How to Become Organized

As professional organisers, we love lists. They help us stay organized, get the most out of our day and ensure we complete everything that needs to be done. Here are a few handy tips to help you when organizing your “to-do list”.

Tips to Help You Get Organized

1.     Write a “to–do” list the night before. The last job you should do before you finish for the day is to write your list for tomorrow. As soon as you clear the clutter in your head, you automatically feel more organised and less stressed.  There is also nothing better than knowing that you are prepared for the next day. It saves you time in the morning and you can start off feeling organised. Best of all, you won’t wake up in the night, worrying about something. Remember, decluttering your mind is just as important as decluttering your physical space.

2.     Once on paper, you can plan, prioritise and get a system in place for managing your day. Prioritising your list and working out which are the most important tasks to be done first, is really important because, let’s face it, often you won’t be able to tackle everything on your list at once.

Get organised. Write a "to-do" list as it really helps you plan your day

Get organised. Write a “to-do” list as it really helps you plan your day.

 Make Your List Achievable

3.     Make it achievable – don’t put too many tasks on your list which you know you will never get through. It becomes disheartening and you will start to feel unmotivated. There is nothing more rewarding when you can tick something off your list.

 Stick To Your List

4.     Stick to your list. Achieving everything on your list takes discipline. It is really important to stick to your list and make sure you complete what is on there before you start adding other things onto it. If something pops up, ask yourself is it a priority and does it need to be done today, and then decide if it goes on the list for today or tomorrow and also what priority it should have.

 Completing Tasks On Your To-Do List

5.     Tick off the tasks when they are completed. As I mentioned, there is nothing better and more rewarding when you look back at the end of the day and see everything is ticked off.

6.     Don’t procrastinate and allow yourself to get side tracked. If you want a coffee, tell yourself that you can have one, once you have completed a task (or perhaps two) off your list.

7.     Be time specific when you are writing your list and make sure you have a timeframe as to when your tasks must be completed by.

Getting organised and staying organised is all about changing your habits and carefully planning your day.

Until next time, happy organising.

Natalie Morey, Professional Organiser