6 Creative Ways to Be More Organised in Life
Posted by Adam Jelic on
Once upon a time, there was a cluttered and disorganised child who grew to become a cluttered and disorganised adult. If you feel called out, we hate to break it to you, but it might be time to move on from these habits. Though it may seem like a chore, staying organised actually makes life easier. And when you realise that being organised is not about being perfect, but about customising your world to work for you, that’s when things get much easier. So, at the risk of turning this into an absolute cheese ball of an article, the big secret to staying organised is that it actually begins with you.
But how do you do it? Witchcraft? Time-travel? Well, read on and find out.
1. Jot everything down
Remember that day when you made plans and completely forgot about them, then rushed off while you were in the midst of channelling your inner Aretha Franklin at the top of your lungs? No? *coughs* Us too. You see, humans may be intelligent beings, but it’s impossible to rely solely on your memory to keep everything organised. There is value to writing down your grocery list, to-do lists, and everything in between to help keep track of tasks both urgent and trivial. You can take full advantage of goal setting daily planners available on the market for these tasks. Complete with focus areas to highlight priority chores for the day, week or month, these planners will allow you to bask in that oh-so-satisfying moment when you tick them off your list and feel like the productive human being you are.
2. Journal
If you can’t already tell, we’re obsessed with notebooks and planners, and here’s another – journals. An upgrade from the classic diary, your journal acts as the perfect place to sort out your thoughts, finances and generally, life. Even the most organised person needs a secret space to put down their wild and random thoughts, and yours could be a goal digger journal. Say goodbye to those flustered, chaotic days and welcome in the improved calm, prepared version of you with brain dumping techniques. The intention behind this method is to find the calm within the storm that is our minds. Simply open up a valve in your mind and let all those thoughts flow out of your hand and onto some paper. This would help you gain focus on the things that need doing as you better organise your time and efforts. While you’re at it, get those creative juices flowing, by adding your own twist of colours, stickers and even pictures.
3. Out with junk drawers and in with pegboards
Once your mind is organised, you can then move on to external organisation efforts. We all have that random drawer somewhere that just has a load of junk in it. Got a pile of opened letters? To the drawer it goes! What about those old picture frames or tomato sauce packets from fast-food joints? Guess we’ll add that to the drawer too. Let’s be honest, you’re never going to use these items anyways and would just end up throwing them away, so why not do it now? You can also replace your junk drawer with pegboards. Providing you with a customisable and highly visual storage space for your garage, office, closets, bedroom as well as kitchens, these wall-mounted boards provide a neat way to categorise items in their rightful places, saving you space while leaving more room to breathe and live in your home. Pegboards come in different patterns and can be bent to your creative will. Just remember to organise them every 2 weeks so they don’t appear messy.
4. Meal Prep
When you come home from a long day of work, the last thing you want to do is to cook – but that’s not what the whale noises from your tummy are saying. Meal prepping is an efficient way to get the concerns of your daily meals out of the way and free up more time. You can even focus on making these meals nutritious and healthy. Having a collection of well-balanced meals on hand will help you regulate what you eat and help you stay on track with your personal diet goals. This way, you can even eat your favourite meals with predetermined portion sizes to ensure you don't overindulge. Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, plan out and prepare your meals during weekends and freeze them for the coming week.
5. Budget
Finances can be a horrible, frustrating and messy affair – especially if you’ve ended up spending too much in the previous months. Solve this issue by scheduling regular budgeting sessions where you outline how much money you can afford to spend on your necessities, bills, and unforeseen expenses. Once you know how much to spend on your necessities, you’ll know how much you can spend on luxuries too. Yeah, you could do this with budgeting apps, but nothing beats a good paper and pen moment as you break down your monthly cash flow, identify saving opportunities and your financial goals with a goal setting journal.
6. Stop procrastinating
Now, you knew this was coming from a mile away. We all know the longer you wait to do something, the more difficult it will be to get it done. More stressful and demanding than completing the task in the first place, procrastinating actually leads to quicker burnout and mental issues. By putting in the effort to get things done as soon as possible, you can remove the likelihood of sloppy work while having more time to enjoy yourself. Start by picking a small upcoming task and write it down in your goal digger planner. Following this, organise your schedule for the day to make sure you complete it.
When it comes to being organised, we all have to start somewhere. So why not begin by purchasing a great planner with goal setting features? Before you know it, you’ll be working more efficiently and feel more confident than ever. At MiGoals, we produce the best goal setting planners that are beautifully designed for your personal development. View our range of empowering planning tools that have aided so many in organising their lives!