If you know me but at all, you will know that I am very, very organised. I rarely toot my own horn (and no that’s not a euphemism for m a s t u r b a t i o n) but I pride myself on my organisational skills and looking like I have my life in order when I really, really, really don’t (cries). But seriously though, it’s one of the very few things I can honestly say, hands down that I am really fucking good at. Maybe it’s inate, my mum works in an office and quite frankly, the entire company would crumble without her. Or maybe it’s learnt. But whatever it is, it does come in super handy. So here are some of my tips and whatnot which I use to stay organised.
1. To do lists are your best friend: Seriously. Don’t take this one lightly, to-do lists are your best friend, your lover, your therapist, your delivery man – every wonderful person in your life you can think of, that’s what to-do lists are. I write mine on my phone, as it’s the easiest to access wherever I am.
2. Categorize your to-do lists: Mine are split into 4 categories; blogging, blog tours, general and me. Blogging is obvious, blog tours is all the work I need to do for my business, general is chores like washing and any errands and me is self-care related things (which are super important if you want a productive day!).
3. Notebooks, notebooks, notebooks: You can never have enough notebooks. Never. Different notebooks for different things always help and you also get to shop for pretty notebooks and support your favourite small businesses in the process! You might even want to consider getting Personalized Notebooks!
4. Keep your “space” tidy: Keeping a basic level of tidiness wherever you’re going to be most that day is important so you don’t get distracted or overwhelmed by clutter and rubbish. I tidy up every morning before I do anything because it sets up a clean slate for the day.
5. Don’t neglect yourself: To maintain motivation and productivity you need to give yourself breaks! Don’t just power through; stop and make your favourite lunch or go for a walk on your lunch-break. Take some time to read your book or watch some YouTube throughout the day as it gives you a definitive period to work towards and you can get back into it afterwards!
6. Finish what you start: Half-heartedly starting 4 things on your list is never gonna work so I usually find picking one of the “bigger” things first and completing it is a great way to kick off your to-do list for that day. Getting one of the more daunting tasks done first makes the others seem less scary and ultimately, you’ll feel more productive.
7. Don’t beat yourself up for not being organised that day: There’s always tomorrow, the world will keep turning.
[…] organised and on top of […]
[…] Very Organised: I am a very organised person and it definitely makes up a huge part of who I am. I’m a firm Type A personality, I love lists and folders and I hate feeling out of control with my life and the different elements in it. I love deadlines, I love working ahead of schedule and agh, I love being organised! […]
Love the notebooks notebooks notebooks! To that I’d add notebooks notebooks notebooks xxx
Hahah yes! I like you a lot!
I’m so organised at work but at home I just don’t do anything. I’ve finally got me and my boyfriend to fill in a shared calendar so we know the other’s comings and goings, which feels like a major step!
Oooh that sounds swoon-worthy to me! I’d love to do that but my boyfriend wouldn’t ever fill it in. I write everything; mine and his in the calendar on my phone haha!
Amazing post, this types of posts are so helpful as they can drive you to be productive!
Thank you (:
So I suppose all those thousands of notebooks I buy, I’m going to have to write in them instead of looking at them and arranging them?! Hehe!
Hahahaha oooooh goodness arranging notebooks sounds dreamy!
You’ve got some great ideas here! Especially the one about notebooks (always looking for an excuse to buy more stationary) ❤ Em x
Thanks! You can always find excuses to get more stationery!
Hi, I try to organised and love my to do lists and catergorize them as well. It’s soo satisfying to cross them through, Chloe.
Isn’t it just?! That’d definitely be on my top 10 list of satisfying things!
I’ve never thought of categorising To Do lists! Sounds like a really useful thing to do, which I shall test soon. Lovely post, and love the photos!
It is SUPER useful! I think that’s the most useful thing and the thing that impacted my productivity the most out of everything on this list!
My Mum is also my organisation inspiration, she’s incredible!! I have no idea how she manages to juggle so much! Not neglecting yourself is so important but often forgotten! A tidy room = a tidy mind from my experience hehe!
