[___Shadow___]

For a day, week etc
Do you have a note pad?
Computer for it?
What works best, looking for ideas so I can get things done.
Also, what kinds of things are the most important to organize?
I want to organize being there more for my kids, being a better mother, any idea. I loss that mom feeling and thinking if I had to , as in a to do list, Maybe it would come back more often.
Thanks

[wanttoheal]

Hi Shadow
I use everything and anything. I keep notepads around. I use calendars, my computer. I also have people that help with things that absolutely have to get done. My daughter is wonderful about reminding me about things and since she knows what goes on for me, it's very helpful without being upsetting. Often I will ask daughter to remind me as she remembers but no pressure. She remembers things very well and so I get reminders a lot from her. She's very kind not to make me feel like she's told me 100 million times too, which helps.

My boss, who doesn't know exactly what's going on, but knows I "forget" a lot helps me by giving me lists to check off. I also make myself lists to check off. I don't always remember doing the things and I often don't even remember checking them off, but it still seems to work for me.

I also find notes on pieces of paper lying about and I used to ignore them because I didn't know what they were about. Now I pay attention to them because most likely it was some part of me who wrote them. They often tell information that I need to do something or be somewhere.

Hope that helps. I think if we use all the resources we have, it's the best we can do. I still miss appointments and sometimes I don't get things done that were supposed to get done but it is much better than it was in the past and for that I'm thankful. People without dissociative disorders forget things too so while we may have to work harder at getting those things done, things can progress.

Good luck to you as you try to figure things out.

[bipolar_bear]

I have to do lists that I cross out when they are done. I also use sticky notes to remind me of things that have been started but are not complete. I don't have anything on the computer but think it is a wonderful idea. I have an organizer but seem to forget to look at it so I have given up on that.

BB

[pegasus]

I got bits of paper with notes written on them all over the house! I do try to limit the notes to two specific areas but will often find a message left in a most unlikely place!

Sometimes the message might just be one word so it can take me a while to work out what it was I was trying to say! It doesn't bother me so much now though, we can only do what we can do, ya know!

[___Shadow___]

Thank you , This does make sense, we only can do what we can do, right and try to do all we can with what we have!
Great ideas.

[multipixie9]

This is a frustrating area for me - I have so much trouble with organizing. I've tried many systems and read self-help books and I can't seem to follow them. They just make me more upset and bothered with myself. Sometimes I can make a list, but then I forget where I put the list. The harder I try the more disorganized I get. I get very angry with me for being scrambled. Seems it just shouldn't be SO hard to keep things straight. I live with a high energy, high functioning spouse and it makes me feel even more stupid when I forget stuff.

Seems like my alters do a lot of confusion on purpose. We were not supposed to tell on them, so to keep my mouth shut, I had to do stuff to keep me in the dark. Now that I want and NEED to keep it together it is even harder to be orderly. Feels like self-sabotage to me. GRRR

Spacee Pixie - (something's messed up and I can't use my smilies and I miss them. They say so much with so little.) GRRR

[___Shadow___]

Multi- I'm like that too, when I want to fix things part fight with me, saying I shouldn't or don't tell! Self-sabotage for sure. Makes it hard to stay focused or tell someone about what you need or want. Not suppose to be happy sometimes Is what I feel...but somewhere in this mess I must find it, God wouldn't let us have more pain than we can take, right? So I've heard!

[tymedrifter]

i have a community bulletin board for messages and a community callendar on th eoutside so that we can all leave messages and requests. sometimes the littles need more time with our psych and they can leave a request on the board so we know what they need on the outside as well as inside.
we have cleaners and people who do certain things fo rthe body like eat, bathe and other stuff. i am not sure how we got organized. it has always been that way.
we do have a sysmtems organizer named ori who sits a lot of stuff up.
hope that helps a bit
nici

[wanttoheal]

Yea, I understand that tymedrifter. Each part does seem to have a job. I never cook, but things get cooked so I know a part is capable of that. I start to clean and get very overwhelmed and nervous and the next thing I know, things are cleaned so apparently another part does that. It's the same with work stuff. I do bits here and there but I don't remember most of my days at work and yet things get done.

[serafim_etal]

With going to college, this became a huge issue for us. In order to succeed in school, we had to get organized.

What works for us now is basically, write it down, then write it down, then write it down...then write it down again! We use a small, weekly planner...everything gets written in there...especially anything that has a due date. On our desk we have a large calendar/desk blotter...everything gets written down there. Our binders for class are the kind with a clear plastic sheet on them...where you can slide things in and view them without taking them out...we have a small calendar page there. Again, everything gets written in. We have a small write-on/wipe-off board posted right next to our desk. REALLY important things get written there...and also, any requests from littles etc. We also post things on the fridge, next to the coffee pot, in the car, schedule things in our cell phone (alarm goes off), and make to-do lists...any little thing we can think of to help us remember/remind those who might want to do other things...that there is something important coming up.

We also started planning our day (learned this in a college skills class) by the hour. It was a homework assignment and really helped. The idea is to plan out one week and then see how well you stick to it/if it is realistic...then revise it for another week. The key is to put in every little thing...as well as the big things. It's set-up similar to a calendar only its for a day...so instead of days, you have hours. Then you put in things that don't ever change...for us it was actual time in class and T appointments. It would go something like this...6 am...wake-up/shower/get dressed 7 am...breakfast/check email 730 am...leave for class 8-930 am...Statistics 930-10 am...snack/review notes for lab 10 -1 pm...chemistry lab 1 pm...lunch 130 pm...travel to T 2-3 pm in T 3-30 pm travel home 330-5 pm...play with pets/watch tv/ chat online...etc

We were instructed to include things like blocks of time for studying, spending time with partner or kids, shopping, sleeping, etc. After we got it done and then revised, we used it for a couple weeks and suddenly we didn't really need it anymore...things were going much more smoothly. Of course, our revision (that the teacher did not see) included time for littles to play, time for teens to do artwork, etc!

These things seem very ridgid, and they are, at first...but once it's all been figured out and becomes routine, then things can be loosened up a bit. For example...it didn't take us a half an hour for any of our travel...that freed up a lot of extra time each day.

Sera

[___Shadow___]

Thank you all, This is good.
I've started small with a list and seems to be working. If my list is just laying around I totaly forget it but this one is hanging on the fridge. I'm going to try some of these ideas

[SerenitysWave]

I am naturally a very organized person but have trouble remembering things....so I use my computer, calendars, many to do lists hanging in different areas of house, lost of stickies, notepads... oh my everything and anything I can find to keep me on task and on time... sometiems is et myself time limits or bc/ I am good with dates and numbers I will set a task for a specific date and time... therfore I am more likely to remember it... Plus my youngest daughter si like a walking PDA!! remembers everythinga nd calls me at work to give me reminders too!,.... LOL...