As you may recall if you’ve been around for a while, I moved in with my boyfriend and ratties last November. It was quite a big change for me compared to my old life, where I lived alone in a little studio in a city away from everyone I know. As excited as I was to start a new chapter and as well as everything worked out in the new place, I did really struggle with adjusting to all the changes and finding a good routine for myself for a while. I happen to be one of those people who need a routine and a certain degree of organisation to function properly and make the most out of their time, so those first few weeks really threw me off. Luckily I ended up in the organisation and planning section on YouTube (as you do) and that gave me just the motivation I needed to get my life back on track. Here are four things I’ve started doing since then to stay organised.
Desk Planner
One of the first things I did to get my life back on track is to purchase a desk planner. I’m going through a phase where I love watching productivity and planning videos on YouTube, and watching how people set up their bullet journals is among my favourite things to do for some reason, haha! I don’t think keeping a bullet journal currently fits into my life so I don’t intend to get one right now, but that level of organisation did inspire me to start doing a bit of planning on paper again. I’ve been planning fully digitally for years now, using a combination of my Google Calendar and the to do list app Wunderlist. That combination has served me well, but I thought physically writing my tasks, appointments and meals of the week down and having them on my desk at all times might help me be more motivated and productive. It actually works really well! I love being able to see all my tasks and appointments of the week at a glance and ticking off boxes with a pen. It’s much more satisfying than tapping on a screen.
Daily To Do Lists & Weekly “Spare” To Do’s
I use the desk planner mostly to plan my tasks for the upcoming week. I still use my calendar to keep track of appointments and Wunderlist to remind me of recurring tasks or to plan more complicated or remote projects in detail, so the combination of all three seems to be my sweet spot. The planner has a top page with sections for to do lists and notes, and a bottom page with the days of the week. Every Monday morning I’ll transfer my appointments of that week from my calendar into my desk planner. I’ll use the top lines of the daily columns to write down any appointments. The bottom line contains my plan for what dinner to cook that day, and the space in between is used for my tasks and to do’s that need to be done that day. I use the to do list section on the top page for any extra tasks that aren’t bound to a tight time frame or don’t have top priority, but I’d like to finish some time that week if I can. This way I know exactly what I need to do when, what my week will look like, and where I can squeeze in unexpected appointments or tasks.
Starting With A Clean Slate
I’ve noticed that all the planning in the world won’t matter much if my surroundings are a mess. When there’s clutter everywhere and unfinished household tasks are waiting for me, I can’t for the life of me focus on work. I like to be able to start each day with a clean slate. Mornings are my favourite time of day when I usually feel quite motivated and positive, but when I wake up and the house is a mess I instantly feel weighed down by all the mundane cleaning I know I will have to do before I can even get started on my to do list. On the other side, waking up to a clean house allows me to do everything I need to do without distraction. Therefore I like to always go to bed in a clean home. I’ll take a few minutes every evening to clear the coffee table, put the dishes in the dishwasher, fold any clothes that are lying around, etc. Trust me on this one guys, that lovely feeling in the morning of having a completely fresh day to focus on what you need to do, is well worth those few minutes of cleaning up at night.
Set Moments For Recurring Tasks
Something that helps me a lot is to have set, allocated times for recurring tasks in my life. For example, I now go grocery shopping every Monday and Thursday. Sunday is when I do my cleaning, and Wednesday and Friday are laundry days. This way all of these periodic things that aren’t the most exciting but need to happen form a kind of frame around which I can build the rest of my week. I don’t have to worry about when to do them or when to fit them into an already busy schedule; I know exactly when they’re due and I stick to that. These are all tasks which, when forgotten, make me feel like my life is a mess and I have an overwhelming amount of stuff to do. Having these always taken care of feels really good!
So there you have it: these are the four simple things that have really helped me get my life back on track, be motivated and feel productive. What’s your top tip for staying organised in life?
I think all of your tips are essential and very helpful! My top tip is a variation of your “clean slate” one. Basically, maintaining is much easier than starting from scratch. Using “time pockets” (5 minutes here, 10 minutes there) to maintain organization and cleanliness makes it manageable in the long run. So, if I have 10 minutes between an episode of a TV show I’m watching, I get up and (just one example) throw out everything that’s expired in the cupboard or that I won’t be using. I do this (and other “mini-chores”) all of the time, so I only have to do each one every couple of months, instead of taking two hours once a year and being stressed about it for weeks (because, like you, my stress is directly proportional to my home’s tidiness). It’s a time management tool too, and time management is one of my weaknesses, so I’m always trying to better myself in that area.
My other top tip is to respect my own time and to be more realistic about what I can actually get done in a day. This is also a weakness to me, because I am a people pleaser (working on fixing this!) and general overachiever.
Thank you for this great article!