Organizational Nightmare

Hoarders has been the show of choice in our home lately.  It's one of those train wreck type shows that you just can't look away from, no matter how hard you try.  It's also the type of show that makes you wish you could climb in the TV and yell at some people yourself.  The main thing it seems to cause, for us anyway, is a need to clean and organize after seeing all the shows.  It never fails - watch some episodes of Hoarders, spend some days trying to clean.  It's like how seeing pizza on TV makes you want pizza.

Unfortunately, we tend to not post the same gains as the show does.  I know this is mostly because we're not Hoarders, so the changes made by us cleaning will be much less subtle - but it's still frustrating to spend a day trying to clean up and feel like you're treading water.  They tell you to forget the dishes and the vacuuming and ignore the clutter - live your life!  It's hard to do that when it becomes a source of stress.

We're not messy people, per se.  It's just difficult to maintain a certain level of cleanliness when you have a baby crawling all over hell and hoboken, classes and homework to worry about, and a work schedule that keeps you out of the house more than you're in it (awake, anyway).  A LOT of things start to fall by the wayside, and as more and more do it becomes more and more difficult to catch up.  I haven't done all the laundry yet this week, and "laundry day" has come and gone.  The kitchen is messy.  There's pans with failed chocolate chip cookies fused to them that have been there since Monday.  Lyric's room has clutter here and there, and is in a constant state of reorganization because I have to go through her clothes at LEAST once a month.  The dresser in our bedroom is a dumping ground for stuff.  The only area that has been vacuumed recently is the living/dining area.

It spills over into other areas, too.  I have trouble keeping track of what bills have been paid, and what still needs to be paid.  The car needs an oil change (has for months) and it never gets done because there's never time.  Homework is procrastinated.  I have paperwork I need to mail in to the state about our tax return that I haven't done.  There's receipts on the fridge for the prescriptions Travis picked up LAST month that need to be submitted for a claim.

Is there some kind of secret that I am missing out on here?  I'm going into a career field where organization is key, and half the time I can't stay organized to save my life.  I clean a co-workers house on occasion, and she says that I am an excellent cleaner.  When I tell her she'd be horrified to see my apartment, she wonders how it is I can clean so well there, but still be so disorganized.  So if there's a cult I can join or some ritual I can do to help keep ahead of this mess, let me know.  I'll be under that laundry pile over there.