Introduction

Getting Started entails five areas. In order of importance, they are:

· Dishes

· Laundry

· Trash

· Eating

· Sleeping

How odd it is that I would put eating fourth and sleeping last. But let’s analyze this list for a minute. You are here because your life is scattered. If it were orderly, then you wouldn’t be here.

When you came out of your bedroom and into the kitchen, did you ask yourself, “What the heck happened?” Didn’t it just seem like you had everything in order?

Maybe you were sick for a few days, because, yes, mommies do get sick. Sometimes so sick that we never leave the hobbled together sleeping mat comprising of a bath rug and towel for several hours. Just getting back into bed seems like you ran a marathon.

Maybe you were with one of your children for an all-day activity. Meanwhile, the remaining children are left with, dare I say it, their other parent. And, he is a fine example, isn’t he? Because he puts everything away after he is done with the dishes, the dirty laundry, and the trash, right?

Your spirit wilts after the initial shock of the mess. How can you eat with your stomach in knots? How can you relax to fall asleep, let alone stay asleep?

Therefore, your FOCUS on eating is after you FOCUS on the first three items. Now, do not starve yourself until you accomplish the first three goals. Because, well, that is just silly. I mean, you have to eat, and you have to sleep, don’t you? (Nod and say, “Why yes. Yes, I do.”)

Each of the pages will give you different options on accomplishing the same goal. It’s kind of like being in a math class. You remember math, don’t you? Well, you probably remember how awful you felt from not being able to do it like the teacher was showing you. So, let’s explore that a little.

I personally did not get math. Sure, I understood the basics: adding, subtracting, multiplication, and division. However, I really struggled in the upper-level math classes.

One day, in tenth grade, I was asked to come up to the board (along with a few others) and write out my answer to one of the homework problems. When I was done, the teacher looked at it for what seemed like for-EVER. Then, he told me that I got the correct answer but how I arrived at that answer was “totally illogical”. Needless to say, that wasn’t a big confidence booster in my mathematical problem-solving ability.

Fast forward seven years. I was taking a real estate class and one of the lessons included amortization for mortgages. This was basically a fancy math class. However, the teacher taught differently than anyone I ever had before or since. He taught according to how our mind--our brain--naturally solved the problem.

The way my brain “saw” the problem was, of course, the lowest percentage of the population, but I understood—FOR THE FIRST TIME—how to solve the equation. I was over-the-moon happy! I wasn’t stupid, I just learned differently than others. What a relief!

How does this relate to your life? Your organizing ability may not be like the majority of the population. And that is okay! You are not a slob, no more than I am stupid in math.

The Getting Started section will tell you what to do, but how you solve the equation will be different for each of you. The goal is the same, but the journey is unique. Find what works for you and go with it.