What Works for You Wednesday
Welcome to What Works for You! A new feature here on Scattered Squirrel, or rather an old idea turned into a new feature. Way back, some time last year, I started this with the office. I shared how I came up with what worked for me, in the hopes that anyone struggling with setting up a home office might find some tid bit that would help them on their journey to home office blissdom. It was fun to share ideas that might not have worked for me, but might have worked for some of you. I thought it was time to sort of bring that back.
See, the other day I was working on some of the up coming printables for the HMB that I’m sharing later this month. Because I’m focusing on home management stuff, I’ve been giving some serious thought and consideration to many of our routines. And I was thinking it was time to maybe re-evaluate the cleaning checklist I’ve been using. This made me chuckle, because there are already three, (yup THREE) cleaning checklists on this little ole blog, and because it reminded me of a conversation I had with my best friend about the first one I made. She finds it hilarious (in a totally supportive, I love you cause you’re just that crazy, kind of hilarious) that I schedule my cleaning, because she doesn’t. For her, cleaning the house isn’t something she gives much thought to, other than to just to do it.
This got me thinking … other than HMBs, in all their various incarnations, how do people manage all this home stuff? For me, the binder has been working for the most part, but what about you? Do binders or notebooks work for you, or do they sit on a shelf collecting dust?
I set out in search of ways, other than using a binder, to manage home things. Here are the three different options I found. Click the links, or the pics to go to the original posts for more information.
Tickler or Other Files
This post, ‘Clearing the “Counter Pile” with a Tickler File‘, over on Simple Mom is a great place to start if you’re thinking files are the way to go. A Tickler file can be a very powerful organizing tool, but it can also be a little overwhelming. This version seems amazing easy to use, and simple to maintain. You really should check it out!
App for Organizing
Maybe the paper way isn’t for you and you’re looking for something a little more techy? Perhaps something you can use on a device?
Organizing Junkie is an app designed Laura over on OrgJunkie! I haven’t had a chance to test this app for myself, but I’ve heard from friends that it is GREAT! If it’s anything like her site, it’s got to be fantastic. Seriously, if you’re looking for some great, real world, organization inspiration, you really need to check out her site.
Digital All the Way
This one is a last minute addition. I saw the post in my feed this morning, and thought “stop the presses, this needs to be added!”
Anyone up for a digital organizer that seems to do sooooo much at the same time? I only heard of Trello this morning, on the Ask Anna blog. Hop on over and check out her post “Organizing Your Life with Trello” for some great screen shots and a fantastic overview of the whole site. It’s definitely been added to my list of things to check out, because it sounds like this site had powerhouse potential! Not interested in managing your home online, that’s ok, Ask Anna’s site is full of amazing tips, tried and true advice, and lots of other goodies.
There are so many options out there for how to manage your home stuff, life stuff, and just stuff in general. The key is to find what works for you and run with it. Or maybe tweak it to work for you, combine different aspects of different systems to create something completely suited to your personality and lifestyle. The beautiful thing about organizing and managing your home is that there is no one right way to do it all.
Do you have a system that works for you? How do manage all the household stuff, like to do lists, information coming in and going out and so on? Any apps or programs you could recommend other than the ones mentioned here?
