly enough, when I'm on the ball with my weight loss, I tend to be on the ball with everything else. My major areas of failing are mostly in the diet/exercise/college area. I procrastinate about working out, doing homework and cooking food (so I force myself to do "convenience" options). Fortunately, I've been able to get a handle on the diet/exercise portion of the equation and now that school's started, I'm back on the right track with homework as well. Because I'm a student, I hardly ever have money in the bank (I don't work during the semester)--so that's not an issue right now.

If one area of my life is super organized, most areas tend to fall in line :)

Oh my goodness, Yes!! I am so unorganized it's painful! We just moved cross country and about 75% of our things are in boxes in the garage. We're renting now and house hunting so I'm not about to unpack and decorate--but oh the mess! Even without most of our things in the house, the house still gets messy way too easily!! I mean, I do have 4 kids (my youngest of which are 1 yr old twins) so I'm busy and all--but come on!

It's not even that I dislike housework either! In fact, I kind of enjoy it, but I just get so overwhelmed so quickly that it gets pushed aside.

If I had to pick one thing that is really bugging the tar out of me (house keeping-wise) it would have to be the piles. Piles of paper, piles of toys, piles of precious art work that my oldest *has* to have access to 24/7--Ugh! No more piles!!!

I keep telling myself when we move it'll be different. Maybe it will, but maybe I should stop making excuses and purge and put away the piles!!! ;)

I wish I could quote the source at the moment, but I read about a recent study that showed overweight people were much less organized. I immediately started organizing my book shelves :lol:

Like a lot of people here, I am disorganized in my house a lot...I have a lot of clutter because there is just no place to put "X" and "Y" needs to be easily accessable etc. I started watching a show on FitTv called "Neat" and it has helped somewhat. I try to watch every episode (I have it Tivo'd) and it motivates me. I used to have a big problem with money...I made a decent about of money yet still almost got my electricity cut off...very bad with money. Now, I have a much lower income. I created a budget/money tracker and planner in Excel and it has changed my life. I don't have to worry about missing bills anymore: I just open my Excel file every week and look to see what needs to be paid and how much I can spend on groceries. Now, my credit score is pretty good. Money still isn't awesome, we have a cc balance and no savings, but it is getting better. At least I am paying my bills and am able to eat better than before.

Suzanne- I wonder if the study you are talking about is the same one that I recently heard about on NPR

It was talking about a national study that showed a link between losing weight and keeping it off, and being organized.

The study stated that people who lose weight, AND THEN KEEP IT OFF, are organized people. As far as regain rates, there wasn't much of a difference between different plans, or how people chose to get the weight off. What mattered was how systematic and organized the people were when they were losing. The organized people already had a good system in place that they continued with during maintenance.

They even went as far as to go on and suggest that doing things like organizing your shelves and balancing your checkbook were going to help with long-term weight management. I think the correlation is logical but I'm not sure I would have come up with those ideas on my own.
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On the personal side, I can see this. When I am "on," like another poster mentioned, I seem to be on in all or most areas of my life. Right now I am in-between. I am in a state of transition, and the clutter and piles that a different poster mentioned are just a normal part of life right now. It bugs me, but I think I just need to recognize I am in a temporary residence.

I DO, however, want to make every effort to keep my work life organized. I am a first-year teacher, and if I get behind in any of those organizational things, I am quite sure it would kill me.

I did one weight loss program a long time ago, their favorite phrase was "overweight is a solvable issue. Overweight the manifestation of other unresolved issues in your life." In other words, solve the other issues and the weight issue "resolves" itself. Needless to say I've yet to get a full resolution on anything!

And yes, I think "piles" are a semi-universal nightmare. They take no time whatsoever to get to be the size of the Empire State building but seem to take uninterrupted HOURS to deconstruct and get everything where it needs to go and not just into another pile!

Guess that's the long way of saying that apparently time management is one of my unresolved issues!

I have come to realize that one of the reasons I didn't really try to lose weight for a long time was because I tend to prioritize short term pleasures over longer term consequences.

In the short term I would have reather stuffed my face with cheetos than worry about heart disease.

I have realized this is true about other areas of my life too. I would rather enjoy a TV show right now and grade papers later.

I think my procrastination is rooted in this priority mix up. So, as I have worked on my weight loss and found ways to prioritize me now AND future me health and weight-wise.. I am also trying this in other areas of my life.

