Call it my genetic makeup or either I have a sick fetish with controlling the things that I have the ability to, but I find such a sense of relief and peace when things around me are organized. Now don’t get me wrong: my Aquarius ways doesn’t always have to have everything figured out and I can easily adapt to changes. Regardless, I’m all about that life of being organized and having, at minimum, a preliminary idea or plan in place on how I’m going to execute something. My plate is always full. There’s always somewhere to be or something to do. There’s always a deadline. But I hate feeling rushed and doing things at the last minute. However, being organized didn’t always come naturally.
“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”– Arthur Ashe
As a teenager it started off small. I never liked to get up in the mornings for school. So in order to have more time to sleep, my mom suggested I should shower and prepare my clothes the night before. I was so bad she suggested I put the toothpaste on the toothbrush the night before so it was ready for me! Seriously! It may not seem like major thing, but that simple thinking freed up time in the mornings for me to not have to make 17 decisions while my brain was still foggy and still be on time. Now that I’m 31, I still shower at night and usually have an idea of what I’m going to wear the next day.
Fast forward to now.
I have a daughter who will be here in a few short weeks and we still have a few more things to accomplish before she gets here, so being organized is a must! In order to keep my home running smoothly, me on track with the next “thing” that has to be done, and whatever else life throws my way (because it never slowed down), being organized is the only way I can truly not have a meltdown and look like a blithering idiot.
Today I’m sharing my tips for being organized & hopefully they work for you.
“Activity does not mean productivity!”
Identify the areas you need to get organized in
This may sound like a vague thing, but the goal here is not to try to boil the ocean. Is it hard for you to get ready in the mornings? Does it take longer than a simple glance to find something at your workspace due to clutter? Are you always late? Find out one small area to get organized in and figure out what you can do to combat that. Here’s an example:
I found myself always rushing here and there to make meetings and engagements. Sometimes it required me to change clothes. So I took a day and organized my closet that worked best for me in those times. Dresses hang here, blouses hang there, tees and sweaters are folded there – all of them by color. So if I’m between events and I know I want to wear a cute black dress, I didn’t have to scour my closet to find the particular dress I had in mind. I knew all of my black dresses were together and I could just grab it off of the hanger and go. Being organized up front allowed me to get what I want and where I needed to go and be on time. I removed all excuses to be late because I couldn’t “find something to wear.”
Figure out where you lack and improve it.
Find something to keep you accountable.
Regardless if you like a notepad, a digital calendar, an app, or even an old school agenda, have something to keep you accountable! Take the time to put in what’s going on, even if it’s at a high level and look it over each day. If you’re not the best with time and deadlines, set the alarm on your phone and have it remind you.
My husband is the king of writing down everything that crosses his mind so he doesn’t forget. When your mind is racing, grab a notepad (I use my phone’s notepad all the time), and jot down what you’re thinking about. Get it out of your mind and have it written down so you can come back to it later.
If it takes less than a few minutes to do, do it now!
I’m still working to master this one, but doing this can set you miles ahead when it comes to being organized. If you need to RSVP for something and you know you’re not going to attend, respond right then and there. If you have to send a quick email to a client requesting something, send it off as soon as possible. Sometimes we make the lowest hanging fruit the hardest to pick. Save yourself the heartache of having a long list of busy work and get the smaller things out of the way first while it’s fresh on your mind.
The art of being organized is not to control, but to remove excuses for failure, increase efficiency, and have a vision of where something is going. We spend more time pinning pretty, organized ideas on Pinterest, and yet we never execute them in our own lives! Stop making excuses for being disorganized.
Life happens and things go off course. When it comes to planning, you can’t be rigid in your thinking. Things change! However, if you at least lay out your plan out of how you’re going to tackle something, it makes for a less frustrating day…and life.
