Systems in Place

I chose three words to help me prioritize my life last year. This was recommended by a friend and avid self help reader I adore. I want to help myself too, but instead of buying all the latest books and reading them myself I mooch off her time and boundless energy.

She’s the one that told me I should choose three words for my year. Apparently this comes from a guy named Chris Brogan. https://chrisbrogan.com/?s=three+words

I did finally look him up and read what he had to say and it’s all really good stuff. Those first three words were somewhat helpful. They would have been more helpful if I could have remembered more than one of them.

But this is a new year and I have three new words. I hate to give up after just one try. 

One of my words (and I do know all three of them at this moment) is ‘systematize'. I didn’t think that was a real word, but it turns out it is. 

My husband often tells me I need a system when I clean or take on a project. If you don’t do something very often you don’t form a system naturally. He is the cleaner in our family and he has a system for every room and task. I couldn’t even figure out how to turn the vacuum cleaner on a few months ago. Seriously. In front of him. I’ll never live that down.

But he’s not wrong. I agree wholeheartedly. And I do have systems in place in areas I care deeply about. I have learned how to streamline and effectively manage all kinds of child related tasks and behaviors. I can almost raise a child in my sleep until they are about 12, I wouldn’t risk it after that. 

I only say that because I have done it over and over and over and over and… So you bet I have systems in place.

We didn’t see a global pandemic coming and so many of us were caught in some super strange situations for the first time. Having systems in place wouldn’t have stopped most of that, but it may have lessened the secondary stress. Jobs were lost, people became ill, schools were closed and it felt unfamiliar and scary. But laundry still had to be done and beds still needed to be made, hair brushed, food prepared, dishes washed. 

Having systems in place can hold life together in spite of the crazy, out-of-our-control circumstances.

When I asked my mom house she managed to raise my brother and I while she and my dad were getting divorced she said, “I just made breakfast, got you to school, went to work, made sure we had milk and did it all over again the next day so your life would be normal as much as possible.”

That wasn’t an easy time for any of us but I don’t remember ever feeling completely lost. Those seemingly minor routines held us together through a difficult change.

For example do laundry on the same two days each week, eat as a family in the evenings, or breakfast if that’s more convenient, schedule school and homework for the same time everyday, go for a walk between sedimentary activities, clean out a closet every other month, and so on. Having the things you can control in order will make the things you can’t control less stressful.

Stay tuned for specific systems I put in place in order to run a home and children smoothly.