Organize Your Life

One of my favorite things to do, with regards to organization, is to make lists. Post-it notes have been my savior. Recently, I have been attracted to small notebooks that I can throw in my bag with me. Believe it or not, I am a very forgetful person without my notes. I always carry a pack of post-its around in my purse or bag so that I can jot down something to add to my to-do list.

The concept of a to-do list in my opinion is a strategic plan on accomplishing your tasks. Take out a piece of your favorite type of paper, post-it notes, or use your computer to create a task or to-do list, then write out your list of things you need to do. My lists are always very long and overwhelming by the time I am done writing them. In order for me to feel as though I can accomplish everything I prioritize. It is helpful to use different color highlighters to differentiate the things you are going to do based on priority or what day you are going to accomplish the task. Another way you could prioritize is to assign each task a number, then work in a numerical order to complete your list. My favorite part of this is when I get to cross things off the list.

If I have a really busy day, this could apply to a work day or personal day, I like to layout my daily tasks in a timeline. Start with things, like meetings, which have specific times, then fill in the remaining time slots with the various duties you must accomplish that day. The prioritization technique works well in this situation if you don't have enough time in the day to get everything done.

I like to create timelines to help me plan out the stages of a project at work or school, planning a birthday party or event, or even a vacation. Use a paper calendar, your Outlook calendar or a day planner to look ahead to the due date or the date of the event and work backwards by planning when each task needs to be accomplished by. Mark your deadlines directly in your calendar, include them on your to-do list, and DO IT. No procrastinating. You have made yourself a timeline and told yourself that you are going to accomplish a task on a particular day - so get it done.

To play off of the timeline strategy, one hugely helpful suggestion is to plan your big organizational days. For many, doing the organizing is time consuming, tedious and difficult to get motivated to do. Make a plan for how you are going to tackle the space that needs your attention. Use the techniques from today to help you! Prioritize what space needs fixing first, then what is less vital. From there, you can create a schedule and allot time for you to accomplish your tasks. This will hopefully reduce some stress because you can break up your projects into several days or hours. If you can take a few hours each weekend to devote to accomplishing your tasks, by the end of the month you will feel like you have achieved something drastic.