How to Reduce Your Mental Load

Do you feel exhausted trying to keep up with all the details of managing a home?  It might not be just the number of things you have to do and how tiring the tasks themselves are.  The mental overload of trying to remember “all the things” might be what's causing the problem!  I know I HATE worrying that I'm forgetting something.  It just adds to the stress and makes me feel like I'm never really on top of things.

I have a fix for this!  Check out my system for staying in control of, well, everything, LOL!  This is perfect for those of you who just aren't 100% on board with digital planning.  This is a physical, paper control binder where I can put all the details of life and not have to manage everything in my head!  It's kind of a way for me to brain dump so I don't have to carry so much mental load!  If you want to see a full tour of my Home Headquarters Binder to see if it's right for you, keep reading, or check out the video tour here!

There are two options for the binder:

• a printable version where you can print it yourself and assemble it into a binder as you like.
• a pre-printed version that arrives ready to go in a keepsake box.

If you choose the pre-printed version, you will also get access to the printable version in case you want to print and add more pages or any of the add-on sections.

The Sections:

I've divided this into color-coded sections, and basically everything from life can fit into these sections:

• Reference
• Finance
• Food
• Cleaning
• Celebrations
• Self Care
• Family
• Miscellaneous

We even have add ons for things like pets.  Not everyone has pets and needs this section, but many do.  So it's a printable add-on, and you can print as much as you need for as many pets as you have!

Reference

In this section, there are things that you might need to look up regularly:

• Notes Pages
• Table of contents– this is fillable, so you can add your own page numbers if you like to get really detailed
• Contacts
• Utility company info in case of outages
• Car Maintenance
• Usernames and Passwords
• Doctor and Insurance info

How many times are you on the phone and need dates, numbers, or details and have to scramble to find it?  Now it's all in one place!

Finances

Here there are spots for:

• Bills– what's on auto-pay and what has to be manually paid?
• Account numbers
• Usernames and passwords for online bills
• Due date tracker– so your bills are paid on time!
• Savings jar– a fun way to watch your savings goals
• Budget Sheets- you may use a budget app another way, but if not, you can budget monthly here.

Food

This is an often-used section for me because everyone in my family wants to eat on a regular basis, LOL!  There are sections for:

• Go To Meals– This is a favorite section of mine.  I keep a list of family favorite, easy meals.  Bonus points if these are meals that I always have ingredients for.  One of these for me is tacos.  I always have ground beef in the freezer, and we can usually pair that with rice or tortillas to make a quick “emergency” meal when I just have zero plan for dinner.
• Favorite Recipes– You can also include new ones you want to try in here.
• Freezer Inventory- This has been so helpful to me when trying to meal plan!  I don't have to run to the freezer every time, and I can meal plan from anywhere.

Cleaning

• “When did I last…” section– This helps keep track of the tasks that are really spread out but so easy to forget.  Some things are really important but only happen every couple of years (septic pumping if you have that, for example– bad things can happen if this is missed!).  I also use it for things like changing the HVAC filter.
• Categorized chore chart– you can divide this by people in your family (how most people use it) or by category.
• Cleaning Tracker– this is basically your master cleaning plan.  If you have 15 minutes here or there, this will help you keep on track with what you should be doing so nothing gets missed!

Celebrations

This is my personal favorite category, LOL!  Here we have:

• Perpetual Calendar– Great for keeping track of birthdays and anniversaries.  Your friends and family will be so impressed that you remember all the important dates.
• Gift Giving– I keep track all year long of gift ideas for people so that when birthdays or holidays come up, I always have a starting point for a thoughtful gift.  I also keep a list for myself so that when people ask what I want, I have ideas to give them.
• Event Planner– Are you planning a party or hosting an event?  There's a page for this to keep all the details straight!

Self Care

This is such an important section.  We put all the health info here because self care isn't just about mani-pedis (though that can be part of it if you want) but also taking care of your body and mind.  Here are the pages in this section:

• Medical Quick Facts– there's a sheet for every member of your family.  If my husband or my mom needs to take the kids to the doctor when I can't, this is so helpful for them.
• Doctor Notes– If you're going through a medical issue for yourself or a family member, there can be multiple doctors and multiple instructions.  It can get so confusing if you don't take good notes.
• Medication Tracker– what was started when?
• Goals– health goals, weight loss goals, weight lifting goals, exercise habit trackers, etc.  What are you trying to improve?
• Trackers for symptoms and healthy habits.

Family

• Babysitter info if you have little kids.
• Pets Add-on– if you have pets, use this add-on section here for vet checkups, shot records, medication, etc.
• Child Info– this is so helpful for my husband if I go out of town.  I can put that one kid has soccer every Thursday.  I also keep their measurements and sizing (with the date!) here so I know everything if I'm ordering clothes for them online.
• Adult Info– our measurements change less frequently, which is nice, LOL!  I keep this info for online ordering and size charts as well.

Miscellaneous

• Bucket List for each season– this helps spark ideas for adding some fun into each season of the year.
• You can also add anything random in this section that needs to be organized.

I can't tell you how much mental load this has taken off of me.  I no longer have to remember everything and keep the details stored in my head.  It's also soooo much easier to accept help when I need it.  I can hand this binder over to my mom or husband, and it has a lot of what they need to know.

If you want to get your own digital or printed copy, check out the details here to see if this system is right for you!

Organization that actually sticks for busy, happy lives