congratulations!

That list sounds like a great tool

I guess most people have a way to organize thoughts on what to do next. My way is obviously not working too well. I do keep lists, and more lists, and more lists - at least 5 notebooks or scratch pads full of things to do. Some of the tasks are two to ten years old. Am I a procrastinator? Of course. However, some things just fall off the list all by themselves (!), apparently losing importance. (Luckily I do the same thing with my list of things to buy, letting the list sit in my purse until I decide I don't need that stuff.)

I can see that I should put everything in one notebook, but does anyone have a system to rate the jobs according to importance, or how fast they should be done, or what? Just making lists doesn't get things done, and, really, neither does Flylady, unless some action is taken. My lengthy lists are too overwhelming, but maybe condensing the lists will make them seem more possible. Do the rest of you rate your jobs? (And how?)

I made my list by making each item into a simple task. I could easily have written bathrooms as one task but that turned into 4 items: each bathrooms drawers and each one's under the sink. But my house needs decluttering more than organizing this year. That's why this is working for me now.

Last year, however, when I did my organizing for the first time in many years, my list had items such as computer stuff, stationery, maps, my personal papers, etc. I first picked an area for each item to be in. Then I went around the house and garage and searched out the item from the list that I was working on.

I could never get into prioritizing. I just sat down one day and made a list of all the places (or items) that needed attention. Then I numbered them. I just pick at random an item from the list and do it. In my mind, I know which jobs are larger than others and pick one depending on what else I have to do that particular day. I find that giving myself, for example, 2 hours to finish a job puts pressure on me. Sometimes that 2 hours turns into 1 hour and other times, it can be 4. Then I put a check mark next to it once it's done. In my mind they're all important so one doesn't need to be the first. Well, that's not quite true. In the past, I've had company coming for supper and I made sure my pantry and fridge were presentable.

Sometimes, I end up doing items I'd forgotten to put on my list. Then I just add them to the bottom of the list after they're done and check it off.

No matter which list I've made, it never took much longer than 10 or 20 minutes to do the list and it all fit on one piece of paper.

I found a 'system" that seems to work for me. I've been doing it since December. Write your "to do" items on post-it sticky notes. (I got the super-sticky square ones.) Line them up on a sheet of notebook paper. As they get done, either tear them up or move them to another sheet of paper to do tomorrow. Some chores need to be done repeatedly, some only once. It gives me a good feeling to see my scraps of paper organized and declining. I don't group them in order of priority. And once something is a habit with me, I no longer need the note. For example, I have been shining my sink and cleaning out the cat litter box without fail. But there's still a note to call my credit union to close out an old account with $40 left in it.

I started this "system" the first of the year. I picked up the cutest little notebook at the container store. It's called 4NoteBook by Miquelrius. Spiral bound, black cover, pages are 3.5" w x 4.25" h, 100 pages. This little book fits perfect in my purse. The best part is that it's divided into 4 color coded sections of 25 pages. Here's how I'm using each section.
1) blue - to buy and/or project lists: 1 page per store or project listing what's needed to be bought (I do not include grocery store, I have a separate computer list for that).
2) red - places and thoughts: I've started a resstaurant list page for quick reference with favorite menu items if I want to order out on my way home from work, I've also written some funny quotes and thoughts.
3) gray - measurements: (love this one!) I have one room per page and I've listed window sizes as well as drawer sizes, dining room chairs and table sizes, Misc. measurements like air filter, lightbulb styles in case I run across a good sale I'll know what size to buy.
4) green - TO DO: I'm starting from the back of the book and working in with this section. One side of a page per week (25 pages/50 weeks).

Here is a link that might be useful: Miquelrius 4

I also use a system like jannie's but with the smaller Post-its, for to-do's especially weekends or a "vacation" day. I like being able to keep or move them--fits my organizing ADD--and I often like to do this on paper rather than on Palm and there is something I like about having them all there, and is easy to add or remove at any time. With the tiny notes, you can line up several columns on a sheet of paper (chore, errand, garden, fun/personal..etc) and choose ones to do, or rearrange by priority.

When I do create a list, I do two columns: urgent today, and sometime pretty soon.

After I've crossed stuff out, I rewrite a new list when I think the paper's too messy.

I pretty much only do short-term lists--like, the weekend, or for the week my mom was in town.

My theory is, if it doesn't occur to me, it must not be THAT important!
This is not 100% true, but mostly enough to work.