How To Get Organized In Life And Save Lots of Time

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I need help organizing my life.” Well your help is here, and it costs you nothing for this advice except a little time; time you will recoup once you adopt some of the tips below.

There are many things you can do to get organized in every area of your life. Each person is different so I’ve jotted down what I think are the best ways to get organized in life.  When it comes to organization, small adjustments lead to big changes. You should experiment with them and find the ones that fit best with your lifestyle. The list is categorized so you can either focus on small changes in one area before moving on to the next, or you can adopt ones in several areas. My recommendation would be to start with one or two for a period of at least 21 days to develop a habit before adding another.

Personal Growth

• Create a vision board and display it where you can see it daily. A vision board is a visual representation of your objectives and happy. Is a technique to subconsciously attract the things you want to you. Being reinforce your and attract to
• Write down your SMART goals and display them where you can see them daily. Your goals should be tied to your happiness, not to other’s expectations of you. Like a vision board, writing your goals and displaying them subconsciously attract those things to you.
• Plan to complete one goal by the end of each quarter (Mar, June, September, December).
• If you are wanting to develop a new habit, track your progress daily on a calendar. Give yourself a green bold check for doing it and a red bold X for not doing it.
• Keep a pen and pad by bed. For the sleepless nights when your mind is racing, jot down your thoughts, then go back to sleep. Decluttering the mind will restore peace.
• Construct a Things To Do List. To properly build a Things To Do list, make a giant list of all the things you want to get done. Separate the list into three columns. Label one, Work items, one Personal items, and one Household Items.  We will call this the Elephant List. Now that you have decluttered your mind of all those items, this list will hold all your ideas and desires. Now select items off that list and place on your Things To Do list only when you are ready to take action on them. The key is not to place on your Things To Do list until you feel in the mood to accomplish it. You must feel in the mood to accomplish it. If it is important, you will get yourself to feel in the mood to accomplish it before adding it to your Things To Do list. Do not move no more than 2 items from the elephant list to your Things To Do list at a time. Your Things To Do List is not a “wish” list or a “I gotta get this done” list. Do not mistake the Elephant list for the Things To Do list. Your elephant list is your memory list so you won’t forget the things that you want to accomplish someday. However, your Things to Do List is your “Take Action” list.
• Estimate twice as much time as you think for tasks to account for unplanned interruptions.
• Keep track of time. Whether it is electronic or paper form, use a planner and use alarms as reminder for appointments.

Living Environment

1. Keep a list of repairs. This maintenance list will be for planning purposes for you to consider before making new purchases. This will help limit the number of broken things around the house that tend to clutter environment and irritation.
2. Strap your car keys to your purse – place your keys at the end of a retractable cord, then attach the cord to a zipper pull in your purse. You will never waste time looking for your keys unless you lose your purse of course. It’s easier to misplace keys than it is an entire purse, so you are reducing risk by strapping the two together.
3. Keep car oil changed and tires rotated on schedule. Simple maintenance of car can prevent unplanned chaos around a car breaking down.
4. Schedule your annual medical and dental appointments during birthday month.
5. Declutter by getting rid of all those things that are hidden- sell on ebay, flea markets, or yard sale.
6. Tackle a junk draw (only one at a time). Dump everything out in a box. Tape the box. If there is something you need within a month of doing this, get from box and place in draw after you use it. Throw the box away after one month.
7. Use ziplock bags to organize lots of small  items, like nails, screws, paper clips etc….
8. Have a shred bin for junk mail. Designate a scheduled time (daily, weekly) to shred.
9. Open mail over the garbage and shred bin.
10. Find a place for everything. If you need to keep things visible so you won’t forget, have one designated place for that pile in the appropriate room and not spread throughout the house.
11. Clean as you go. Put things away when you are finish using them particularly in the kitchen. As you use condiments or open packages, put away or throw away before you eat. When you are finish eating, no one leaves the room until the dishes are done. Make it a family event. Everyone pitches in.
12. Declutter closets. Evaluate clothing seasonal, or at least twice a year, and remove anything you did not wear that season. Donate or sell at yard sale or online.

Finances

• Live below means. Establish a budget and reconcile what you spend according to that budget.
• Automate payments with online banking.
• Pay yourself first. Through employee automatic deduction, allocate money toward savings or investment account. Roth IRA accounts are excellent vehicle for this.
• Create Passive Income. Passive income is a means of making money even while you are sleeping. In other words, put your money to work for you.  There are traditional ways to earn extra income such as investments and real estate rentals. There are many ways to earn Passive Income online as well.
• Monetize your talent. Start charging a fee for your talent. Create business cards, online website, and start marketing your services.  Start announcing to others that you are in business.
• Protect your assets. Create or review your will, health directive, and power of attorney documents so that your family is protected if something happens to you.
• Grocery shop using a shopping list. Keep a shopping list visible and write items on the list as they are needed. Go shopping once a week.

Career/work

• Schedule daily end time before getting to work and stick to it.
• Do one assignment on your work Things to Do List before checking your emails. Often times, emails distract you with new requests when you already have enough on your plate. So get rid of an old request before discovering the new.
• Have set times to check emails. Again emails are necessary, but often distractions. You will be incline to respond to the easiest things that could end up being the most time consuming.
• Block time off your schedule for the long term assignments. Set an approach and success outcome before tackling the details.
• Seek to delegate first. Find out who else should or can do it and redirect the work to that person. Keep a record of what you have delegated.
• Plan your meetings (phone calls or face-to-face). Be sure to write down your objective, list of questions, and what you want to get from meeting. This will help it be more productive.
• Overestimate. Make sure you consider unplanned interruptions when planning your schedule.

Health

• Prepare meals and cook food together. This quality time serves as double duty to catch up on the  411 and speed up meal prep time.
• Eat your last meal 2 to 3 hours before going to bed.
• Plan to get 6 – 8 hours of sleep.
• Schedule a set time of the day for 30 minutes of exercise daily. This doesn’t have to be a high impact activity, but something that gets your heart rate going such as a brisk walk in your neighborhood. Whatever you do, be active.
• Plan healthy meals to include lots of vegetables, fruit, onions, peppers, and spices. Read A Health Plan and Healthy Eating Tips for more healthy ideas.

Relationships

• Never skip date night with spouse.
• Ask for help. Get support from others.
• Let those around you know you love them. Tell them often.
• Do not be an enabler to bad habits. Help is not doing those things that people should and could do for themselves. Don’t fool yourself, you are hurting others by enabling them.
• Call or write an old friend you haven’t spoken to in several years. Sometimes guilt of not reaching out clutters your mind and creates disorganization.
• Purchase birthday and holiday gifts online. Keep $0 balance gift cards on hand to avoid overspending. You can reload just before needing them.

Recreation

• Do something new or learn something new (language, cooking, technology, etc…)
• Have FUN. Bring fun and passion to any chore that you are required to do.
• Turn on music and turn the volume up. Dance like no one’s watching.
• Visit downtown area of the closest major city and people watch.
• Attend a continuing education class at the local college.
• Plan relaxation and treats just for you.

Organizing your life declutters your mind and environment to free up time for all the things that really matter to you. Enjoy your new, organized life!

If you have ideas to share or want specific help in an area, please leave a comment below or reach out to me at coachclaudette@youworktoomuch.com.