JESSICA F ISHER

5 Easy Ways to Get Your Act

Together

for NORMAL people

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Table of Contents Organization for Normal People:

5 Easy Ways to Get Your Act Together

Organize Your Days for Success

Organize your days with a planner.

Organize your days with a weekly routine.

Organize your days with a daily routine.

Organize Your Meal Prep

Have you got a meal plan?

Did you get the groceries?

What do you need to thaw?

What can you chop, shred, slice ahead of time?

What can you make ahead?

Get some help when you need it.

Organizing Your Paper

Purge ruthlessly.

Dedicate an office workspace.

File appropriately.

Tidy up regularly.

Manage Your Money

Be in agreement with your spouse.

Do an audit.

Set some financial goals.

Keep good records.

Give yourself a carrot.

Know that it’s okay to be weird.

Be visionary.

Make the Most of Your Leisure Time

Plan some good eats.

Check your calendar.

Plan for fun.

Plan for rest.

About the Author

Organization for Normal People:

5 Easy Ways to Get Your Act Together

Many of us live lives peppered with distractions. It’s the sign of our

age. If it’s not the phone ringing, beeping, or flashing, there’s the TV

email, and social media to draw us away from what’s most

important in our real lives in exchange for a glimpse of some

celebrity nonsense or a funny cat video.

“Keeping up” with virtual strangers is not hard. It’s keeping up with

the most important people and areas of our life that can be tricky.

We fall behind, miss appointments, and allow messes to pile up.

Getting organized is key to enjoying our lives.

I’ve found that when I keep my life a little more organized, I can

focus on – and enjoy -- the most important parts of it: God, my

husband, my children, my work, and my home.

Organization brings order to chaos and helps me be at peace with,

not overwhelmed by, the stuff of my life.

This little booklet is designed to give you a little taste of organizing

and that feeling like your act is just a little bit more polished. Martha

doesn’t live at my house, and I bet she doesn’t live at yours.

But, we normal people, we can still get it together, too.

Here we’re going to tackle 5 important areas of life:

our days

our meals

our paper

our money

our leisure time

Complete books have been written on all the above topics; there’s

no end to the help and research available. Right now, let’s dive in

and talk “quick and easy”. In the following pages, you’ll find quick

actionable tips to help you jump-start your organization so that you

feel more “with-it”.

Organize Your Days for Success

Organizing your days can bring great peace to your life. No matter

what your life is like, setting a pattern or schedule that works for you

can be key to good mental health and a smooth running home.

Kids thrive on routine, and I’d like to suggest, that adults do, too.

Provided it’s a routine that suits us, our personalities, and our current

season of life.

Over the years, I’ve had to organize and reorganize myself,

depending on my season of life and what our family is doing. That

year with hockey, ballet, and karate all going simultaneously while I

was writing a cookbook would have killed me if I hadn’t created

some serious organization.

There are a few different ways that I find to be super-duper helpful

when I need to organize my days:

Organize your days with a planner.

My favorite way to think through my days is with a planner. My

planner is like my brain on paper.

It contains a basic calendar that I use for planning purposes, goal-

setting worksheets where I can do my big dreaming, a

monthly/weekly/daily to do list, my weekly meal plans, and my

month’s project lists.

When I don’t know what to do, I turn to my planner and figure out

what to do next.

Maybe you don’t need something to direct your next steps, but I sure

do! Otherwise, I get distracted by all the sparklies.

Could a planner help you organize yourself a little more?

Organize your days with a weekly routine.

There are some days, however, when I don’t even pick up my

planner. I don’t always need to because I’ve blocked certain

activities into certain days in my brain. I assign certain activities to

certain days of the week.

For instance:

Monday through Friday: I know school and my kids are my

focus on these days.

At least one evening a week is set aside for dating my

husband.

Friday nights are “pizza and a movie” nights.

Most Saturdays I work on my blog and writing business.

