How do you organize your life in a world where there are so many things to keep a track of?

Maybe you are someone that doesn’t have a lot of time or look at organization as an uphill task!

Whatever the case, organizing your entire life will not only help you to become more productive but will also make sure you don’t get stuck in a rut!

More now than ever, people want to know how to organize their life to get more done in the day.

To change your life for the better, you need to organize your mind, as well as your environment. The most important thing is to take action now!

Many people find themselves reading about how to become more productive, more organized, and overall live a better life.

However, a small percentage of those people actually take action.

If you feel overwhelmed with the number of tasks you need to complete or all the responsibilities in your life, this is the post for you!

Most people out there were not born organized people, but by implementing small habits you’ll be able to organize your entire life without spilling your coffee!

Remember, Take it one day at a time…

If you want to organize your life, trust me the last thing you want to do is rush in full force and start doing everything on your to do list all at once.

Slow it right down…

Not only will this overwhelm you, but it will also almost guarantee you do not get anything done! No Bueno!

Take each day as it comes and start with the task that has highest priority. You can even break that task down into smaller chunks to make it more manageable.

Write things down on note paper or onto a day planner.

Here are some planners I really like:

1. Silk & Sonder
2. Happy Planner
3. Simplified by Emily Ley

That is just my top 3…

Once you have accomplished several daily goals, you can move on to the bigger ones.

Now, let’s get you organized for 2021…

1. Declutter Your Environment

Having a cluttered, messy, and unorganized environment is extremely de-motivating.

Do you feel like taking on the world in a room full of mess?

No. Neither do I!

Before I start any task, I always make sure I have cleared my environment of any mess.

Keep things clean regularly, so that you can start any task fresh and give it the best possible start.

Do not feel like you need to tackle decluttering all at once!

Decluttering is a process and can sometimes take longer that you think.

Start with one room or one section at a time.

Before you buy anything else, have a look around and see if there is anything you can get rid of or give away.

Once you have decluttered the key here is to KEEP IT CLEAN!

It will surely get messy from time to time; however, this will only be small things that don’t require a huge decluttering project.

The places you use the most should always be kept clean.

Try not to let things get so messy and disorganized that you find it hard to keep on top of.

2. Have a brain dump daily.

Like decluttering your environment, you must also declutter your mind.

Too many thoughts and ideas on the various tasks and responsibilities you need to complete only hinders your progress.

Have a daily brain dump – get it all out!

Dump everything out on paper, on file, online, whatever suits you!

We naturally overthink things when they remain in our heads, thus making them bigger than they actually are.

Start the week with a huge brain dump and then perform mini dumps daily ? (stop giggling)

Holding on to information is often how it gets lost, so practicing this daily really helps.

3. Get a planner.

In theory this should probably be #1 on my list but having a planner/organizer is an essential tool.

Like I mentioned above, we cannot simply rely on our brains to remember everything.

The brain does not usually have a structure or plan for our lives like a well-organized planner would.

A good life planner will focus on the next year of your life (at the very least 6 months).

You will have space in there for details such as:

• Contacts and addresses
• Goals and visions (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)
• Notes
• Ideas
• To do lists
• Birthdays
• Plan of actions
• Password list (to help you log all passwords in one place)
• Gratitude journal
• Brain dumps

Look for or create a planner that include details like the ones listed above.

Start to use it consistently and you will definitely start to see how organized you become.

4. Set goals

Goals create structure.

If you don’t have specific goals in place, then how can you organize your life effectively?

You should always have a vision for where you want to be in 6 months, 1 year and beyond.

This will help to give your life a focus and you end up scheduling specific tasks to reach your goals.

There should be moments of spontaneity and you do not need to plan every moment of your life.

However, your life should always have an agenda or bigger goal. We were created for a plan and purpose – Jeremiah 29:11

Create something in life to look forward to and work towards.

5. Label everything!

Just trust me on this one, labels will be your best friend!

