Habit 2: Be Organized from The “Habits for Well-Being” Series
Organization is the act of grouping items into categories and purposefully arranging them. Being organized helps individuals to be more productive, efficient, and improves well-being, as it provides an overall structure for tasks, goals, and systems. The benefits of being organized include increased productivity, reduced stress levels, better time management, and improved Joysetting abilities. With all these advantages combined, it’s clear that organization is essential for well-being.
Better organization is one of the secrets to wellness – if you want to be happier at home, more successful at work, and have more time for what matters most, then get organizing!
Everything has its place, and in its place, everything goes!
This is the key to both Home and Workspace Organization which these days can be one and the same.
Creating a dedicated space for everything is the key to maintaining a clutter-free home and workspace. Having an area that’s reserved specifically for items will help keep them organized and accessible, no matter what size the space is. Here are some tips for creating a space that works for you!
DECLUTTER!
First and foremost stop hanging on to items you haven’t touched in over a year. Are you trying to be featured on the next episode of Hoarders? If you are struggling to take that next step of donating or simply tossing things out, then box it up, label it with a date, and in a year, take the whole box to a donation center or the curb.
Don’t even open it! If you needed what was in there, you would have opened it a long time ago.
Decluttering is like taking an internal deep breath – it allows you to clear out the chaos and makes life so much calmer!
With the Joy of “clearing out the chaos” in mind then take the next steps:
- Clearly define the areas of your home or workspace that need organizing, such as the kitchen or living room. Your desk or your garage. Also, don’t forget about smaller spaces like closets and cabinets.
- Start simple by breaking tasks down into small, manageable chunks. This will make it less overwhelming, and you’ll be able to accomplish more each day.
- Make sure to set aside a certain period of time each week for organizing tasks – this way it won’t become an afterthought and you can stay on top of things easier.
- Use storage containers and baskets to further organize items as needed; labeling each one will help you quickly locate what you’re looking for without having to shuffle through all the clutter first!
- Establishing certain rules like “no shoes by the door” or “put away all toys after playtime” can help build good habits and prevent messes from piling up over time.
- Create a system that works best for you, whether it’s labeling drawers or setting up reminders – find something that keeps you motivated and helps you stay organized!
By clearing out the chaos and organizing your space you free up TIME for what’s important to you.
If you don’t take control of your time, it will take control of you!
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.
~Michael Altshuler
I’ll admit it. I have probably swung the pendulum too far in the direction of time management. I very likely spend too much time managing my time. Just this morning after I woke at my standard 4 am I started my normal routine of journaling and planning the day when it hit me that I was rewriting the calendar that already exists in Outlook along with the tasks I already had listed and scheduled in Trello. So I decided to stop it. I am dropping that step from my routine to free up that time. I am a bit obsessive about time management but I truly believe that it is a system that is always “under construction” and worth your TIME to revisit and course correct.
Let’s start with the simple strategies in case you are new to time management such as:
- Creating a schedule. Whether its in a paper planner or using a calendar app on your phone. Creating and keeping a schedule is the first step to being in control of your time.
- Making and following a to-do list. I highly recommend Trello for this. It is a flexible tool available on both your PC as well as your mobile device where you can capture all things. Your ideas, recurring tasks, and project plans. Get them out of your head and into some sort of tool so that you can manage them accordingly.
- Setting priorities and JOYS. Once you empty your head of everything you think you have to do, you then need to prioritize them to get the most out of your available time.
- Minimize distractions. You have a schedule. You set your priorities. You settle in to focus on the next most important item on your list when a text or notification pings your phone or the little letter icon pops up on your email. You are now losing time. Turn off the distractions and stay focused!
- Delegate tasks and say “no.” Once you have that list complete with priorities you have to consider what can be delegated and more importantly look at the bottom priorities and decide if they should simply be a “no!”
Once you have the basics down, as I mentioned at the start of this section, you will need to review your system and adjust constantly.
Identifying areas where you can cut down on unnecessary tasks or activities is an important part of balancing time in your daily life. Take a look at your schedule and find out which tasks are taking up too much time, and figure out what you could do to help streamline them. Similarly, take note of activities that don’t add any value to your day, such as social media scrolling, TV binging, and so on. Once you have identified these areas, make sure to cut them out of your routine for more efficient time management.
For one day, log everything you do from when you wake up to when you go to bed. How much time did you waste sitting on the pot doom scrolling with social media rather than taking care of the “business” at hand?
You will be amazed at how much time you spend on non-value-adding activities or being distracted when you should have been focused. You may also notice that you need to take more breaks between activities. Taking a walk and clearing your head can tremendously impact the productivity of your following action.
Time is a precious commodity, and it’s up to us to use it wisely. By taking the time to develop habits that help keep our home, workspace, and lives organized, we can create more meaningful moments and JOYS each day. With an eye on your time, you can make sure that managing life’s most valuable commodity is done right. From creating schedules and lists of tasks to minimizing distractions and delegating when necessary, these strategies will lead you towards greater productivity in all aspects of your life. By eliminating the clutter and disorganization in our spaces we can free up more time. So take a step back from the chaos around you – with focus and dedication, you’ll be able to organize your world one task at a time!
So put your seatbacks and tray tables in the upright position and take off, Captain!