How I Plan to Be an Organized Mom

This post contains affiliate links.  You would think since we’re not running around as much as we used to pre-pandemic that I would be the organization queen.  However, that hasn’t happened.  Even though we’re driving around less, my girls are older, so their school takes longer to complete.  My son is a senior, and I’m teaching him how to drive, so prepping him for adulthood is also time-consuming.  In addition, over the last 18 months, I’ve taken on more freelance writing work.  All of that combined has left me feeling like a disorganized mess.  I want that to change this year.  Here’s how I plan to be an organized mom in 2022:

Reduce Cooking Time

If you cook at home regularly, you know how time-consuming doing so can be. Shaving time off meal prep can be an excellent way to find more time in your day.

Since we’re gluten-free and dairy-free, we make 99.9% of our meals at home, most made from scratch.  I’m over it, especially in the hot Arizona summers.  So I am making these changes to reduce my time in the kitchen.

Prepare My Menu Plan on the Weekend

Last year, I changed the menu plan post on the blog to reflect what we ate the week before.  That means I was often left without a meal plan for the upcoming week and decided what to feed the family on the fly.  This year, I plan to write my menu plan on the weekend.  Then I will know what items to pull from the freezer and what to make each day.

Spending 20 or 30 minutes on the weekend making a menu plan based on the food we have on hand more than makes up for itself in the time saved during the week.

Make 80+ Freezer Meals

I plan to make 80+ freezer meals so I don’t have to cook a lot during the hot, hot summers.  My plan is to have all 80+ meals ready sometime in May.  By the beginning of May, we’re having 100 degree days, and by the end, the temperature is often above 100.  Not being in the kitchen will make me very happy.

You don’t have to make 80+ freezer meals to make freezer cooking work for you.  You can double the meals you make sometimes and freeze one serving.  Then, you’ll always have a few meals in the freezer and can pull one out on busy days.

Make an Hourly Schedule

When I was in college, I made an hourly schedule every semester.  That was the only way I could get all my school work done, work my part-time job, and still have some fun with my friends.  I haven’t used an hourly schedule for years, but I think the time has come.  I hope that with an hourly schedule, I will be able to get my main responsibilities done every week–writing, blogging, teaching, grading, cooking, and cleaning.  In addition, I want to have enough time left over to spend with my family and to relax by using Ancestry and reading books.

Make a To-Do List for the Week

I used to write some of my to-do lists here on the blog, but now I’m writing it in my planner.  I’d like to get most of the to-do list written on Sunday and then add to it as necessary.  By the weekend, I want every item to be checked off or moved to the next week, if necessary.

Enforce the Kids’ Chore Chart

Having kids help with the chores can be a good way to teach them responsibility and to get help maintaining the household.  After all, why should mom be the only one doing that?

Our kids have daily and weekly chores, but I’m not the best at enforcing them, probably because I’m a bit disorganized right now.  One way to tackle this is to have a designated chore time every day.  If chore time becomes a regular part of our routine, we’ll be more likely to do them every day.

Declutter

I decluttered the house some last year, but it’s still a work in progress.  I’ll keep working to declutter so that the house is easier to clean.  To that end, I have Big Brothers & Big Sisters coming to pick up some of our excess stuff in February.

Final Thoughts

I made a lot of progress on goals last year, and now I want to work on being more organized.  I hope these steps can also help you learn how to be a more organized mom.  If you have tips that help you, I’d love it if you would share in the comments!

Are you an organized person?  If so, do you think an unorganized person can become organized?

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