Really organised people aren’t born organised; they have had to cultivate healthy habits which help them to stay organised. So, if you aren’t an organised person…Good news! You can become more organised than you dreamed possible!
Successful people are productive people. How do they achieve this? They stay organised. When people think of being organised, you think of multiple planners, colour coded charts, sticky notes etc. However, there are small changes that you can make in your daily or weekly habits that can help you to create a more organised life.
Improving organisation in all areas of your life can improve your levels of productivity to enable you to be more successful. Here are 12 small habits that you can start practising to become a more organised person:
1. Automate Your Bills And Savings
Being on top of your bills can help you to feel more organised. Automating all your bills will allow you to pay all of your bills on time as well as doing the same for your savings. Money can be a common stress and so automating all your bills and your savings will ensure that your finances are organised. This action takes a little effort, but will save you a great deal of time.
2. Declutter Your Workspace
Regularly decluttering your workspace or your desk can help you to be really organised when you are working. Having a clear space will limit your distractions and increase your productivity. I don’t know about you, but I cannot focus on a task if I am surrounded by clutter. Making a point of tidying your desk or workspace either every morning or evening will help you to keep a clean and organised space. You’ll achieve more goals and complete all your tasks in less time.
If you find you are struggling for time to be able to clean and tidy your space getting a maid can be a great way to save yourself time. You can find out what is the cost of maid service in Atlanta (or wherever you are) with a quick online search, and see how you can use that saved time for other productive tasks.
3. Unsubscribe From Unwanted Emails
There is something frustrating about having an unwanted amount of emails that clutter up your inboxes as it could mean that you miss important emails or notifications. Taking the time to unsubscribe can save you time in the longer term as deleting and unsubscribing allows you to have clutter-free and organised email accounts.
4. Having A Life Admin Day
This means that you block out a full day (or morning/evening) to tackle all those tasks that you keep procrastinating about. For example, this could be booking doctor’s or dentist’s appointments, cleaning your fridge, paying bills, or tidying the shed! Achieving and crossing these tasks off a ‘To Do’ list will help you to feel more organised and then you can focus on other tasks on the remaining days in the week.
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5. Creating A Daily Reminder Of Important Tasks
Numerous studies suggest that as many as 80 – 90% of people have a positive attitude to receiving a reminder that jogs the memory. Using automated reminders can help you build good habits, but it can also help you to remember things that are too important to be trusted to a habit. Setting an alarm and/or reminders will help you to remember important tasks which enable you to become more organised.
6. Do A ‘To Do’ Brain Dump
Writing ‘To Do’ lists are effective in keeping you organised because all your daily tasks are in one place; checking off each task is motivation in itself. Having a ‘To Do’ brain dump is similar apart from using a notebook or journal to write down all of the tasks that need to be done, including the tasks which may be time sensitive e.g. order a product or clear out a junk draw or room. Then, when you have a life admin day or extra time, you can look at your brain dump and check those tasks off too. Using a brain dump can have all your tasks in one place rather than on separate bits of paper or notes on your phone.
7. Create Daily, Weekly And Monthly Cleaning Schedules
Living and working in regularly cleaned spaces can help you to feel more organised. A clean and tidy space means a clean and tidy mind which will enable you to be productive. Having a written schedule for your daily, weekly and monthly cleaning tasks helps to organise a regular cleaning cycle to ensure that nothing is missed. You could consider creating a weekly cleaning plan to do yourself or you could just hire a cleaning service to do a deep clean for you, say once or twice a month. Creating schedules creates good habits, but also making sure you’re cleaning space regularly is essential for preventing dirt building up on your workspace, as you never know, you could find yourself looking for pest control in TX or your local area, because you’ve some kind of common pest nesting in your workspace. This is why planning a cleaning schedule has its many benefits, so you can keep on top of your cleaning and it will also help you to be more organised.
8. Declutter Unnecessary Papers
It is easy for papers to build up like: old receipts, menus, bills, lists etc. which make a space seem cluttered and breed disorganisation. Having loose papers around, especially in your work space, can be very distracting, leading to disorganised work or attitude! It’s essential to keep all your important papers in a filing system and regularly shred any unwanted paperwork or documents.
