The One Thing that Helped Organize My Life (When Many Other Options Had Failed)

This has been the greatest discovery I have ever made to help me get my life organized– to know what I’m doing when and where and even why. A place to put all my scheduled appointments, bill due dates, expectations, goals, and details like prayer requests and Kohl’s cash. And it’s visible at one glance and does not contribute to clutter. And the whole family can use it. This has been the one thing that has actually helped my life organization woes.

A little about me & organization (see if you can relate)

I have great intentions. Yet I’m chronically unorganized. And it’s a real sore subject for me. Because I LOVE organization. I love organization ideas, checklists, planners, colorful cloth totes, and Marie Kondo. I really do.

And I’ve read volumes on all the ways you can organize your life and never miss a scheduled appointment and remember you need to buy a gift for your niece’s baby shower next month.

Yet 40+ trips around the sun and I was still struggling to use that gorgeous planner I bought, time blocking almost sent me into a heart attack, and I often felt like a failure in keeping up with my own life.

Enter…

The Dry Erase Organization Board

my dry erase organization board — Our youngest daughter likes to put the dates on it. Here it is, getting rebooted for March.

I don’t know if that’s what it’s called. We can call it a miracle if you want, because it kind of, sort of, is one to me.

But my first thought when I saw it: I love it and this thing is way too expensive. The truth is, I kept walking.

I even told myself I could get any ole dry erase board and make it myself. (Which technically I could, but am I, really? Of course not. And I’m into aesthetics, being visual and all, so that project is a frustration waiting to happen. A frustration I don’t need or have time for.)

I didn’t buy it that day at Michael’s. I saw it again later, on sale, and decided to give it a try. (I wanted to link it for you but I couldn’t find this item online. However, it is still in my local store.)

Knowing what I know now, I would pay full price and then some for this thing. But don’t tell Michael’s because I LOVE their sales.

It has become my accountability partner, my motivator, and my friend. I don’t know how on earth I got anywhere or knew what was going on in my life for over 40 years without it.

And at the end of the month, it gets erased.

Now at first, the hoarder in me panicked just a little. Because what if, in 20 years, my kids really want to know how many evenings we ate hot dogs at the ball field in the month of April and there’s not a planner in sight to answer this burning question?

If you find that ridiculous, unrealistic, or irrelevant, welcome to my brain. Hope you enjoy the ride.

Reality is not always a participant in the quest to organize my life. Realistically I would just do it. I’d throw out the crap, schedule a reasonable day, reschedule if something comes up and the whole day is rearranged….

Realistically I shouldn’t need to motivate myself to get some exercise or drink more water or embrace the present or swiffer my floor, but here I am. Buying Gain-scented dry swiffer pads instead of the cheap ones despite what my budget realistically says because I’m more likely to use the ones that smell so darn good.

The struggle is real and when it comes to housekeeping, house organizing, house wife-ing, my struggle is as real as it gets.

Laugh at me or laugh with me, I’m too old to care which side you’re on.

I’m writing for my sisters and their struggle. Because life is tough and we need encouragement.

And a full night’s sleep.

And a considerable amount of caffeine.

And a huge dry erase board with a calendar and a place for the month’s priorities and goals – we need that, too.

Why This Works

The huge dry erase organization board offers:

Accountability- which my personality apparently needs
No more clutter – which my life definitely needs
All information in one place AND AT ONE GLANCE
The freedom to erase – which I never actually wanted, but now I appreciate
Mobility – take a picture of it with your phone and you can access your calendar anytime, anywhere

Does it really make that much difference? Can’t I just get a dry erase board and put some goals and notes on there…yes, you could. And I have no idea why it makes a difference, but in my life, it does. Maybe for you, that’s all you’d need. But if you identify with my struggles to organize my life, then maybe you’d also benefit from the tool that has made all the difference for me.

Can’t I just make one with a simpler, cheaper, dry erase board or a chalk board and save some money? Why yes, you probably can. And I thought the same thing the first time I saw this board because it wasn’t on sale. And I didn’t buy it. But I also didn’t go home and make one. Months passed and this board went on sale. And I still hadn’t made one and I realized I never would. And, to put this in a high traffic area, actually use it, and consider it an asset and not an eye-sore, you want it to look nice.

