Is your life so unorganized that you don’t know how to fix it?

You tried to work things out but because of how hectic life is at this point, you still notice the mess around you.

It is always easier to want to be organized than to actually be organized. But you need to get one thing straight. Nobody is born organized or perfect. Everyone learns basic healthy habits along the way and implement them to regulate a stimulating lifestyle. You are no different than those people.

Now, before I share those tips on how to be organized in your life, I have a confession to make. Just like most of you who are reading this post to learn how to stay organized, I am learning to be one too. I am not the perfect organized person, but I am trying to be one. I am still working on some of the tips I shared.

Not long ago I was a very messy person. My cupboard was always chaotic, my shelves were barely organized, my desk was always cluttered with stuff, and I hardly made my bed. Although my parents are way too organized, my sister and I are not that much. We always got in trouble for our messy room.

Being unorganized doesn’t only include your messy cupboard or your cluttered room. The most harmful side effect of being unorganized is when it impacts your life or your work. If you are unorganized on those two things, then you certainly suffer from completing tasks on time. Just like I did in the recent past.

I noticed my unorganized lifestyle when I had trouble getting things done easily and on schedule. At first, I didn’t have any problem because my daily tasks were limited and my routine was very simple. However, when my daily tasks increased, I had difficulty focusing and doing things productively. It started to drive me crazy and it was then that I decided it was time for me to get my organizational skills on track. It was not easy but definitely effective.

Just recently, I started to improve my lifestyle and learn how to be organized. I am not perfect yet but my life became way simpler than it was before. Creating an organized environment helped me experience a happier, more productive, and more relaxed lifestyle. By organizing my time, my thoughts, and my health, my life became smoother…and now I know how beautiful my room actually is 😅😋.

How to stay organized?

Following rules can be frustrating because it keeps you restricted to feel joy. Don’t think of these tips as rules to follow. They are just guidelines that help with keeping your home, school, work, business, and health in line.

Let’s look at some tips that helped me on how to keep my life organized.

1. Create a to-do list

You may think this is a silly and unimportant tip (at least I did) especially if you have limited tasks to do the next day that you can easily remember. However, creating a to-do list of tasks for the next day is not for your memory. It is to help you keep track of what all you completed and what you didn’t.

You may have a pending task that was supposed to be done yesterday but you couldn’t complete it. This task is now added to your today’s list. So all you’re doing is keeping track of your daily achievements. Also, the feeling of crossing off a completed task boosts your self-confidence and enhances your productivity to complete other tasks as well.

TIP:
Spend the last 5 mins of your day before going to bed in writing down your to-do list for the next day based on your today’s to-do list.

2. Keep a calendar for your schedules and occasions

Get your tasks organized by using a calendar. A calendar will help you keep track of your schedules for the week or month. By looking into your calendar, you will be able to create a productive and reasonable to-do list based on your schedule.

Make sure you jot down all your appointments, meeting schedules, deadlines, and activities for the day in your calendar. This way you will have a great outline of how you are going to spend your day.

Also, mention important days in your calendar as a reminder for the upcoming occasions. It can be birthdays, anniversary, friendaversary (yeah, I have one of those 😊), etc.

TIP:
Try to create/purchase a 24-hour calendar to cover all your schedules for the day if you have night schedules too.

3. Plan your week ahead

The number one tip for being organized is to have everything in your life planned out in advance. When you plan out stuff, you know what you want to do and when you can do it. This helps you organize your tasks based on your priorities.

Try making it a habit to plan your week ahead so you can have a complete layout of your tasks and activities for the coming week. This way, even if you add or subtract a task, you know when it is possible and when it is not.

TIP:
First distribute the important tasks, appointments, and events throughout your week to give them more priority. Then start adding other tasks that you wish to accomplish that week.

4. Be honest about your limits

With planning and setting goals, you sometimes tend to overdo it. While it takes 10 mins for most people to complete a certain task, it may take you 15-20 mins to complete it. That doesn’t mean you assign 10 mins for a task you know will take longer just because it is supposed to take that long.

Don’t bother about how much people can get done in a time interval. You have to know how much you can get done is a specific time. Don’t try to be ideal with your schedules or try to show off that it is possible for you to complete a task in a shorter time frame.

When you do the planning, think of the worst-case scenario so you can give yourself enough time to complete things. If you create a plan with high expectations, you will never get tasks completed on time. This will keep demotivating you which will affect negatively on your productivity.

TIP:
Set realistic expectations according to your ability to get something done. If you know for sure that it takes you 30 mins to complete a certain task, assign it 40 mins when you do the planning. This way you are giving yourself extra time for completing it in case of distractions.

5. Have a clear vision

Without having a goal, there is no point in getting tasks done. This means you are just wasting your time.

Here is a saying I use a lot:

“If you don’t know your destination, you can never book a ticket.” – Reem Shams.

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This means that without having a clear vision of the final result of your planned tasks, you will never be able to focus on the time and skills required to complete it with perfection. You should always get your goals straight. Never give up on them. Just create a plan that makes sure that you reach your goal at the end of it all.