Sundays I avoid work as much as possible so that I can rest. This

is when I read, watch a chick flick, or otherwise just chill.

Do you have a weekly routine for doing things so that your activities

can be put on auto-pilot sometimes?

Organize your days with a daily routine.

In addition to blocking out days, I also have certain times of the day

devoted to certain things. Here’s a sample week:

Sleep – I don’t always sleep well, so I have to start early (around

9pm) and try to sleep late (7am). I know that if I mess with this

routine, I’ll be a mess.

Work – Currently, I’m trying to sneak a few hours of work into

the mornings before I take my eldest son to the train in the

morning. The kids make their own breakfasts and do their

morning chores during this time while I get some work done.

Train Drop-off/Pick-up – My college son takes the train to work

and school, but needs me to drop him off at the station. This is a

great time for us to chat, and as I’m learning, to naturally

transition from work mode to school teacher mode.

School – It’s really hard to homeschool five kids all their subjects

in a day. If I don’t focus, it won’t happen. I know that the hours

between 8 and 3 are crucial to my kids’ education.

Evening Routine – When school’s done, I work on getting the

house picked up (read: make sure kids do their chores), make

dinner, run errands, finish laundry/dishes, read to the littles, etc. I

also try to unplug about 30 minutes before I want to sleep, so

that my brain can transition well to sleep.

You may not be a homeschool, work-at-home mom. You have your

own unique practices and responsibilities. You can still organize them

into a daily routine that works for you where you’re at.

How can you build in daily time blocks to help you focus on the

different areas of your life?

By creating these weekly and daily time blocks, I help myself to focus

and prioritize — without having my planner right there. However, if I

didn’t have my planner in the first place, I wouldn’t have been able

to map out all these different time blocks.

The three methods work in conjunction to help me remember what’s

important, work on the big things, and get places on time.

For more help on organizing your days, check out my ebooks:

Organizing Life as Mom and The Print & Go Planner.

Organize Your Meal Prep

Everybody has to eat, right? No matter who you are, where you

work, or how much money you make, you have to make time to eat.

And someone has to prepare that food.

Meal prep is a daily gig for most of us, but it can get harried. Maybe

you’re busy from morning right until dinner time. Maybe dinner time

rolls around and lo and behold! That’s when the baby will accept

nothing and no one, but to be held by YOU.

Organizing your meal prep can help you get a home cooked meal

on the table even on the craziest of nights. Ask yourself these

questions as you think about dinner tonight:

Have you got a meal plan?

Everyone plans their meals. Some just do it in line at McDonald’s right

before they place their order.

You and I both know that if you did it a little sooner than that, you

increase your chances of a healthy, economical meal. Savvy meal

planning can help you do that.

Did you get the groceries?

I love to grocery shop. It’s one of my favorite household chores.

However, that means I often need to hold myself back from buying

too much or shopping too often. Others struggle with making sure

they’ve got what they need.

Do as Goldilocks’ Mama Bear does: shop just right. Make sure you

make a thorough grocery list to get you through the week with

adequate groceries.

What do you need to thaw?

The freezer can be the home cook’s best friend — when we

remember to thaw things in time for dinner. Ahem.

Take a gander at your meal plan. What’s three days out that should

probably start thawing in the fridge NOW? Make that happen so

that in three days, your roast will be ready to cook. Thawing is an

essential part of your meal prep. Don’t forget it!

What can you chop, shred, slice ahead of

time?

Pre-slicing, chopping, and shredding vegetables, meats, and

cheeses can make meal assembly so much quicker and easier. Like

you might even be able to make dinner one-handed with a baby on

your hip if you don’t have to do all the slicing and dicing, right?

Create a quick list of things you’ll use in your meal prep this week:

chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, shredded cheese. Make use of

the baby’s nap time to knock these things out so dinner prep is really

just throwing things together. One-handed.

What can you make ahead?

