How to Get Organized: 20 Simple Ways To Organize Your Life
I am naturally a very organized person. I need to have all of my things put in designated places.
It eliminates unnecessary stress and I can find whatever I’m looking for so much faster than if my things were scattered all over the place.
My clothes in my closet are organized by season, color, sleeve length and casual/work. I am a bit obsessed with organizing. I like knowing exactly where something is when I need it instead of wasting time and energy looking for the item.
If you’ve been looking for ways to organize your life, please read on.
1. Start with a Decluttering Session
Before you organize, declutter! Go through each room and clear out items you no longer need, use, or love. Reducing clutter is the first step to making space for order.
Pro Tip: Set a timer for 15–30 minutes each day for quick decluttering sessions instead of tackling everything at once.
2. Write Everything Down
One of the best ways to be better organized is to write everything down. Most of us are not able to remember everything, we have a lot going on in our everyday life. Planning a trip to the grocery store, make a list of everything you need, this will save you time in the store and you will not forget anything. Have appointments, write down the time and place so you can keep track of where you need to be. Download this free daily planner to help remember your tasks.
ProTip: – Make your to-do list either the night before or first thing in the morning.
3. Make A Schedule And Stick To It
Have a plan of what you need to get done each day and check them off of your to do list. You will feel accomplished as your list gets smaller and smaller. Keeping a schedule will keep you organized and productive.
Pro Tip: Time-block your day by assigning specific tasks or activities to designated time slots.
4. Make Your Bed As Soon As You Wake Up
Your first task of the day is to make your bed. Once it is made, you will have already accomplished your first task of the day!
5. Plan Your Outfit The Night Before
This one is a life saver, I have been doing this since high school. Every night pick out your entire outfit for the next day, clothes, shoes and accessories. It saves you time in the morning from staring into your closet wondering what you should wear and wasting valuable time. Once you get in the habit of planning out your outfit, you will be hooked.
Pro Tip: Check the weather forecast and your calendar to ensure your outfit fits both the weather and your day’s activities.
6. Prep Your Day The Night Before
Besides planning your outfit the night before, there are other things you can do to make your mornings go smoother.
Make your lunch, if you have children, make their lunches while you are making yours, this will save a few minutes in the morning. Set the coffee pot to go off by the time you get up in the morning. Prep your breakfast the night before so it is ready to go.
Shower before bed, this will not only save you time in the morning, it will relax you and help you fall asleep faster.
7. Don’t Procrastinate
We all have tasks we don’t want to do, but the longer we put them off, the harder it will be to get them accomplished. Procrastination is one of the worst habits to have when it comes to staying organized.
8. Clean Out Your Purse
If you are like most of us, we tend to throw everything into our purses. Then when we are looking for something, we of course can’t find the item we need or it takes a long time to find it. Get in the habit of cleaning out your purse once a week. You will be more organized and it will help you find things so much easier.
9. Use a Family Calendar
If you live with family or roommates, keep everyone on the same page with a shared calendar. This helps avoid scheduling conflicts and keeps everyone accountable for their commitments.
Pro Tip: Use Google Calendar which syncs across devices for easy access.
10. Spot Cleaning
This is another easy one and will save time and energy in the future.
Instead of waiting for your house to get dirty and then having to spend hours cleaning it, you can do spot cleaning for a few minutes every couple of hours.
This is especially easy if you are working from home. You can give your eyes a break from staring at the computer and take a few minutes to do some dusting. On your next break, try some vacuuming. Every little bit helps.
11. Subscribe to a Meal Service Plan
Meal planning saves time, money, and reduces decision fatigue. We have been using Home Chef and it has been a game changer. You just need to pick the meals you want for the week and they will deliver them with all of the ingredients and you put it together and cook it. It is also a great way to spend some quality family time together. Get 18 free meals here.
12. Everyday Items
Designate a space in your entryway to keep your everyday items, such as your keys, phone, purse and other accessories. This way when you come home, you place them in the same location and you will not be looking for them on your way out the door. If you do not have a table near your door, you can get a small wall hook rack to hold your items.
13. Find A Home For Everything
Once you are organized you do not want to fall back into old habits. If you take something out to use it, make sure to put it back in it’s place as soon as you are done using it. When you go grocery shopping, you put all of your items you just purchased away, so take that thinking and apply it to everything you use throughout the day.
14. Organize Your Closet
Remember when I said at the beginning of this post that I have my clothes organized by season, well keeping your closet organized is a major way to help get yourself organized.
You do not have to go to the extreme that I do, but it is a good idea to go through your closet at least once a season and declutter. Remove clothes you no longer wear each season and donate or toss them. You will have more room in your closet and you can put your clothes in some sort of order that works best for you.
You can try putting all of your work clothes in one section, all of your workout clothes in another, all of your casual clothes in another.
15. Declutter Your Computer Files
Take some time and go through all of the files you have on your computer and delete the ones you no longer need. With the ones you do need, you can make file folders and place all of the documents in the proper folder, or store them on the cloud or a removable hard drive. Having excess files on your computer will slow it down, but once you remove the, you will be amazed at how much faster it becomes.
Pro Tip: Set a weekly reminder to clean out your email inbox and delete unused apps from your phone or computer.
16. Clean Out Your Inbox
If you have subscribe to a bunch of newsletters, blogs and other online publications, but haven’t read a single email from them, it’s time to unsubscribe. Your inbox will be cleaner and you won’t feel overwhelmed every time you open your email.
Pro Tip: Set a weekly reminder to clean out your email inbox and delete unused apps from your phone or computer.
17. Create A List Of Your Passwords
We need a password for almost everything we use in our daily lives. It is not safe to use the same password for everything, but trying to remember many different passwords is not easy. Use an app or a notepad that you can access safely to keep all of your passwords in one place.
18. Declutter Your Phone
Go through you phone and delete apps you never use and either delete pictures you no longer need or back them up to the cloud or to a portable hard drive. This will free up space on your phone and also make it faster.
19. Keep Your Desk Organized
Whether you work from home or go to an office, keeping your personal work space organized is key to productivity. Keep your desktop clear of clutter by using an organizer or keeping important items in the desk.
20. Clean Out Your Kitchen & Bathroom Cabinets
Go through your cabinets and toss anything that has expired and make sure to replenish the necessary items.
Becoming organized doesn’t have to be hard and time-consuming. By simply adding a few extra steps to your daily routine, you can get organized quickly without even thinking about it.
We would love to hear any tips you have that help you organize your life. Let us know in the comments below.
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