FEBRUARY 9, 2023/ LIFESTYLE

HOW I STAY ORGANIZED

Are you organized person or a complete mess? If you fall in the second category you have come to the right place.

In this blog post I will explain in detail how I organize my life, tips and tricks that helped me figure out the “best” system for me, as well as general guidelines to begin with organizing.

Starting to organize yourself can seem extremely hard and overwhelming. Not knowing where to start or how…But, don’t be discouraged there are a few simple steps that will help you start. It may take some trial and error until you find a system that works the best for you, but once you do your day to day life will feel so much easier.

In this post I will cover 3 topics:

  • How to start organizing your life
  • How to create an organizational system
  • How to stay organized
  1. Write down what you want to organize
    Make a list of areas in your life that you would like to organize (room/computer/school/work/day to day etc.). Write them all down on a piece of paper or your phone
  2. Make a schedule
    Now that you know what you need to organize make a time schedule, it can be a day or a week, depending how long you will need. Tip: don’t add too much time since it may cause for you to forget about it. Write that schedule on a piece of paper or add it on your calendar, but make sure it is a place where you can see it daily as a reminder.
  3. Do the actual organization
    This is the part where you actually sit down and do the “hard work” whether is organizing your closet or your finances. Tip: when organizing items example: clothes, books, files etc. its good to make a few sections keep, toss or giveaway. This will help you a lot with the selection process.

 

Daily routine

The secret to staying organized is to actually have a daily routine. Make a list of all the things you want to achieve that day, all the errands you need to do and all the tasks you need to finish for the day. My tip would be create a daily routine outline that is easily adaptable to each day and just adjust it for each day. For example I am going to share with you my daily routine:

  • wake up + make bed
  • journal
  • morning skincare routine
  • tea + checking emails/texts/notifications + feeding my dog
  • taking my dog for a short walk
  • work
  • lunch break
  • work
  • errands
  • workout/yoga
  • dinner
  • free time
  • night skincare routine

This is my daily outline, based on the type of day I change it up, but in general it stays like this. On top of it I add smaller tasks such as meetings, calls, appointments, meetings with friends, lunch/dinner reservations etc.

To do lists

Another helpful tip to organize your day/week and make sure you fulfill all your to do’s for the day/week is to create a to do list. This can be either in a notebook or on an app, whichever works best for you. I personally use the Reminders app on my Apple devices, since my daily tasks change by the hour and my mild OCD will not handle if I cross over stuff lol.

On the list add all the tasks you need to do for that day or week, from smallest ones like morning skincare routine to bigger ones like an important meeting. Tip: I like to add them in chronological order to have an outline of my day.

Every Monday I usually write my to do list for the whole week, and then add tasks as the week goes on.

*It is scientifically proven that your brain releases dopamine when we cross off a task*

Using an agenda/planner

Now this is something that I swear upon. You can either use a physical one or a digital. I am an organized freak so I like to use both (since I do not always carry with me my physical agenda).

Using an agenda is a great way to write down important dates such as birthdays/anniversaries, mark out dates that you are traveling or on a holiday, date plans, reoccurring appointments such as dentist and medical exams, daily meetings etc. It gives a great visual outline of how your day/week/month will look like, and will definitely help you schedule future activities easier (no more double booking or forgetting an important event).

Dividing your workload

My secret when asked how I have time for everything is time management and workload division. 

Each week a make a list of all my workload (meetings, events, campaigns to shoot, content to post etc.). I automatically place tasks that are date sensitive such as meetings/events/posting dates and then I start placing my other work tasks for the week. Being self-employed discipline is crucial to be effective and productive. What I found to work the best for me is having dedicated days for content creation, researching trending content, planning out feed, planning out campaigns, posting, writing blog posts etc. That way I have a work plan and know which day I will do what, and it also helped me to divide my workload equally instead of having 2/3 days where I don’t have 10 minutes free because I am behind on work. For workload division I use Notion, I’ve created my own template there that works the best for me.

I had a similar system that worked great for me back when I was in university, each day of the week I would dedicate to a certain class. This helped me to study regularly which helped a lot during exam season, since I didn’t have to cram a semester worth of studying in a week. I also did a similar system for my assignments. Not only would I start my assignments early on, but I will write down which part of the assignment I would do each day, leaving at least one day before the deadline where I would have the complete work so I can go over it a few times and make changes if necessary.

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