Do you want to have longer days to complete all your commitments or money is never enough? Is the car tank always empty and the garbage in the house always full? You are suffering from the syndrome, more common than you might think, of the "perpetually busy" syndrome, with no time to waste, no time to devote to relaxation. The good news is that there is a cure, and it's called the Organization! Follow these simple steps and you will finally be able to live in a balanced way, between work and free time.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Mentally Organize
Step 1. Determine the cause of your lack of organization
Why do you always feel under pressure? For some, the problem is too dense an agenda, which makes organizing difficult. For others, the culprit is the simple lack of motivation or knowledge. To start organizing your life, you need to know and understand these causes, and to decide to make changes.
Step 2. Assess what needs to be organized
While it's easy to say 'everything', some areas of your life are likely to be more chaotic than others. Which are the ones in which you are most disorganized? Evaluate your ability to plan, clean up the environment you live in, or take care of your schedule. Which of these things cause you the highest level of stress? Remember to analyze your work life, your friendships and your thought processes in general.
Step 3. Fill out a calendar
If you have a very busy schedule (or even if you don't have one), buy or create a calendar and place it in a prominent place. For example next to the keys, on the refrigerator or in your study. Take a few minutes to jot down upcoming dates and important events on your calendar.
- Avoid jotting down common tasks that might make it chaotic, just write down those things you are sure you want to accomplish. They could include classes, business appointments, doctor visits, and special occasions like weddings and birthdays.
- Look at your completed calendar and think about your weekly routine. Where is the time for breaks? Are there short periods of time between events that you can use as you please? What are the moments when you are most busy?
Step 4. Choose an efficient agenda
The next step to a calendar is an agenda in which to perfectly organize your daily activities. While the idea of keeping an agenda may seem strange to many, the best organized people use it consistently. Whether you are planning an event, taking care of a work or school project, or just need to keep track of homework and chores, write down your commitments and plans in your diary.
- Try using a color code to better organize your agenda. Use the same color to note similar events (such as homework or visits to the supermarket) and dedicate a particular color to important events (for example, use red to indicate something that needs to be done on time).
- Carry your diary always with you. Having a diary and leaving it at home or abandoned under a pile of paperwork won't do you any good. To keep it organized, keep it in your bag, car, desk, or anywhere you can always remember to use it.
Step 5. Create a to-do list
Sure, the idea of having a to-do list might seem as bizarre to you as having to have an agenda in which to plan your days. However, think of your list as a way to break down your days into smaller and more manageable chunks. Don't list bigger, more vague projects (like cleaning the house or getting more exercise). Give yourself clear directions with tasks described in a simple and concise way (cleaning the kitchen, running 2 km, etc.).
- Add a small checkbox next to each task, even if it may seem silly or unnecessary. Checking your boxes as you go through your day will help you visualize the hard work accomplished, allowing you to feel satisfied and proud.
- Keep your to-do list in a prominent place, it will remind you of the commitments you have to face. If you wish, put it in your diary.
- Before you take care of the little things, complete the bigger projects on your list. For example, finish defrosting the refrigerator before sorting the mail, you'll have more momentum and become more productive.
Step 6. Stop procrastinating
Possibly about the toughest tasks on the list. The choice to procrastinate is one of the biggest damages in the organization of our lives. Instead of postponing things over time, do them immediately. Force yourself to get things done, without waiting to finish them later. If something can be done in minutes, always decide to do it immediately by breaking down the heavier tasks into smaller, more manageable parts.
- Set a timer for 15 minutes and work hard during that time frame. Don't get distracted, don't take breaks, and don't stop for any reason other than an emergency. Then, when the timer runs out, allow yourself to stop dedicating yourself to that task. In all likelihood, you will choose to continue because you will finally be able to undertake a project that you have long been avoiding.
- Eliminate distractions, whatever they are. Often it can be the internet, your phone, a book or the desire to sleep. No matter what distracting you, set a time frame in which to work on your projects without interference.
Step 7. Start your day right
When you wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, take a shower or wash your face, get dressed and put on your shoes. Every single day, do everything you would do if you had to go out and go to work. Your mental outlook will change; by preparing and making yourself presentable to the world, you will set yourself up for success. Your self-confidence will increase because you will know that you are prepared for everything, tending to carry out your commitments more directly and be more organized.
Step 8. Write everything down
Whenever you have an important thought, something comes to you that you don't want to forget, or you are reminded to do something, write it all down. You can do this on your diary or in a different notebook that you carry with you. Noting your wandering thoughts will not only help you remove them from your mind (putting your consciousness in order), it will transfer them to a place where you can find them later without fear of forgetting them.
Step 9. Don't overload yourself
If you find that you have little time and a full schedule, consider removing the less important tasks from the day's schedules. Is it really necessary to have coffee with that friend today? And what about your idea of working on your project even outside of working hours? If you do too many things at once, you will end up feeling disorganized and prone to anxiety. When necessary, clear some programs to give your mind a little more time to think.
- Learn to delegate projects to others. If you know you need to go to the grocery store but are too busy to do it, ask a family member or friend to do it for you. As long as you're not putting off your major commitments or delegating to others those things that are important to you personally, knowing how to delegate can be very healthy.
- If you know you don't have the time to do it, don't agree to do whatever is required of you. Your friends won't stop loving you, your boss won't think you're lazy, and your partner will understand that you need some free time to take care of your organization and personal chores.
Step 10. Don't be a perfectionist
If you feel like you've only completed a job when you can say it is absolutely perfect, you will end up having a confusing life, full of unfinished tasks. Similarly, if you tend to wait to always be able to start a business when conditions are ideal, you will end up waiting a long time.