Abbey 👾 http://www.abbeylouisarose.co.uk
I would love to meet your mum and discuss organisational tactics with her omg haha! <3
Thank you for this useful post! ☺️
XO Flora
http://www.styleaspiration.wordpress.com
You’re welcome, I’m glad you found it useful!
if your head is full of rubbish that has nothing to do with the list, talk it out or write it down what is in your head
Great tip!
Since finishing uni I have not been able to motivate myself, organising is definitely helping me and I whole heatedly agree with making lists!
Agh, no! Hope you find your motivation soon but if you’ve just finished uni then you need to take a break and relax too!
I can definitely relate to the endless and varying to do lists scattered everywhere from my phone to notebooks but they are so helpful! Great tips 🙂
Thanks Roisin, I keep my daily to-do list on my phone too (:
I’m such an organised person too, and I also have a massive collection of notebooks! A girl can never have too many, especially if it has Rose gold detailing! Thank you for sharing these tips, will always come back to read if I’m ever lacking in motivation or just for a good read,
Zara xx
Thanks Zara! You definitely can’t have too many notebooks! You almost need a notebook to keep track of your notebooks 😉
I am a lover of to do lists. I feel that they seem to organise everything instantly. I am really bad at keeping my work space tidy though – I seem to just dump piles of papers with things to do on them everywhere around me thinking that it will make me do it haha x
Claire
Noooo! Haha that’d be my worst nightmare, loads of loose paper flying around!
I am literally addictive to notebooks and making lists. My problem is actually following the lists 🙈 Great post, it’s reminded me to get more note books and also tidy my room (which in its entirety is my work space) great post!
My room is pretty much my work space too! I always tidy up in the morning before I do anything.
All great tips that I did cause I’m rubbish at organisation but what’s a blog tour I’ve never heard of it !
A blog tour is an online extensive period of promotion for a book with different bloggers reviewing the book and posting promotional content each day. I run my own blog tour company so I organise them for authors.
I try to make to-do list and to complete it. Or if I don’t complete it, at least, complete few tasks until the end! Notebook are defo a go-to ! xx corinne
There’s definitely no point beating yourself up if you don’t complete your lists! You can always carry tasks over to the next day if you’re not massively important!
I’ve newly following you and enjoying your blog.
Some good tips here, thank you! I also have multiple note books but I’m not too good at keeping the lists separate. So I recently started using a (adapted to suit me, of course!) Bullet Journal layout and its June, and I’m still doing it, so maybe its working!
I recently wrote about to-do lists too as I have too many! The hint I shared from a post on Oprah.com was called a “hit list” – these are the two or three things that absolutely have to be completed to make it feel as if it were a productive day. I’m trying to keep to the limit to see if it works!
http://dibzzen.com/2017/05/29/clutter-busting-part-two/clutter-busting-part-two
First of all, thank you for following! The “hit list” idea sounds really good and a great way to prioritise. Prioritising can be very difficult, especially when you’ve got a lot to do!
I’m a big fan of to do lists! Plus, I feel so accomplished when I get to check something off. 😊
Lyndsay
http://www.dkhamiltonauthor.com
Ticking things off a to-do list is one of the most satisfying things isn’t it?!
I’m always behind on staying organised, but I try to maintain the distance 🙂
Great tips!
Thanks, hope some of these come in useful!
A brilliant post as usual & I agree with making list after list but how do you/I cope when my ‘head’ is having one of those crazy days & the list is too scary to look at!? xx
I don’t go through with my lists if I’m having a bad mental health day! I try and I’ll usually try and do the really important things that NEED doing but the majority I’ll just leave and DON’T FEEL BAD about it either. Your well being is far more important 🙂 xx
Great post! I consider myself to be very organised, but there are a few tips here I could definitely utilise to get myself even more organised 😀
Woo, even MORE organised?! That’s what I love to hear! You can never be too organised 😉 xx