Photo by Keren Levand on Unsplash
9. Keep A Password Book
When so much of our lives are online, whether via social media, banking or apps on a laptop or phone, you need to create a number of passwords to create a level of security to all your accounts. As it is best practice to have a different password for each account and impossible to remember them all as a result, using a password book is a great way to organise this important information in one place. You can keep track of all your passwords and when you last updated or changed them. Remember – you should do this on a regular basis to protect your accounts and to avoid them being hacked.
10. Write Everything Down And Do Not Rely On Your Memory
We like to think that we can remember that upcoming birthday or appointment, but in reality this may not be the case! To keep organised, writing everything down that is important is a must; use your notebook or current planner to do this, so you will turn up or send that card! There’s nothing worse than remembering too late!
11. Have A Digital Declutter
Carrying out a digital declutter could be done as a weekly or monthly reset and help to keep all your social media accounts clear and tidy. This means that you would delete unwanted conversations and remove the accounts that you no longer wish to follow. Digitally decluttering your laptop and phone can also help you to organise your life by removing old photos, messages and notes; this will increase storage and improve speed.
12. Having A Weekly Planning Session
Taking regular time out each week to plan your upcoming week is a great habit to practise. Making a list of tasks that you want to complete that week will enable you to start the week in an organised way. You’ll be more focused, so you’ll be more productive. If you use a planner system, you could allocate your weekly planning session to setting up your planner and bullet journal. This creates an organised mind set for the week ahead. I tend to do my organising on a weekend ready for a new week.
I like to start each Monday morning with a clear plan of action of what I need to accomplish that week. It saves time as I can start my tasks straight away knowing that I haven’t missed anything.
Which of these do you already practise? Which are you going to try? Let me know in the comments and update me on how you become more organised!
These are brilliant ideas Lauren. I love the idea of a password book because they are literally the bane of my life!!
I have to say that being a little more organised really makes life much easier to cope with, it can feel very overwhelming other wise x
Some great ideas Lauren, you seem to have covered all basis! I’m a pretty organized person so do tend to keep on top of things otherwise I feel frazzled. An online declutter is so important not to forget to do because often our online space is more disorganized than our “real” life! x
I pride myself on being a really organized person, but there’s always room to grow! I love the idea of a “to do” brain dump. That would probably be really helpful for me. I write everything down as is, but to just get all the little details on paper would benefit me so much! Great suggestions here.
I really need to start unsubscribing from email, mostly shops as I am trying to not spend money when I don’t need it and also decluttering papers! I already do lists every day and keep everything written down that I need to remember. Thanks for sharing x
Great list! I definitely find it helpful to remove unwanted emails as soon as I spot a spammer. When I started blogging, I signed up for a lot of services, then had to unsubscribe from a lot of them. It’s tiring when people send you emails everyday saying the same thing.
Ang / https://loseweightwithang.com
Great tips! I do most of these, I love writing down my daily to-do list which I write up every Sunday evening. Also, having a password book is literally the best thing – I keep mine in my bullet journal and is so convenient x
That is great you have an organising system in place. Thank you for reading and commenting. X
These are all such great ideas and I need to work on most of them! I’m so disorganized, it’s embarrassing. One thing I have started to do though, is set alarms to remind me of certain tasks. My husband is really good at that so he has gotten me into that habit. 🙂
Unsubscribing from emails is honestly the best thing and saves you from getting SO much junk. I’ve also done a clear out of paperwork and reorganise that into a new folder. Feels so good when you’ve done it all.
Isobel x
http://www.fashionistachic.co.uk
I already do weekly planning and have a to-do dump. One thing I need to take away from this is having a life admin day! That would really help haha. One day to get admin tasks out of the way. Great post!
These are brilliant ideas, I’ll definitely be putting them to good use. Planning and organisation is something that I struggle with, as I’m often overwhelmed by all the tasks that I have to do. These are really helpful ideas, and I love the idea to have an ‘admin day’ to just crack on with the smaller ones. Thanks for sharing x
Clearing out what emails I’m signed up to is 100% something I need to do! I just spend WAY too much time deleting them!
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
It can be really helpful. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I love these ways of keeping organised, I try and unsubscribe to emails I don’t want now as they can be so annoying! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you for these tips! I definitely need to start decluttering my desk more often as it can really help me be more organised and productive! I always try and write everything down either in my notes on my phone or in a notebook or else I will forget them.