TIP:
Spend time to create a clear vision of what you want so that you can make an effective plan that won’t leave your goal halfway incomplete.

6. Follow a routine

Trust me when I tell you this. If you don’t have a routine to follow, everything becomes messed up. You don’t know what to do and when to do it in the most productive way. You need to have your day planned not only with tasks but also activities.

Create plans for different times of the day. Routines help with automating our tasks and forming good habits. Some of the routines you need to have are:

• Morning routine
• Afternoon routine
• Evening routine
• Meal routine
• Skin-care routine
• Self-care routine
• Exercise routine

As we both know, morning routines are the most important. Most successful entrepreneurs talk about how morning routine is the most important part of the day. While that is true, it shouldn’t be the only thing we plan when we think about our day.

TIP:
Create a general routine plan for next week and commit to it. By the end of that week, see how things worked out with the general plan you made. Make necessary changes to the tasks/activities required for a more productive routine in the next week. If everything works out, stick to that routine.

7. Be punctual

Being late to do something is one of the worst factors that can ruin your day. Everything after arriving late becomes messed up. Your assigned time-block for getting work done will be jeopardized throughout your day. Unless you complete a certain task earlier than expected, you will have to postpone some of your today’s tasks.

Being punctual is not only for being organized but also for being respected. Punctuality shapes a person’s impression on your character whether they know you or not.

If you reached late to work, then you leave a bad impression with your boss and he/she will always doubt your level of commitment and productivity in your work. The same goes for an interviewer’s impression if you are late for an interview.

TIP:
Try to plan on reaching 10 mins earlier than expected in every appointment you make.

8. Avoid procrastination

This is another one of my faults. I do tend to procrastinate when trying to complete simple tasks. However, I am doing a great job at trying to change this toxic habit of mine.

Based on my personal experience let me tell you why it affects you. First, when you keep postponing stuff to do, it gets harder to do it later. Your mind will not even be at peace because that thing will always be bothering your mind. Second, when you learn to postpone your tasks constantly, it turns into a habit. This will affect you when you have important things to do. Finally, you are taking away the room for a future additional task. You will have to cancel the new task no matter how important it is.

It is okay to postpone tasks when things get out of hand, but procrastination is not acceptable.

TIP:
Whatever can be done on time, get up and do it immediately.

9. Declutter regularly

Decluttering does not only include your closet or your room. You need to declutter your home, work area, and even your life.

When decluttering your house, start with cleaning your closet, emptying your drawers, throwing out (or donating) the things you don’t need in your house, etc. At work, you can clear the top of your desk, rearrange your filing system, getting rid of unwanted files, folders, or icons on your computer, etc.

As for decluttering your life, look into your daily routines and enhance productivity by making necessary changes, learn how to say no to reduce commitments, remove toxic people from your life, etc. Even if my last point sounds rude, it needs to be done to have a positive, happy life.

TIP:
Set up a weekly system to declutter your environment and your life.

10. Create a meal plan

“What should I make for dinner tonight?” or “What do you want for lunch tomorrow?” Do these questions sound familiar? They are questions that stick to a parent’s head for the whole day thinking about what meal to prepare. This is why we need a meal plan.

Like I mentioned above, all routines should be planned out to help us with automating tasks. In this case, we need to work on our meal routine. A meal plan doesn’t mean that you only have to follow what is written in the plan and stick to it. You can always alter the planned meal based on your mood.

Planning a meal helps us decrease the stress of thinking about what to cook. This is particularly effective for a working mom (whether from home or office). It helps her decrease the stress of what meal to prepare and gives her the opportunity to prepare some of the dishes for the week during the weekend giving her more space to complete her tasks on the weekdays.

We need a meal routine not only to stay organized but to also stay healthy and keep track of our nutrients’ intake.

Also, a meal plan helps you figure out missing groceries. This way you can make a list of all the missing ingredients for the meals to be prepared this week. Then you can go for grocery shopping once per week instead of wasting time ongoing daily.

TIP:
Sit in your kitchen with a pen and paper on a Friday or Saturday evening and go through the ingredients in the kitchen. Plan out the meals for the week. Then, go and discuss it with your family members to reach an agreement. After that, create a grocery list and go grocery shopping to get the missing ingredients.

Other ways to stay organized and productive

11. Finish one task at a time. Avoid Multitasking.
12. Always leave your things in the same spot.
13. Keep your things ready the night before.
14. Make sure you make your bed in the morning.
15. Keep a small notepad for emails and passwords (store it somewhere safe and private).

Final words

Organizing your lifestyle sounds like a difficult thing to do when you think about it. However, it is very simple once you put your mind to it.

All you have to do is start getting your day, week, and month planned out in advance and stay committed to it. Trust me, you will enjoy your life without stress.

Commitment is the key.

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Thank you for reading till the end 🙂

If you enjoyed this post and found it beneficial, don’t forget to like it and share it with whoever might find it advantageous.

Feel free to share what you do to stay organized in the comments below.