Organizing your lifestyle leads to better performance at work and school, more free time with friends and family members, and far less time searching for those pesky lost keys. It may seem impossible now, but the hardest part is getting started.
1. Conquer The Clutter
The first step to an organized life is an organized home or apartment. Unnecessary clutter accumulates over the years and makes it almost impossible to keep your home in order. Start by taking a good hard look at what you do and don’t need. Sell, donate, or throw out as many non-essentials as you can bring yourself to part with. If you have more sentimental or valuable items than you have space, consider renting a Santa Maria CA storage unit to give yourself more breathing room.
2. A Place For Everything
Give yourself a chance to keep organized by making a place for everything important. Get an over-the-door organizer for your shoe collection and an over the shower head shelving unit for your bathroom. If your clothes are flowing out of your closet, invest in a dresser to pick up the overflow. Use small, colorful boxes to help you keep smaller items in order, like loose change, pens, and office supplies. Hang a key hook by your door and commit yourself to using it. Once you have a set place for everything, it will be much easier to keep it in organized.
3. Keep A Calender
If you double book yourself, miss deadlines, or forget birthdays, a calender is a great tool. Whether it’s on your phone, through your email, or hanging on the wall is entirely up to you, but make sure you use it. If you need a place to start, Google Calender is free and can give you programmed reminders through either your email or smart phone. Writing dates down will ensure you don’t miss anything important and give you a visual concept of how far away that deadline really is.
4. Make To Do Lists
With a full schedule, some things tend to fall through the cracks. When you feel overwhelmed by the amount of work or errands you have to do, write everything down. If you don’t know where to start, rank everything you need to do by importance and start with what matters most.
5. Don’t Over-Commit
The simple fact is, we can’t do everything. Know what the limits are on your time and energy and stay within them. Spreading yourself too thin will make you less successful, more tired, and less motivated. It’s much better to excel at a limited number of things than to just scrape by with many.
Getting your life organized takes time and effort in the beginning, but in time, keeping track of your schedule and on top of organizing your home will become second nature.
Photo Credit: Flickr/TheValley LifestyleEvent
