List organization is essential for me in keeping my family organized! My favorite way to keep my lists organized these days is with Google Keep. In my constant state of sleep deprivation due to having a 4 month old, I don’t have an attention span beyond 5 minutes to learn a new app, so Google Keep is perfect for me! I can create separate notes for my to-do list, set reminders for myself, keep track of things I like, and jot down cute or funny things Noah did that day. I can add and check things off of my to-do list throughout the day since I can access Google Keep from anywhere.
Keeping track of my lists by category gives me a sense of accomplishment as I tackle items on it. I love crossing things off of lists. So much so that I quite frequently add things to my to-do list that I’ve already done. Just so I can cross them off. Who else does that? I know there’s got to be more list cheaters than just me out there!
Lists help me visualize what I need to do and let me see what I’ve accomplished at the end of the day rather than sitting down for the first time at 10:00 at night thinking, “Where did the day go? Did I even do anything today?” Making a list throughout the day stops me from lying in bed at night running over the list in my head. I’ve written it down, I can see that I’ve made progress on it, and so I can sleep peacefully (well, at least until the baby cries and wakes me up a couple hours after I’ve fallen asleep). You get the point – I like to keep things organized amongst the craziness of life as a new mom. It helps me sleep at night.
Here’s what my Google Keep list board looks like.
What’s your favorite way to keep track of your to-do list?
Need some ideas for how to start organizing your own lists? Start with these topics:
- To Schedule: Appointments that need to be scheduled (car maintenance, hair appointments, doctor appointments)
- Around the House: Things that need to get taken care of to keep your household running (laundry, grocery shopping, meal planning
- Kid To-Dos: Playdates, activities you want to remember
- Books: Books you would like to read
- Party Planning To-Do List: Ordering invitations, planning menu, planning games/activities
- Reminders: Things you want Google keep to remind you to do (I use this for things that I find myself forgetting time and time again, like to transfer pictures and video from the cameras to my computer).
- Moments to Remember: document moments that you want to remember, but don’t have the time to formally enter into a baby book, etc.