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 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.