Are there meals you can just make ahead and stash in the fridge or

freezer? Lasagna or Cheese Enchiladas are awesome for this! Or how

about meal components like Seasoned Taco Meat or Homemade

Pinto Beans?

Do whatever meal prep ahead of time that you can. Cook when

you have the time, eat it without a fuss when you don’t.

Get some help when you need it.

Do you need help? We all do. No mom is an island. Ask your spouse

or children to help. When a friend asks what she can do, tell her. If

the budget allows, buy the meal prep help you need in the way of

some convenience ingredients or a purchased meal plan that does

all the thinking for you.

For more help on organizing your days, check out these resources:

Meal Planning 101, Life as Mom’s FREE meal plans, and A Month of

Meal Plans.

Organizing Your Paper

Whether you work from home, homeschool your kids, hunt down

teacher paperwork every school night, or simply manage the regular

bills, junk mail, and paper that comes with the life of a human, paper

is going to be something to deal with. It can bury you or it can serve

you. You get to choose.

Here are some quick tips to help you manage your paper:

Purge ruthlessly.

Get rid of everything that is unnecessary. Make some hard decisions

between keepsakes and junk, between papers necessary for taxes

and those that could be shredded.

Dedicate an office workspace.

Whether you have a full room to organize your household papers or

just a desk or file box, make sure you have a space for office supplies

and bookkeeping.

File appropriately.

There are lots of different ways to file paperwork. Choose the system

that works best for you. It shouldn’t be difficult if you don’t save more

than you need to.

I have working folders for every area of business and life. At the end

of the year those all get boxed into a box for that year. I know

exactly where to find documents from 2010.

Tidy up regularly.

If you deal with the paper every day, it can’t pile up on you. Tidy up

every night, filing papers and otherwise taming the beast that wants

to reappear, will help you keep the paper tiger at bay.

Manage Your Money

Money, if left to manage itself, will fly right out the window, leaving

you stressed and breathless, wondering what the heck happened to

all your hard work. I know. Been there. Done that.

Sometimes despite my best efforts, I still make money mistakes.

But, I know that I cannot throw up my hands. For years I told myself, “I

just can’t budget. We’re self-employed.” Well, I was wrong. You

can budget on a small business income, you can even pay off debt.

I justified my lack of money management by saying it was too hard

or I just wasn’t good enough, or we just didn’t make enough money.

Ha! No matter how much (or how little) money you make, you still

need to manage it. It will leave you quick if you don’t.

I’ve learned these money management tips the hard way.

Hopefully, that won’t be the same case for you.

Be in agreement with your spouse.

Differences in money management are often credited with causing

marital problems and divorce. Money is so stressful! I can’t tell you

how much stress has been removed from my marriage since we

started talking about our spending, got rid of debt, and began

setting financial goals together.

If you are not on the same page, I highly encourage you to pray,

talk, and seek counseling so that you can be in agreement on how

to spend (or not spend) your money. Not sure where you stand? See

these marks of a healthy financial relationship and see where you

land.

Do an audit.

Where are you spending your money? Are you saving each month?

Are you living within your means? Is there a slow leak that needs to

be stopped?

Audit yourself to find out the current status of your money

management. Everyone manages her money, just some do it better

than others. Where are you at?

Set some financial goals.

There are some seasons where breaking even is the best we can

hope for. Hopefully, you can see beyond that toward saving and

working toward financial goals and overall improved money

management.

A local bank recently offered a $200 bonus if you opened an

account with a certain amount of “new” money (funds not from

another account within the same bank) and left it alone for 90 days.

While it was a stretch to scrape together the amount, we did it. We

ate more beans and rice at home that month, had an instant

savings account, and made a really good return on that money

since interest rates do not currently favor savers.

Maybe your goal is to make it to the next payday without using your

credit card. Maybe you want to scrape together an emergency

fund, buy a new couch, or fund your IRA. These are all good goals,

so don’t compare to someone else.

