Accessorize and Organize

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n organized mind, for some, is a gift they’re born with; for others, it’s a skill that requires a lifetime of refinement. For me, it’s a combination: I’m scatterbrained to a fault, with mishaps at every turn; but my menus and lists are written like a college paper. The untidy side of my brain is all very well when it only affects me — but when I recognized that the stillness of my compass, or lack of, is the foundation of my home, I knew I needed to create structural change.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but in homes with littles, the basis of parenthood is in the morning send-offs and the evening settle-downs. It’s also in the warm memories and empathetic listening; but really, it’s in the mornings and evenings. Once I absorbed that, it became clear where the changes needed to happen. Welcome to Project Early Mornings, established May 19, 2018. The goal: Lessen the morning chaos and the ensuing drill sergeant energy. The process: Create a list of morning tasks that I wanted to accomplish. Allot a specific time for each, so I could figure out exactly how much earlier I needed to awaken. By the time my offspring tumbled downstairs, they were greeted by a human that looked a lot like their mother.

Because mornings start with the kind of sleep you’ve had the night before, I did the same thing for the night-time: I figured out what needed to get done the night before, allotted time for it, and then understood what time I needed to be asleep in order to get around seven hours of sleep.

Is it a perfect system? No, and yes.