A Study

I know meals are a little nonexistent by the end of the week - we like to improvise then 

This year, the NEW me is organised.  Ok that's a lie, the wheels aren't turning as smoothly as I'd hoped they would, but I have the systems in place and that's a damn fine start.  It's just the follow through I'm a little lacking in.

I follow a very, very organised blog The Organised Housewife in the hope that some of her awesome organisation will rub off on me, and who would have thought, but some of it actually is.  I get daily tips, many of them I pop in the "I'll save that and come back to that" virtual file in my head, and some I actually have made a habit of.  But there is a lot of faffing and randomness built into my DNA and it's hard for this leopardess to change her spots.  But I am trying.

(Short burst of smugness coming up) - I have a hugely successful chalk board meal planner (I do love a good chalk board) and I use that to plan my weekly online shopping.  Which I actually do.  BOOM - I can use that 2 hours I would have been shopping doing something a little more meaningful (ok that part  is still a little aspirational but I will get there.  I will). I have routine lists LAMINATED and stuck on my kids bedroom doors (that 2 out of 3 boys follow which I say is a win in my books). I try and organise the kids shiz the night before, I have the recesses and lunch bags half ready to go, uniforms ironed, drink bottles chilling, all ready for that moment in the morning when like a military operation the call is out "go, go go, GO".

But here's my problem.  For some ungodly reason, I've been waking at 5.30'ish every morning.  I don't want to get up and start making noise, I want my kids to get as many more minutes sleep as possible.  Especially as one son's bedroom now has a door off it's hinges thanks to an exuberant game of "war" when one certain male who happens to be the oldest in the house and wears a suit, yanked the thing too hard when chasing one of the other males (it's a male kind of game and I'm soooo ok with that).  Anyone who knows us will know that door is going to spend a long time in that state since me , the supposed "handy' one has no idea nor intention of sorting it - if you're reading this my darling).

But here's the thing. Instead of being productive during that time, I lounge in bed reading the papers on my iPad and watching the clock tick over until it's sort of ok to make noise.  And then as I start to kick it up a gear until we hit that heady 5 minute countdown to being out the door, and I am a ranty, stressed thing, barking orders.  Like a light bulb moment I realised there is a correlation of time to effort ratio.  The more time I have, the less effort I put in, the less time I have, the more effort required. I think that should be called  Reverse Time to Effort ratio.  And as you can see by my clever chart below, my kids leave for school at 7.45am and 8.55 - no prizes there.

I thought I'd chart it.  This is an exciting find, I may even name it and try and get it put in some National Parenting Archive'y place of important studies.

You heard it here first folks.  This is where the important stuff goes down.

And I'll have you know that there was quite a lot of clawing back to my bad boy banking days to come up with this chart.  Excel and I have never been besties.

Do you get this?  Is this you in the mornings as well?