10 Things You Can Do To Be More Organized
Most of us can find the motivation to clear out and clean your space periodically. The real trick is establishing regular habits that help maintain an organized lifestyle. I truly believe that everybody has the potential to be organized. All it takes is building systems that function in a way that works with your routine and daily flow. When brainstorming the habits you want to implement in your lifestyle, I encourage you to think about what will help prevent clutter, mess, and disorganization from your life. I want these to be unique and individual to each of you, but here are 10 of the daily habits I swear by to be my best (and most) organized self.
Make A To-Do List Of Your Top 3 To-Do’s & Hold Yourself Accountable
To-Do lists are an effective way of centering yourself and setting up your days for success. With that, writing a list of 30 to-dos on an already busy day can be frustrating and unrealistic. Over the last year or so, I have shifted my focus from quantity of tasks, to quality of work.
I encourage you to pick the top 3 must-do's for your day. Consider these the things that are your top priorities. I know this step can feel small and unnecessary, but when we document our to-do list, we are much more likely to stay accountable and on track. If you are Virgo like me, I also like to make a to-do list of my top 3 “nice to-do’s.” These can be the top 3 things you would like to do in your day, but aren’t necessarily your main priorities. If you want a little more inspiration on the importance of a to-do list and how to build an effective one, take a peek at my blog post on Jen's To-Do List Life Hacks.
Pro Tip: Create your to-do list in the afternoon for the next day. You will feel prepared and ready to tackle each day better with this hack!
2. Finish The Dishes From The Day After Dinner
Alright, I know what you are thinking, doing the dishes is so obvious. If this is what you’re thinking, you’re not wrong. Doing dishes is one of the first things we think of when we think of a “clean and organized” home. Yet, it’s one of the first tasks we look over. We justify leaving a mug in the sink from breakfast, a plate from lunch, and maybe a few pots and pans from dinner. While each of these on their own isn’t a big deal, they add up quickly. Doing the dishes is an added step and takes a bit of extra effort, but this little added habit will go a long way to staying organized in your day to day life. Make a commitment to yourself to finish any leftover dishes from the day before you go to bed. Trust me, when you wake up consistently to a clean kitchen, your mood will instantly change.
3. Utilize Your "Wait" Time
There’s not denying that good time management skills are an asset when it comes to staying organized. This doesn’t just include the time where you are working on a project, this also includes the in-between time. How often do you have 10 minutes between meetings or waiting for your lunch to reheat in the microwave? With that time, how often do you spend it scrolling or staring off in space? Don’t worry, because same! Next time you have a few minutes in between activities, choose to tackle one small task. This can be anything from putting away shoes near your front door, to “zhooshing” your shelves. It’s the small extra steps that make a true difference!
4. Don't Multitask!
I think I can speak for most of us when I say that we have all felt the pressure of trying to multitask. We convince ourselves we can be in a meeting, while writing an email. The truth is, when we try to multitask, we are left doing both things sub-par. No matter how busy you are, commit to starting (and finishing) one task at a time. I promise you it will save you time and energy in the long game.
5. Prioritize Sleep
There’s truly nothing better than waking up and feeling refreshed and well rested! I can guarantee that you will feel excited and motivated to take on the day. Consistent sleep will boost your mood, energy, and efficiency. Ultimately, this will allow you to be more productive because of it. When you don’t give your body enough time to recharge, it will show you by feeling lethargic and more clouded mentally. We all function optimally on different amounts of sleep so it’s hard to say the exact number of hours we each need. With that, take some time to find the time you need to go to bed and what time you need to wake up for you to feel your best. This will allow your body and mind to prepare for the next day.
6. Finish One Task Before Moving On To The Next
Avoid starting the next task until you finish the first one. While this might mean you worked on fewer tasks throughout the day, it also means the ones you worked on are done. Make the commitment that you are going to finish, create a plan, start strong, give yourself a deadline and complete it. Time blocking is one of my favorite ways of sticking to a task and assuring I finish just that task in a period of time. When building out my calendar I will reserve x amount of time for one task. This gives me the drive and commitment to finish my task in that period of time.
7. Clean As You Go So It Doesn't Build Up!
Think of how much time you would save if you cleaned up as you went, rather than waited for a mess to become overwhelming. We create the habit of telling ourselves we will get to it later. Use the “wait” time we talked about earlier to handle a mug in the sink or the dirty clothes on the floor. Once you make this part of your routine, you will notice a cleaner and more aesthetic environment.
8. Stick To A System For Paperwork
Paperwork can be one of the items that gets chaotic quickly! Start by gathering all your paperwork so it’s in one place. From here, separate your paperwork into 5 categories:
Action
Archive
Household
Recycle
Shred
Once you have sorted, go ahead and discard any of the papers you no longer need (do so based on their label. Ex: shred all that need to be shredded, recycle all that need to be recycled). Start to place paperwork back into a paper storage solution of your choice (I love a file box or a document case). Finally, make sure to label everything (trust me, this will save you so much time! The only way this system will work is if you stick with it and stay consistent.
9. Know When To Delegate And Ask For Help
It’s also important to know when you may have too much on your plate, and to decide where you can delegate tasks or ask for help with things. There is no shame in asking for help. In fact, collaborating with others can actually help you be more successful and efficient with your time, and produce results that you can feel extra proud of!
10. Strive For An Inbox Of Zero
Similar to the feeling of waking up to a dish-free kitchen, there is nothing more satisfying than opening your email to an empty inbox. There are so many steps you can take to make sifting through your email more manageable. Start by doing the obvious, unsubscribe from all the emails that are only stealing space in your inbox. From here, remove all junk mail. A quick way of going about this is you can search for the store/brand’s name or email address (that you are hoping to delete) via your inbox's search bar, select all the emails that match your criteria from the search results page, and then hit your trash button. For any email you aren’t ready to delete (just in case), utilize the archive button. Your goal is to keep things hidden and clean, so having them out of sight (but still attainable) is ideal. If you want to take your inbox to the next level with folders and systems, make sure to read my Digital Declutter blog post. I know this step might feel minor, but it’s the small steps that make the biggest difference in becoming your most organized self.