I want to be crafty and creative, I really do.
It just so happens that while I have good intentions and high hopes, I am a huge procrastinator. For instance, this year I actually ordered my Christmas cards really early. I was pretty excited about this. It wasn’t until I realized that I had packed my address book away and had no idea where it was that I started to stress. There were even a handful of cards that went out AFTER Christmas….darn all of you procrastinators! Apparently I’m not the only one because I was waiting until I got a card before sending a card.
Halfway through my cards I realized I was out of address labels. Our street has 17 letters in it, not fun to hand write! It’s times like these that I really wish I would have ordered some self inking stamps with my address on them.
And then there were the teacher gifts…I spent weeks pinning awesome teacher gifts for our boys’ teachers. I had all intentions of sitting the kids down to make these super cute gifts, but that never happened. What did I do? I waited until the very last minute and ran out like a crazy fool shopping with no clue of what I was going to buy. I don’t do this by choice, honestly, I wish I was a bit more organized and not such a procrastinator, but… sigh, that’s just not me. How do I always manage to get things done? I really have no clue, but I do, and surprisingly, people think I’m organized and have it all together.
So, I want to know, are you a procrastinator like me that has good intentions, but tends to rush around at the last minute to throw things together, or do you have it all together? And if you do have it all together, we want pointers…PLEASE leave them in the comments below!
“This sponsored post was made possible by SheHeard. I have been compensated for my time and work on this campaign, however all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.”
I am a HUGE procrastinator! I cannot organize to save my life – if I could, I could probably avoid a lot of procrastination. But I just can’t seem to get started, not even with FlyLady (yep, the house is one of my worst areas). I signed up for college and in the past three semesters, I have had eleven online classes (five the first semester, four the second, and only two of four the third). Online classes require a lot of self-discipline, so I was worried that I would fail miserably and give up. The first semester, in order to keep everything straight with five classes, I used a notebook to keep a running list of what classes had what assignments due each week (as well as when exams would be put online). I used a highlighter to cross off each one as it was completed. I also had a spreadsheet that helped me keep track of my weekly average in each class. In the second semester, I used another spreadsheet to keep a running list of assignments and exams (much easier than writing it all down by hand!!), and used the “highlight” feature to “cross off” the ones that were completed.
I had huge stacks of textbooks and other materials every semester; so I dragged out my old five-tier metal horizontal sorter and put my materials on that, one shelf per class, alphabetical by class code (i.e. BIO, PSY, etc.). I had my textbook, a notebook, and a file folder for each class, as well as any workbooks or lab manuals I needed. Next to that I had a four-tier metal horizontal sorter for other things, such as the file of my enrollment papers, printouts of my schedule, my unofficial transcripts, and any study materials I had obtained (such as the Quick Cards). During my second semester I ended up using two shelves of the five-tier sorter for one class, which worked out since I only had four classes. Material from previous classes was put into the top drawer of my two-drawer file cabinet, so I could find and refer to anything I needed.
All of my worrying over my grades was unfounded. My preparations and organization really did the trick; it helped me immensely in that it allowed me to focus more on my classes and less on finding things I needed. Having the list of upcoming assignments and exams was a huge asset in that it helped me stay on track and not put off anything. The result? Well, so far, I have thirteen classes under my belt, and I am running a 4.0 GPA. That’s straight A’s. I’m a member of Gamma Beta Phi (the national honor society) and am a virtual shoo-in for not only the Nursing program but also any scholarships I might choose to apply for this month. I just wish I could come to realize that organization would help me in other aspects of my life! LOL Oh, and if I didn’t mention it, I achieved those straight A’s while parenting four children – and my husband is a regional LTL truck driver who isn’t here most of the time to help with the kids! I’m also an active member of my local chapter of the Guardians of the Children, and am the New Member Coordinator for the chapter.
You go girl! You sound a lot like me…taking on many tasks at once. I am the VP for our PTO at our school, I do secretary work on Fridays, cafeteria cook on Thursdays, I lead the Children’s Sermon at our church…Oh, I could probably go on…Oh wait, and as you know, I have 5 boys and my husband travels a lot as well. I think it’s great that you have gone back to school and are doing so well…that’s awesome! As long as we have a little bit of organization and things run well, we are good, right?