How to Organize Your Life
1. Plan and Schedule:
Get a daily planner. There are many good ones on the market today. Some have a week-at-a-glance format, others give you a month at glance. You need the one that works best for you. You’ll need to set aside at least 10 minutes each morning to plan, enter and check your daily planner. If you schedule one week at a time, you may need to set aside an hour on Sunday to sit down and schedule your week. But even if you do schedule one week at a time, you will still need to give yourself some time each morning to check your planner for the day’s tasks and agenda.
Suggestion: Remember, unplanned things can happen. Leave some flexibility in your schedule to allow you to overcome any obstacles that may pop up throughout the day. Once you’ve disciplined yourself with this time management process, you’ll see that your life will become more organized and less stressful.
2. Clean Your Workspace:
A clean workspace is essential for creativity, motivation and inspiration. Set aside some time and get started. Also, be aware that organizing your workspace can be a big undertaking. Divide the project into more manageable tasks – first, arrange the top of your desk, then the drawers, then the filing cabinet, under-the-desk storage, shelves, etc.
Suggestion: Get yourself three boxes or bins and label them – “recycle”, “donate”, and “throw away”. Put them in a conspicuous place and use them. Empty them at least once a week.
3. Don’t procrastinate:
Putting tasks off is something that we all are guiltу of from time to time. The longer you leave something, the bigger the pile will get. Just looking at this pile is stressful. Tackle the biggest or most disliked job first. Divide each job up into manageable tasks. Even the biggest or most disliked job task becomes a little less of a load to bear when it’s divided into smaller, manageable tasks.
Suggestion: Make a checklist of tasks and chores and write it in at the top of each page of your desk calendar. Checking things off will give you a sense of accomplishment and help motivate you to complete all the tasks on your list.
Following these three suggestions will help you lead a more balanced, less hectic, and more enjoyable life. Stress caused by being disorganized, time lost because of being messy, and problems caused by being undisciplined are the banes of modern world. Recapture your life and make it your own again. Get organized!
(by Marie Fahey March 6, 2006. Abridged)