Sarah at the Organized Mom, a stay at home mom who co-founded the company that developed Daily Home Planner software, contacted me in September about trying out her software. Unfortunately this was when I was in the midst of royal freak out MolarGate 2007 and the last thing I was thinking about was getting organized. Oh no, I had bigger fish to fry at that time, like, what crazy secrets would I reveal to my oral surgeon and his staff while under the influence of anesthesia and pain medication and when could I eat solid foods?

Even though I tend to be an Internet addict and I’m married to a computer techie, I still love my paper planner/calendar and have resisted the movement to an electronic organizer or calendar. But lately I’ve noticed a disturbing trend and something’s got to give. Although I’m now spending less time at my office (just four mornings a week) and more time at home I find that I just fritter away that much more time unless I have a plan of action.

If I don’t have a plan for those precious few hours between arriving home from the office and leaving for school pick up at about 2:45, I’d find myself distracted by a dozen different unfinished tasks at the house, like dirty laundry and dishes, not to mention checking up on personal and blog e-mail, and then before you know it, it’s then time to head over to the school to pick up Miss C and my neighbor’s daughter. Basically I would feel like I had accomplished nothing of substance around the house and then after picking up Miss C, there is homework to do, dinner to get ready, etc.

The solution for me, someone who gets distracted way too easily, is to start having even more structure and more routine.

I’m trying out the Daily Home Planner software and I’m going to start using it to plan meals for the week (which I have found keeps our grocery bills down), keep an updated grocery and to do list (instead of having 25 scribbled upon Post It Notes randomly stuck in my office, car, and purse), and just try to stay on top of the girls’ busy social life, what with all the birthday parties, school field trips, and other pressing social matters. The great thing about the software is you can assign each family member, and even the family pets, a role and color so that your calendar is color coded.

I used to be organized, and then, I often joke, I had kids.

And boy am I not kidding.

You can download a free 30-day trial of the Daily Home Planner software or purchase it here.

Let me know in the comments if you struggle with time management as much as me. And, what you are doing about it! (If anything!)