- Do not put off projects for long, and understand when a task can be considered adequately finished and abandoned. When you reach a point where it is good enough, feel satisfied and dedicate yourself to the following activity.
- If you are unable to complete some projects as you wish, try taking a break and resuming them after taking care of some smaller tasks. In the same amount of time, you will prove more productive, instead of getting bored and wasting your time dedicating yourself to a single flawed project.
Method 2 of 3: Organize Your Life at Home and in the Office
Step 1. Find a place for everything
If your home is disorganized, you probably haven't assigned a place to all the things it contains. Rather than just assigning an object to a certain area or room, keep track of a very specific place for everything you own in the house.
- Don't just leave something on the bedside table, create a specific space for that given object. Do the same for everything in your home, so that nothing can lie around without a specific place to reside.
- Keep something like a small basket or container next to the front door, where you can store those things that you can arrange as soon as you have more time. This could include mail, recent purchases, or school or work supplies.
Step 2. Rearrange area by area
Choose a day of the week when you can have some free time. Then, identify a single area in your life that is disorganized and needs to be fixed. This could be a room, your car, your office space. At this point, you're just busy throwing away anything unnecessary and it's just taking up precious space in that section of your life.
- To make your organization easier, get some neatly sorted containers, folders and boxes. You can buy special objects created to keep the rooms in order, they are available in furniture and home accessories stores, or you can decide to create them yourself, reusing cups, shoe boxes and containers. Make your items more attractive by decorating them with colors or fabrics.
- Remember the last time you used the item you are reordering. If it's been several months or years since you needed it, consider getting rid of it.
Step 3. Get rid of the things you don't need
While you may assume that you need everything you own, an organized home could likely lack some elements. Tidy up those things that continually create confusion and decide if they are really useful to you. If you haven't used them for a long time, use them only infrequently, don't like them or don't need them anymore, get rid of them.
- Keep your emotions separate from the objects you are analyzing. Did you really want to receive or did you need that porcelain ornament an old aunt gave you? Plan to get rid of these things and not feel like a bad person for these decisions of yours.
- Separate the things you have decided to do without, create several groups, one for the waste bin, one for donations, one for things to sell, etc. Then manage each group accordingly.
- Organize a sale of the things you want to get rid of to make some extra cash. Bulky pieces, such as furniture and appliances, can be sold online on eBay or Craigslist sites.
Step 4. Don't take other unnecessary items home
Don't get in the way of organizing your life by bringing in new things you don't need. One of the main causes of this result is the shopping done on the occasion of the offers. Avoid sales, sales, etc., they will lead you to buy things you don't really need or don't want, simply because you don't want to miss the chance to get a good deal.
- When you go shopping, ask yourself where that item will take place in your home. Is there a specific place where I can stay permanently?
- When you go shopping, make a list of the things you need. After that, don't deviate from your list when searching. You will only go home with what you need, rather than what you think might come in handy.
- Quantify the money you saved by avoiding that sale. While economically it could actually turn out to be a good deal, you would have spent some money again buying something you may not need.
Step 5. Immediately fix what you used
Everyone does this, they take a pen out of the drawer, use it and then leave it on the cabinet. Instead of leaving things where it suits you best, take an extra minute to get them back to the right place.
- If the task you are considering takes less than two minutes, complete it immediately. This way your home will stay tidy and you will have less to do in the future.
- If there are a lot of things out of order in the same area, take a few more minutes to rearrange them. Otherwise the mountains of objects will only grow and become even more difficult and boring to manage.
Step 6. Break down the housework
How many times has your house become disorganized because you postponed the time to clean it? While this is related to procrastination, you can make your to-do list (cleaning and tidying up) more manageable by presenting it to yourself in the form of small assignments. Choose a single task, such as dusting, and set a specific time and day to complete it. If you do it with each of the house chores, the environment you live in will always be clean and tidy, without having to spend endless consecutive hours at work.
Step 7. Label everything
Do you have boxes and crates full of long-forgotten mystery items? Well, get a suitable marker and label everything you own. Store similar items in one place to facilitate the categorization process.
Method 3 of 3: Organize Your Days
Step 1. Prioritize yourself
Think about 5 things you want to consider fundamental in your life, including study, exercise, healthy eating, relaxation, work, sleep, etc.
Step 2. Create a diagram
List all the days of the month at the bottom of the sheet, and add the 5 important things you want to dedicate your days to at the top.
Step 3. Decide what your goals are
Whether it's taking 30 or 60 minutes daily to exercise, list them in writing.
Step 4. Tick them
When you have achieved one of your goals, reward yourself with the pleasure of crossing them off your list.
Step 5. Reward yourself
Promise yourself to take the time to do what you like as soon as you tick 100 of your goals.
Advice
- Allow thoughts to flow, without staring too hard, as they may come back just when you need them.
- Listen to your favorite music to relax and clear your mind, in order to shift your focus to what really matters.
- Separating your tasks by merging them by similarity can help. All work commitments in one list, pleasure ones in another, etc.
Warnings
- You don't have to be multi-tasking! Do one thing at a time and, when you have completed it, cross it off the list. Trying to dedicate yourself to multiple tasks at the same time, you will do everything and nothing. Eventually, you will become discouraged and create a vicious circle.
- Thinking about doing the things that appear on your list is not the same as doing the things that appear on your list. If you do nothing but think about your schedule, you will end up feeling exhausted, achieving little results. Try following the “15 minutes” advice given earlier and take action instead of worrying.