Of course, I’m the girl that likes a pretty book mark and can be motivated to clean a room if I purchase something new I want to put in that room….so I’m a little nuts. If you happen to be my kind of crazy, then just buy this board. Seriously, it’s a game changer.

Keys to Making It Work

Visibility

Put it in a high traffic place. This is key. At first, I actually considered putting it in an out-of-the-way area. That would have been a big mistake.

Currently this hangs in my foyer near the front door. This is the door that everyone uses. Our coats, my pocketbook, the dog leashes, our shoes, everything is near this door. Everyone passes through this foyer several times a day. You get the picture. It’s the highest traffic area in the house.

organization board in the foyer — This is my foyer, y’all. Complete with messy bill organizer & all the ‘stuff’ that lives here. If you look real close, you’ll probably find some cat hair.

This is also why you need to bite the bullet and buy an attractive board. You can decorate around it and doll it up any way you’d like, but the main thing: you want this thing to be SEEN.

Use it

It goes without saying that you have to use it. Our youngest daughter enjoys erasing the month and adding the dates of the upcoming month for me.

Instead of writing in bill due dates, I add a red dollar sign for due dates and a green dollar sign for pay days. I keep a small mail organizer nearby to hold bills yet to be paid, and a small file holder to transfer bills into as they are paid.

All events are added to the month, including things I’m supposed to attend, any odd work hours that I don’t want to forget, birthdays, and appointments. Its visibility as we enter and exit the house has made all the difference in me feeling like I actually know where I’m supposed to be and when.

There is a place for “upcoming” events, and I add anything that is coming up in the next month or so – for instance, a bridal shower or wedding or baby shower or birthday for which I need to buy a gift.

There is also a place for priorities and goals for the month, and extra space for any notes or information that would be pertinent to keep your life more organized or motivated.

Make it pretty

Buy dry erase markers that are magnetized, so you aren’t looking for dry erase markers in frustration. Because if you can’t find the markers when you need them, you won’t be using the board. I also recommend the colored ones for options of color coding events or members of the family. For this reason, I bought the magnetized markers in four colors: green, red, blue, and black.

Also buy cute magnets. Put wedding announcements with registry information, birthday invitations, prayer cards for the missionary you want to pray for this month….you get it, use those cute magnets to attach information that you won’t have to spend time writing on there. If you have a coupon you want to use this month – stick it on this board where you’ll see it every day instead of find it months from now at the bottom of a stack of papers that need filing.

All of these suggestions are also why I recommend buying the large board. The extra space allows you to put your whole life (for this month anyway) right in front of you, at a single glance.

Mobility

Take a picture of the board’s calendar to reference your schedule and appointments when you’re not at home. Jot down information in the notes section of your phone to add to your board when you get home, erase the old picture and take an updated one.

Sentimental

Let’s talk about the sentimental attachment we have to planners and keeping important dates and milestones for forever.

This won’t apply to all of you.

But some of you will know exactly what I’m saying.

Here is the great part: instead of feeling too guilty to toss all those planners or calendars with your life documented and ending up with a lot of clutter needing storage, you CAN still have all the monthly information minus the mess. Just take a picture of the board at the end of the month, when it is complete with all the milestones, life events, and goals that you accomplished.

I understand; I was a bit hesitant about this part, but I have found the freedom in erasing and beginning a new month. And that is a lesson that is bigger than this article and something else I’m working on in my life.

Organization for Life

The one thing that helped organize my life just might help organize your life, too.

And while you might pay a little for the initial purchase, it will be the last purchase you have to make for an organizational tool. (With the exception of new dry erase markers when yours dry up. And cute magnets – not a need, but definitely a want.)

organization board in my foyer — Another angle of my foyer – real life, simplified by a board that tells me where I’m supposed to be on any given day.

It meets all the requirements for those of us that struggle: it offers accountability, mobility, and it keeps all of your information in one highly visible location.

Most of all: it’s EASY TO USE.

And each month, you erase and start over.

Do yourself a favor this year and get a huge dry erase board with all the bells and whistles, put it where you will see it several times a day, and begin checking off those little boxes and accomplishing all of your goals.