I pride myself on being organized.  I pride myself on being able to jigsaw all the pieces of my life together to form a pretty cohesive picture.  But sometimes, I try to do a little too much.  Case in point- my life from September to January 2.

I take on too many projects, activities and social obligations. The problem is this city- every fall there are museum exhibits and all sorts of cultural things opening and waiting to be explored.  This is the “season”.  I also love fall weather- I love apple picking and corn mazes and crunchy leaves.  I love when the air gets just a little bit cool.  Fall crushes my carefully organized life.

Now, I sit with my planner.  I jot down times to do everything that needs to be done.  I keep a great to do list, where I include everything that needs to be accomplished (yes Cynthia- I too put down feed pets…..) and I happily cross things off when completed.  I keep up with my organization plan.  But….

Yes….there’s a but….

I am so tightly scheduled that I sometimes don’t leave room for error.  Big issue.  I forget that sometimes, though I might a have a plan, the rest of the universe doesn’t realize that I have a plan.  Like, when the subway gets stuck.  Or my printer is not syncing with my computer.  Wifi doesn’t work.  Something we had paid to ship express doesn’t get shipped express.  The dog throws up on the comforter.  All the washing machines are filled.

You get the idea.  Life gets in the way of living.

And that is what happened to me this month.  I put down too many things in my schedule, and things started to fall through the cracks.  I had to rearrange the jigsaw pieces, because there was literally not enough time in the day to accomplish what I wanted to.  I had to switch to “need to”.

Now for a type A, certified nutcase like me, it was not easy to admit that I can’t do it all.  I was very down on myself.  When you have a lot to do, you don’t have the luxury of time in which to have a pity party.  You have to regroup, and you have to do it quickly.  I played my teeny tiny violin and I them started moving the pieces around.  I looked carefully at what needed to be pushed aside for the time being.  I needed to be a realist.

Now, if you read my homework the other day, you know that my Mother was not real organized.  So if you want to ask why I’m so nutty about organization, it’s cause I am trying to not repeat the mistakes that my Mother made- I feel we were at a disadvantage because my Mother would forget things and let things fall through the cracks.  She was a great shopper, and smoker, but everything else was a little lax.  I made a vow to not be like that.

I am trying to be a little more realistic.  I am trying to be a little calmer. This morning has been a test of my patience.  I had computer/wifi issues that took every ounce of my brainpower to fix (I’m amazed that I got it to work actually).  My Husband is off work and is being a royal pain in the ass, humming loudly and asking me every five minutes to help him with something.  My marriage might not last till Sunday….. My daughter was trying to get out of the house to do black Friday shopping….They’re working of the outside of out building with very loud, very annoying drills….

So I’m not real calm now…..

But I’m going to take a deep breath.  I’m going to ignore the husband.  I’m going to finish this post.  And I’m really going to try to relax.

Keep breathing……

40 thoughts on “Disorganized”

  1. I too strive to be very organized, probably because I am too rebelling against my upbringing. I have to do lists that are very long and unmanageable so I decided to try something different. On the day s when I don’t go to work I plan 2 “flex” times into my daily plan. These are to be used for unforeseen problems or times for me to just breathe. It is not the ultimate solution but as long as I do not try to plan my flex time I am ok.

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  2. I schedule my pity parties. Sort of…I ignore everyone and go to bed at 8 and watch tv. Or read. lol…
    🙂
    Seriously, eh? Life is nuts. And the back to school till after New Year’s is a crazy time for everyone. I’m sure in NYC they do similar stuff in elementary school as they do here (back when yours was younger): they add MORE stuff you have to attend and fill out and follow up with and respond to during that time than the rest of the year. Not to mention the birthday parties. Does everyone birth kids between Sept and Dec? Seems like it here…

    Cheers to us list-makers. We can do it!

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  4. I’m absolutely horrible with anything resembles a schedule. They terrify me. I make to do lists, but as far as when things get done, I just never know. I keep everything in a notebook: writing stuff, to do lists, ideas, everything, but refuse to name a time or day to accomplish or finish any of it. I’m basically an organized lazy person.

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  5. Ohhh I feel this: I’ve ticked everything off’ve my list except for 2 very large to-do’s before Christmas; fingers crossed it runs smoothly.

    And I too grew up with a disorganised parent …arrghhh … and then replaced that with a disorganised Partner – double arrghh.

    Good luck with the partner and the noise! I can feel the angst from here … big deep breaths and possibly an alcoholic beverage?!

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      1. Oh Nice … Yeah that’ll do it too … I used to (still do sometimes) whip out some of my favourite movies: Like Hannibal and Seven. They’re also great partner deterents – he always thinks I planning how to dispose of him quietly 😉

        Enjoy your blissful happiness 🙂

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  6. Oh I love Autumn too! We are just about to head into Summer here (Australia), it’s getting hot.
    Anyway, your post was refreshing, a raw look into a reality that I’m sure many of us can relate to! I had a chuckle about the hubby being a pain, again I have no doubt many will relate! 😂

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  7. Type B here. Tight planning makes me nervous. I, therefore, allow for huge amounts of time between activities [when I’m on my own, of course]. When else am I going to stop and smell the roses? Wishing you the best of luck learning to embrace your inner Type B.

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    1. Ha. It’s really hidden. But, I did spend the entire day doing almost nothing. Watched hallmark mystery movie I taped a few months ago. Read a magazine. Got my stitch fix box. And then I did help my daughter clean her closet, but I kind of supervised….she did the work….

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  8. Man, sometimes I just have to tell Sunshine to go sit in a tree (my way of telling him to go hunting) and get him out of my way so I can get some shit done. Also? Try making a to-done list so you can see how much you actually DID accomplish. If that doesn’t make you feel better, post the to-done list here so we can see how much you got done and pat you on the back for it

    (((hugs)))

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  9. ah ha… pity parties are the penultimate. With the blues in view I poison pen some past episode which reads as aging angst, but I feel tropes as a detox. Sorta like the old joke.

    “Doctor, I’m feeling poorly.”
    “O.K., take me through your day.”
    “Well I get out of bed and vomit, and then have coffee…”
    “Wait,” says the Doctor, “the first thing you do is vomit?”
    “Sure. Doesn’t everybody?”

    So, you gonna share the name of that cozy mystery you be leafing through during these end of Autumn days?

    Regards,

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  10. I am totally organized too rebelling against a childhood of absolute chaos. I am actually surprised I don’t have next summer all planned out yet. I am able to do a lot of things because I am organized. The problem also arises when people want to be spontaneous. I’m sorry…I scheduled cleaning my kitchen at that time sometimes doesn’t cut it. I get condemned for my rigid structure sometimes. However, those same people praise me when I am able to make all of the puzzle pieces fit together to make the best plans. Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses. I wouldn’t give up my organization for anything…but I realize that sometimes to be a good friend or when things don’t go as planned I need to give up a little structure and control.

    Now I had better get going. I used up all of my allotted time to respond to blog posts. Lol.

    Great post!

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  12. Oh … This so resembles me and the atmosphere in my house. Ever tried going on strike… I can tell you it can make a big difference. I do it whenever I see things are getting out of hand and no one is noticing me. 5-7 days… you’ll see the change. Everything seems to fall in place, you get back the respect you so need.

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  13. You are like me. Which I love. And when you get older (like me..64) you finally give up on being organized, in charge, and prepared. I follow my pretzel road and do my best. The world will take us for who we are!

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