Get Organized with These 8 Simple Tips
Is “get organized” on your list of things to do … someday?
You are definitely not alone. So many of us struggle with organizing all of the different roles, tasks and stuff in our lives. When I transitioned to working from home full-time ten years ago, “get organized” quickly moved up my priority list. There are some areas that I have done really well in. And others, not so much.
Contrary to popular belief, organized people are not just born that way. They use a variety of tools and methods to help them. Over time it becomes easier to implement what works best for them and their specific needs.
[Tweet “#NowReading: Get Organized with These 8 Simple Tips”]
After working with many women over the years, there are a few things that I notice most organized people have in common.
Simple Ways to Get Organized Easier
1 – Declutter
It stands to reason it is easier to stay organized if you have fewer things to put in order.
Related Article: 17 Hacks to Organize Your House
2 – Don’t make it complicated.
Complex solutions make organizing harder to do. Instead use systems that are simple to implement. For example, a coat hook on the back of the door for your jacket. A few things that have worked for our household:
- hooks by the front and garage doors to hang our keys
- an ottoman in our family room for throw blankets
- labeling spaces in our linen closet so everyone knows where everything should go
3 – Make time for organization
Once organized, take the time every day to keep it that way. If you don’t need something, throw it out. I have learned to go through my mail right next to the shredder. This way I can shred unneeded documents immediately rather than letting them stack up over time. Remember the first tip to declutter? This leads to more productivity, less stress and money saved.
4 – Stop procrastinating.
Most organized people do something when they see that it needs to be done. They live by the motto “Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today”. In doing so, they now have created time tomorrow to do something else that may unexpectedly pop up.
5 – Everything has a dedicated place.
To stay organized, everything must have a place and everything should be in its place. Not only does this make for less clutter, you always know where to find something when you need it – it is in its place. (Remember those hooks by the doors for keys? They have saved me countless minutes searching for my keys!)
6 – Time Block
Complete like tasks together. In the case of emails, instead of checking them three or four times each day, set aside a chunk of time and take care of them once. A great rule of thumb for email that has helped me consistently get to Inbox Zero over the last few months is:
- If it can be done immediately, do it.
- Tasks that need to be completed later, get put into a special folder. If there’s a specific deadline, I immediately add an even to my Google Calendar that’s linked to the email.
- Things I do not need are deleted. I, also, consistently review email lists I can unsubscribe from.
By handling something once, it saves time of having to go back again and do it later.
7 – Create habits not tasks
Becoming a creature of habit with daily routines helps us to become more organized in the different areas of our lives. Having set patterns of work creates less stress, keeps areas organized and neat and saves time.
8 – Lists help you prioritize and focus
To stay organized, get in the habit of using prioritized lists. Task A gets done before task B. As each item gets done, it gets crossed off or removed the list. If some things never get to the top of the list, they obviously are not important and get eliminated from the list.
It can be difficult to get into the habit of organizing our life and possessions. However, organized people are made and not born, so it is something that is in the grasp of everyone. We just have to want to learn how to do it.