Especially when you are storing things away for a while.

You may have the most amazing memory now but imagine in 3 years when you come across the item you stored away and have no idea why you stored the item away or what purpose it solves.

The label can contain information such as the name of the item, what you plan to do with it, where it’s going etc. etc.

6. Give your brain the day off.

Our minds are amazing things.

They give us our ideas and take in information at rapid speeds.

However, we just cannot possibly remember every bit of information given to us daily (or at least it’s very hard to). Get yourself a note taking system, a notebook, an app, or your computer.

7. Set daily time blocks.

Make sure you set time blocks throughout the day to carry out specific tasks.

This is especially helpful if you plan this out the day before!

For example, each morning after you have had a coffee and meditated/quiet time/journal, etc. for 30mins, you could sit down and answer any emails you have.

Waking up in the morning and just winging it, is not going to make you any more organized.

In fact, not having a specific plan for the day will decrease your productivity rate and you will not get as much of the important stuff done!

8. Create a schedule then a routine.

Ah, I love a good routine…

This step differs to planning because scheduling requires you to make notes of the things you do every day and week and developing them into a routine.

It might seem silly to schedule in every bit of your life, but it really does help to get things done and will make you more organized.

Disorganized people are always being caught off guard by the dependencies in their life.

By creating a schedule or a plan for all your dependencies in advance, you will eliminate the possibility of getting distracted when one of them comes knocking.

Create strong habits from the start!

With habits, the more you do it, the more it will seep into your subconscious and you will start doing without noticing.

The first step towards forming this type of mental pattern is to sit down and consciously list out your mental dependencies; health, diet, friends, family, bills.

Creating a mental schedule take times to build.

Eventually instead of setting constant reminders for your regular everyday tasks, forgetting to do something, or getting distracted, your mind will run on a loop sending you subconscious alerts.

9. Meal prep EVERY Sunday.

Figuring out what to eat every day is stressful, trust me I have been there. Not only is putting together several meals throughout the day pure stress but it can also be extremely time consuming and often money wasting.

Learn from my past failures, I cannot tell you how many times in the past we have stressfully made poor decisions to swing thru Mickey D’s because we ran out of time and did not plan or prep a meal. Our physical, mental, and financial health suffered because of it.

Set a day in the week to plan your meals, shop for groceries and prepare your meals for the week.

If this seems unrealistic for you, simply ‘meal plan’ on Sundays. It will still give you a leg up on the week, trust me!

It will save you buckets of time and $$$…

10. Give everything a home.

Everything in your environment deserves a home, a place where it belongs.

To become more organized, you must create a place for everything in your environment.

Remembering to put the item back in its special place is also a key organization rule.

That way, when you go to find it, it is always there.

Set up your work environment is set up properly before you start anything.

If doing this every time you use something becomes too hectic or you have a huge home that is hard to manage, create a “drop zone” in an easily accessible part of the home.

This is a place in the home where you can ‘drop’ all the items that were taken out or used throughout the day.

11. Have a backup for everything.

You should always have a backup for the things that matter most or the things you do daily.

Don’t leave yourself short and find yourself scrambling.

Organized people have backups of the things they use on a daily basis.

If running out of something disrupts your day and allows you to be thrown off track, make sure you have a backup of it.

This way you can resort to your backup and move on with your day.

12. Surround yourself with things of value

The things or people in your life should always serve a purpose.

Be deliberate about the things you have around you.

Do not purchase or invest time in anything that does not benefit your life.

Habits of the really organized include only keeping what they need or really want.

You could buy a dress in the shop that makes you smile whenever you wear it or have a friend that always makes you laugh every time you see them.

These are great examples of things or people that bring value to your life.

One of the keys to having an organized life is to surround yourself with these things and not store things that clutter your space.

Ultimately, find what works for you.

The steps above should be taken very generally.

Everybody works differently, so find the schedule or plan that works best for you.

What are some of your favorite organizing hacks?