I was never really an organized person. If anything I am super lazy! I like to do things that require the least amount of effort. But that’s the main reason why I started to be more organized because when things are organized, getting things done is so much easier. Life is easier.
If you feel like you’re just a hot mess, and you need to get more organized, then this post will help you with some ideas that have helped me over the years! Here are all the things I do in my life to be more organized and to get my life in order!
First things first, commit to a calendar or planner!
Any organized person probably has some sort of planner or calendar they use. They don’t rely on their brain to remember that appointment or write it down on a post-it that will soon be trashed. They write it down in their planner, or they enter it into their phone’s calendar right away. As soon as you know an event’s date and time, pencil it in right away. Don’t wait, because you might forget and then you’ll miss an important event! Having a calendar or planner helps you plan ahead. If you have a wedding coming up and you see it in your calendar then you’ll remember to go buy a gift a few weeks ahead of time instead of rushing the day of and heading to the wedding late.
My planners of choice right now are my Digital Planner and a project management tool called ClickUp.
Undated Horizontal Blush Digital Planner
Set multiple calendar reminders
I like having an online/digital calendar mainly because it is constantly reminding me! I forget things sooo easily! If I have an important event coming up I like to set up multiple calendar reminders. I like to set them weeks in advance, days in advance, and then hours in advance. That way I have to time to plan for them and most importantly remember them!
Create designated spots for the most used items in your home
Figure out the items that are always misplaced or laying around, and find a home for them. For me, I needed a place for my purse. Every time I was in a rush my purse seemed to be missing, sometimes it was on the coffee table, other times it would be on a dining room chair.
Have more than one thing in multiple places
I am always forgetting to trim the kids’ nails or comb their hair so I like to have those clippers and combs in as many places as I can to remember. Seeing it reminds me and I am not wasting time searching for it all the time.
Use a home management binder
Before I tried to put everything in my planner, but just recently I figured out that some things don’t need to be in a planner. Things you keep track of, refer to about once a month or year, or lists that you need to reference can all be housed neatly in a home management binder or project management tool. In my case, I am using both. I have a printed version for my family but I also have a digital version on my iPad/iPhone. I am using the one from my shop here. It has both printable and digital files included!
Have multiple alarms in your day to remind yourself of what you should be doing
If you don’t use an online calendar that time blocks your day of what you should be doing, then simply set up alarms on your phone. I used to do this (as I talked about in this post here). You’ll be reminded of when you should start and stop working on a task. This helped me a lot because if I didn’t have a reminder or alarm I would easily spend 8 hours perfecting my blog page or designing stickers. By using alarms and reminders you are balancing your work and personal life.
Create the habit of putting things away when you’re done using them.
Nothing irks me more than when things aren’t where they are supposed to be. Make a home for everything and try to put it back as soon as you’re done with it. For example, if you are using scissors for a project be sure to hang it back up on the pegboard when you’re finished. I need to work on this though, with my makeup area. It’s always a disaster. I am trying to be more intentional when it comes to putting a makeup brush back in the right cup or placing the lipstick back into the right drawer. By being aware of this you’ll be less likely to make a mess or misplace an item.
Clean 10 minutes a day
I am sure you can spare 10 minutes a day! You won’t believe what 10 minutes can do for your house. A quick pick up, loading the dishwasher, vacuuming the main room, dusting, quick clean of the bathroom and more. 10 minutes doesn’t seem like a lot but you will definitely notice a cleaner home!
Create a cleaning routine and stick to it
I love to use checklists when cleaning because I know that everything is done and done right. I follow clean mama’s routine but tweaked it a bit for my home and family. I love that everything is laid out and you just have to follow it. No having to use any brainpower, just doing it! I made these lists for my cleaning routines which you can download for yourself here.
Purge regularly
At least 2 times a year, spend a day cleaning, recycling and donating unneeded goods and items. We are always shopping so we should always purging the things we no longer love. The more you do it, the happier your home will be.
Have an important documents binder
Or just a place where you can access all your important documents easily. Place all of your social security cards, birth certificates, immunization records, passports and such all in one place so when you need it you know just where to look.
Brain dump regularly
“Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” – David Allen
Do not stress yourself out by holding everything in your brain! Write it down and get it out of your head! Once it’s out you can handle it and see if it even needs to be done.
Automate your bills
So many bills, don’t stress about remembering to pay them all on time, just set up autopay! This has helped so much. With due dates all over the place, it was always so hard to log in and pay for a certain bill each time. Logging in and paying for each bill takes up so much time too! With autopay, you just set it once and forget it. No more late payments or fees, and no stress!
Plan tomorrow, today
Don’t go into the next day completely unprepared. Plan 3-5 tasks the night before for tomorrow, so when you wake up you can review it and start getting stuff done! Once you get those things off your mind you’ll feel a lot better and sleep much more soundly. When you plan ahead you won’t get sidetracked by all the distractions that pop up in the mornings too.
Use an annual/yearly calendar
Seeing a timeline of your entire year will help you to focus on one project at a time. You can plan your projects around vacations, holidays and birthdays. I always try to set one project per quarter, so at the end of the year if I feel like I didn’t do too well I can at least say I completed four projects.
Have one place for your notes and things you reference often
I like to use Google Keep to store all my little notes. I can never remember the kids’ school ID’s or when I bought my camera so I keep things like that in Google Keep. I love how you can organize with tags too. Every year our families ask for a wish list for Christmas or birthdays so this is a good place to jot down ideas for my entire family too. I also like that you can attach pictures so I like to keep ideas for the home in there too. If I find a good workout checklist, it will go in here too. Other tags I have include manuals, projects, quotes, Instagram post captions, receipts, recipes, recommendations, routines, etc. Basically anything I need to reference can easily be searched in my google keep! I love it.
Do a weekly review
Each week schedule time in your planner to do a weekly review. I always like to end the week on Friday and do a weekly braindump, update my calendar, track my stats and analytics, clear my inbox and just clear my head so I can be prepared for another week.
Set Goals
When you are clear about where you’re going it makes it easier to take action on those goals. So set goals and get clear on it, clear thinking, clear ideas, and clear goals. You can use my free goals workbook down below!
& that’s just about everything I can think of to get more organized and get your life in order. If you have any more ideas please let me know below! I’d love to hear from you!