Whatever you do toward better money management is good. Don’t

knock your goals, just make sure you have some! When we don’t

have goals, we get really lackadaisical in our spending. Later we see

that if we’d had more purpose, we could have made wiser choices.

Need help thinking through financial goals?

Our Money Goals for 2015

Setting Financial Goals

Designate Separate Accounts for Different Financial Goals

Keep good records.

Keeping good financial records is an important part of money

management. If you don’t know where your money went, you can

get in big trouble — with the government and with yourself. Being

aware of your spending can help you avoid debt, save more, and

reach your goals.

Give yourself a carrot.

Reward yourself for growth in your money management. So often it’s

a thankless job. Oh yay, I paid off a debt…. I’d rather have a latte.

Well, let yourself have a latte once you take care of business! When I

reward myself for good money management, I’m more likely to do it.

Know that it’s okay to be weird.

I suppose some people may think we’re odd that we pay cash and

don’t use credit cards. We don’t have a mortgage or car loans. We

have no debt. We make some money each month; we pay for rent,

groceries, and utilities, and then we have a little leftover. This was not

always the case, but man! does it feel good!

And I suppose it’s weird.

But, I don’t really care. The feeling of freedom is amazing.

Be visionary.

Money management isn’t all spreadsheets and calculators —

though those do help. It’s about using what you have to your best

advantage. Every day we’re faced with choices that involve money.

Those of us who’ve been in debt know what it feels like to be so

stressed you can’t see straight. It affects your decision-making

capabilities, too.

Good money management is an exercise in being visionary, really.

Sure, self-control is involved but so is dreaming a big dream and

thinking beyond your current money problems.

You can do this. And it will be good.

Make the Most of Your Leisure Time

It’s seems weird that leisure time would even be considered

something you need to organize. But, planning for fun, making it a

priority, and getting the work stuff out of the way, are key to really

enjoying this life.

If you organize your weekends or your vacation time, you can

prioritize as well as party. Here are some strategies to organize your

leisure time and make the most of the time you have:

Plan some good eats.

Organize your weekend by making sure you’ll eat well. Write up a

quick list of fun foods to make and be sure to shop accordingly. Plan

out which restaurants you want to visit or what easy meals you can

throw together.

Check your calendar.

What’s on the docket? Little league? Piano recital? Company

coming? Take a good look at your calendar to make sure that you

are aware of what’s coming. You can avoid snafus and the oh-

yeah-we’re-supposed-to-be-two-places-at-once thing.

If there’s some blank space on the calendar, consider if you want to

leave well enough alone. Too often we try to squeeze more in than

we can do with grace. Make the most of your free time by pacing

yourself.

Plan for fun.

How can you organize your weekend to include some fun? Watch a

movie. Play a game. Take a hike. There are plenty of practically free

things you can do for fun.

Plan for rest.

Make sleep and rest a priority. Sure, you could clean out the garage

on your day off, and that’s well and good. But, be sure that you take

some time to rest and refresh.

Making the most of your free time doesn’t mean you have to map

out every minute and put post-its on everything. It just means you

prioritize and make room for the important things.

About the Author

Jessica Fisher is a wife and busy mom

of six young children, aged 5 to 16.

(Homeschool) mom by day, she

moonlights as a freelance writer,

blogger, and cookbook author.

Published in over 95 regional

parenting publications, Jessica enjoys

writing for periodicals as well as the

web. She writes about ways to

manage a home and family and still

keep a smile on your face at LifeasMOM.com and posts “delicious

ways to act your wage” at GoodCheapEats.com.

Jessica is the author of four cookbooks: Best 100 Juices for Kids, Not

Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook, Good Cheap

Eats: Everyday Dinners and Fantastic Feasts for $10 or Less, and

Good Cheap Eats: Dinners in 30 Minutes or Less.

For more information about Jessica, visit FishMama.com.