My office is still a mess though, so I'm only making limited progress... :)

Nightengaleshane:...and heaven forfend us from fatness. Your little slogan just called out to me....

Anyway, I am disorganized. When I am paying attention to my diet, that part of my life is ok, but the rest of the stuff is just as bad as ever. My DH has said something to me about my being inconsistent in my work habits. He is a naturally organized person and just doesn't see why I can't be. Neither can I. :lol: If I knew, I would fix it.

One thing that has helped me is decluttering. I am far from done with this project, but having less "stuff" does make the house easier to take care of.

I have all my bills automatically debited from my checking account. That keeps me from having any late payments. Some folks - my DH for one - enjoy writing checks, balancing the check book etc (eye roll), but not me.

I have the same problem as Wyllenn, this priority mix up between "short term pleasures and long term consequences" thats why I would say that I am an "ORGANISED PROCRASTINATOR" yep... it doesnt quite make sense. You see I'm the person that leaves EVERYTHING to the last minute but ALWAYS hands my things on time or has things done on time - or even be at an appointment on time, the thing is I would sit all night to get it done. My books on my shelf are in height order... I have draws for everything - and they'll be quite organised - then what happens is I get lazy those draws become a mess, my shelves become unorganised, I keep putting it off "procrastinating" until I go crazy and re-organise everything.

I SHOULD SHARPIE THIS TO MY HEAD or at least write it on a note and staple it on my head...

clutter and paperwork for sure

And we've lived in this house for 2 years and havent hung a single picture or finished any projects.

Busy or disorganized or lazy or a bit of all 3....

I have to say, that it does WONDERS for your mood, self esteem, and sense of accomplishment to stop procrastinating, and get some things done.

It isn't in everyone's nature to be that way-which is why if you can just say to yourself "I am going to hang one picture RIGHT NOW" or "I am going to touch up the paint on the wall by the door" or "I am going to take this pile of books upstairs and PUT THEM AWAY" and you actually take the 10-20 minutes to do it-you feel really good about it.

Clutter, disorganization, and the like really weigh you down. It truly, truly, does emotionally.

Just take the time and do ONE THING today, no matter how small, that you have been putting off doing-and do it. Tomorrow, do the same. Trust me, you will feel better-and want to keep going!

Well, my weight used to be my only real issue, or so I thought. For the past 3 years my boyfriend and I had been working and saving money to move from Rhode Island to Arizona, something we'd both been wanting for a long time. Last year we moved out here to Phoenix, found a great apartment, I found a job that I liked, etc. But things aren't everything I'd hoped and gradually I realized this isn't the man I see myself with long term, he's a wonderful person in so many ways but I've come to see him more as a best friend than a boyfriend (or husband). I've also come to realize that Phoenix is definietly not the place for me, I don't like the city all that much and I don't fit in with the people and lifestyle here.

So lately, no I haven't been on track with everything, and this past week has been one of total upheaval. My boyfriend and I broke up and when I go back to work on tuesday I'm giving my notice that I'll be leaving. I'm going to move to New Jersey to live with my mom for a year while I go to school full time, finish up and get my degree in microbiology (I have 3 semesters left). Not finishing college is really the only thing that I regret in my past, it has prevented me from getting the type of job that I want and making the type of money that I want. I'm tired of scraping by in a job that is just a job, not a career. I'm tired of living paycheck to paycheck and having to skip a credit card payment because I needed my brakes fixed or something like that.

Anyhoo, needless to say my life is way out of whack right now....but I've made a couple of important steps to get myself on the road I want to be and I'm proud of that. Scared, nervous, a little sad, excited, apprehensive, but also proud :)

I also feel like this relates to the amount of control we feel we have over our lives. Once I figured out that I had control of my weight, which I had assumed for years was something I couldn't control, I realized that I had more control over other areas of my life as well. I have always been pretty well organized and I can't tolerate clutter, but there have been other areas of my life, such as in my career and with money, where I haven't controlled it like I am trying to do now.

Someone posted another thread today about thinking about food a lot. I do the same with my finances, and I'm completely getting them under control (debt free by next summer!). I suppose I'm somewhat obsessive about both things, but it helps me being that way. I used to not really think about them at all. I'd rather be semi-obsessive ;)