The Frank Family gets organised

By guest blogger Mel Frank, owner of Frankly Organised

Here at Frankly Organised – we like to think we’re pretty… well, organised. Every day our small team keeps dozens of clients organised and efficient to ensure the day to date running of their business is as stress free as possible. Recently with a few new team members joining the ranks and more clients to onboard, within our own systems I noticed a deficiency – I wasn’t sure who was there to keep me organised?

As any mother and small business owner will tell you, every day is usually full on. Add a toddler into the mix and at times it’s like trying to pick up marbles with a toothpick (aka impossible!) In 2017, I have grown my business into a small team and by doing so, I’ve grown my need to delegate, remain in sync, organised and running like a well oiled machine.

At times, to maintain my reputation and the high service level I deliver within my business, I am the first to admit my home life suffers. Taking care of the housework is the least of my priorities when my family or even my clients need me. The ripple effect has seen days and even weeks where meal planning is a major thorn in my side. Once upon a time, I had home shop groceries down pat. The trouble now is often I don’t order in time for the home shop delivery window I need, I forget ingredients or they end up out of stock. All of these rendered my meal planning fruitless and this was just one teeny aspect of where things were coming unstuck.

At this point, I ended up with a massive lack of motivation to prepare the food we did have, let alone eating it – I needed that time for other things anyway. 

The a-HA! moment

When I stumbled across Kelly and Daily Orders, I knew we were a perfect match. Love at first sight? Maybe it was! Kelly’s experience and organisational training from a distinguished career in the Navy prior to having kids was all I needed to know that she and I were going to get along just fine.

While I was hitting home runs on the business side, secretly was tanking in home organisation. But her amazing planning boards were my answer and the first step on a staircase I haven’t even reached the top of yet #whatthisspace

The day a board changed our life

The day we finally unwrapped our new baby was a serious one and I wasn’t mucking around. I cannot stand uneven objects on the walls (never mind the mess everywhere else you look in the house) so my statement was clear – “Hun, if it’s not centred I’m going to go nuts.”

Enter Nick, my wonderful husband. Nick is very talented at many things but patience for ‘centring’ something was a work in progress. I couldn’t even watch as he measured the holes and spacing for our new monthly landscape planning board – which we had decided was going to pride of place in our kitchen.

After waiting 24 hours as required for our hooks to secure to the wall, it was time. I had been secretly waiting for my chance to try out the uber cool liquid chalk markers since they arrived. Even shaking these was fun! What I didn’t realise however – was so had Nick!

Secretly cool fun for adults

After arguing over which colour to use for what ‘sort’ of family event we were on our way. With Nick having promoted himself to Pen-In-Chief, I stopped for a moment to realise what this planner had already achieved.

Aside from the obvious ‘in my face’ monthly overview of my organised families whereabouts, these planners did what woman has been trying to achieve for centuries. Motivate men. Even as I write this, I am surprised at how effective the planner is, over any app or paper product we have tried in the past. Believe me, I’ve tried a lot. Two months later and Nick still makes sure our planning board is up to date. 

Why stop at one

Since then we’ve been motivated to try and meal plan a little better – now that we can see what nights we will be out and which nights will be spent at home (thanks monthly planner!) Stay tuned for another update as the Frank household is eagerly awaiting a portrait weekly planner which I’m excited to use for planning meals with our Thermomix. Now that the cookidoo is out – it’s the perfect time to maximise my inner meal planning goodess and there is plenty of room in my life for another one of Kelly’s boards.

If you’ve ever been stuck in a disorganised family rut like Mel or perhaps bought one of our planning boards and are loving it – we want to hear from you! Visit us on our Facebook page or comment below with your thoughts. For more organisation hacks and tips, please visit our blog today!