I like to think, yes, I can remember everything, but I have learned it helps memory and is responsible to write down things like passwords. I also enjoy making to-do lists for beyond one day. Decluttering gives me peace of mind and space to grow into too.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you for reading and commenting xx
Writing down a daily to do list is a MUST!! Thanks for these tips…great post!
I could really utilize the tip about passwords! I’ve had to automate all my big payments because I kept forgetting, and it has been such a lifesaver!
That’s great it works for you!
Great ideas! A digital declutter is something that I really want to get into doing regularly to help me get a bit more organised 🙂 x
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
That’s great. I hope you manage to get around to doing it. X
These are all really brilliant ideas and a digital declutter often makes me feel so much better. Unsubscribing emails is one that I really need to do more of.
I definitely need to declutter and unsubscribe! 😀
These are great ideas! I love making to-do lists & having a cleaning schedule, but I do need to do a decluttering soon! I’ve also been using unroll.me to unsubscribe from unwanted emails & on my personal email account I’ve unsubscribed from over 450 email subscriptions & only kept 34!
That’s great, it must feel so much better knowing you have a clearer email inbox. Thank you for reading and commenting.
So many brilliant ideas here! I don’t know how I would stay on top of things without a to-do list and I love having life admin days xx
This is a fab list! I recently created a password list and it’s made it so much easier to remember what they all are. I always quite like having a life admin day as it helps me feel like I’ve got my life together, haha!
Tash – A Girl with a View
It is great, especially when you need to regularly changed your passwords. Xx
I have a drawer full of unnecessary paperwork or receipts and everytime I clean it out I feel so much more refreshed!
Yep,organization is key! No matter how much I de-clutter my desk, I always think it’s cluttered though. But I do have a planner, automate my bills and I’ve unsubscribed from emails too. Though they keep coming in…
Great tips, and glad you shared, there are some I hadn’t thought of.
I tried to comment twice on your scarf post and it said I was spam xx
Decluttering your workspace is so important- and a little thing that can go a long way! I also agree with all these other points, thank you for sharing x
Yeah having a clear space is so important. Thank you for sharing.
Great ideas Lauren! I do some of these already but not as often as I would like. The admin day is a really good idea. I usually do it on a Monday with a little prep on Sunday to ensure my new week has a smooth start. I also like to plan my meals ahead and put the clothes ready for the next day. Also for kids 🙂
That’s a great idea. It is great you have found something that works for you. Thank you for reading and commenting.
So many brilliant ideas that I really need to start implementing! Digital declutters are a must for me and I need to start regularly clearing out my emails and apps – and an admin day sounds like a perfect kinda day to have once a month or so to try and stay on top of everything! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for reading and commenting.
I can’t tell you how much I need a life admin day! I don’t have enough of them but they are soo needed!
Rosie
Can you link your blog?
I utilize several of these wonderful suggestions- most importantly I do not rely on my memory! I am a big fan of organization and making lists. I always have a pen and paper handy to jot down thoughts as they come to me. Thanks for sharing a helpful post!
Amazing tips! I always start off super organized and it sort falls apart as I go. I think a weekly planning session would help keep me on track. Thanks for your great suggestions!
Great actions to continue and ideas to try! I also can’t work in a messy place. It’s important to have a clean place so that you can focus more.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Thanks for sharing, these ideas, some of them are really good 🙂
Thanks for sharing these great ideas with us Lauren, I am sure that there is something there for all of us to take away
I am definitely going to try out some of these suggestions. Thanks for the great ideas.
Some great tips to take away! One of my goals this month has been to be more organised. I will definitely be trying out some of the tips on your list. Thanks for sharing 😊 x
I hope these help. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I love this! Especially #6. Sometimes you’ve got so much going on you forget about all the important things you’ve got to do. I’m going to implement this every Sunday when I sit down to plan out the week ahead. Thank you for sharing!
So many of these things are essential to my funtioning! Having a clutter-free desk helps me focus on what I need to do. Whenever I try to work with stuff all over the place, I end up sitting there doing nothing because I can’t stop thinking about the clutter.
https://thenutmegdiaries.com
I can’t comment on your blog posts, it says you have a software problem.
I need to become more organised sadly for me I would need to de clutter every area of my life and I just don’t have the energy or patience to do so! Some great ideas though,
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Excellent tips! Having a life admin day is really helpful!