How to Get Organized

Being organized is so helpful when it comes to work, school, or even just your life. If I’m not organized, I feel very stressed and tend to forget things. It’s especially helpful during the school year when I have to juggle my classes, due dates, and big tests and exams. It would be impossible to make it through if I weren’t organized and didn’t have everything laid out neatly in front of me. I love organization, and if being a professional organizer were a job, it’s definitely what I would do with my life. Here are a few of my tips and the ways I stay organized:

Get a planner. I am in love with planners. I use them constantly and write down everything in them from the smallest things I have planned throughout my day to the due date of a big paper. They help me keep track of everything I need to do, and when I need to have it done by. I bought two planners for college this year; one for my schedule and one for the work I have and things I need to do. Sometimes I think I may be a little too organized (haha), but I knew that if I had everything all in one planner it would get cluttered and end up being unorganized, which was what I was trying to stay away from in the first place.

Use colors. Color coating the different parts of your life will really help you to keep track of everything. I use a different color pen for each of my classes, working out, and my personal life. This helps me to know what something is as soon as I look at my planner. It also makes it look super cute. When it comes to my classes, I try to get a notebook or binder that is the same color, or a similar one, to the color I used in my planner. This can sometimes get tricky, so just do the best you can.

Separate things. Whether it’s your school work, mail, or random things in your home, always make a separate spot for each “category.” Have a different folder for each class, or a different bin for things you have to look over or do at home. This will make it so much easier to find things and keep track of what all you need to do. You could even make bins based on importance, so you know which task to go about first.

Don’t procrastinate. I know that this is really hard. I tend to procrastinate a lot. But, putting things off will only make you even more stressed and disorganized. As hard as it is, force yourself to work on something for at least ten minutes. You’ll most likely keep working on it longer than those ten minutes, but if you don’t, you will at least have ten more minutes of work done, which will make you a little bit more organized.

Make Lists. Making lists of everything you need to do is so helpful. It's all laid out in front of you and makes it easier to see what all you need to do and get done. And, it is so satisfying to be able to cross things off when you're finished. 

Being organized is so important if you want to get things done and not have a mess to deal with. I hope that these tips help you to keep your to-do list under control. Thanks for reading!