True organizers are not born that way; rather, they must work to develop positive patterns of behavior, which in turn enable them to maintain their level of organization.

Therefore, even if you consider yourself to be a very messy person, it is possible to learn how to become more organized.

As long as you are willing to study and put what you’ve learned into practice, you may become an organized person by doing things like planning things out, writing things down, getting rid of things that aren’t necessary, and organizing things that are important to you.

Getting your life under control and organized is the first step toward achieving success in all facets of your life.

Being well-organized makes it simple to keep track of everything and keep stress at bay.

The ability to organize one’s life must be honed over time and through repeated practice.

Take incremental steps as you learn to manage your life to prevent being overwhelmed and giving up.

11 Simple Rules For Living An Organized Life

Read also: 10 qualities of smart people ( highly recommended)

1: Set Timelines and Goals

People who are organized don’t have time to waste.

They are aware of the correlation between keeping things orderly and maintaining a productive work environment.

They plan out their activities for the day and the week and keep track of them.

They establish targets and timetables for themselves. And most importantly, they do not deviate from them in any way!

In a similar vein, if you lead a cluttered lifestyle, you won’t have the time or space necessary to meet your commitments or accomplish what you set out to do.

Examine your existing bucket list or create a new one as a thought experiment.

Put in writing the goals you have for yourself for this year and the rest of your life.

After that, write out the steps that you need to take to accomplish them.

Since your time here is limited, you should prioritize the activities that are most important to you.

Further Reading: 23 Goal Setting Tips and Tricks To Boost Your Productivity

2: Avoid Putting Things Off

If you put something off for a longer time, it will become increasingly difficult to do.

If you want to live a life that is less demanding and stressful for you, then you should start organizing as soon as you can.

Putting in the effort to complete tasks as quickly as possible will relieve some of the pressure that will come from having to complete them later.

Try to come up with one aspect of your life that needs to be more organized as a thought experiment.

Put it in writing. The next step is to record when you will be able to do the task as well as the materials that will be required. If you are capable of finishing it right now, you should go ahead and do it.

Further Reading: 5 Science-Backed Strategies To Overcome Procrastination

3: Keep only what is necessary.

The more things you have, the more disorganized your space will become.

People who live orderly lives only keep the things that they require and the things that they want very, very much.

When you have fewer possessions, you can take greater pleasure in those items you do have and are more likely to put all of your possessions to good use, rather than allowing half of them to gather dust in a corner.

Have you ever had the feeling that you simply do not have enough space to store all of the things that you own?

Get rid of some of your belongings so you won’t need to spend money on a storage facility or a larger house.

As a thought exercise, jot down the total number of items that you believe you require.

After that, make a list of everything that you currently possess on paper.

If the quantity of items you own is greater than the things that would be considered necessities in an ideal world, it is time to become organized.

Read also: The psychology of money in 10 minutes

4: Give Tasks to Others

A life that is truly structured is not overburdened with commitments, appointments, and due dates.

This is less because, over time, items that produce stress have been organized outside of the system.

Take a look at your list of things to accomplish, or make one, as an experiment.

Look over the tasks until you find one that you can cross off your list or delegate to another person and then do it. Now, the strain of needing to do it should start to lift off of your shoulders.

Further Reading: 10 Simple Ways To Delegate Tasks And Get More Done

5: Put Things in Writing.

Every one of us is familiar with someone who never forgets a birthday and always makes sure to send a card on special occasions. They don’t rely on memorization or magic to do it; it’s not magic.

Keeping track of everything in your head won’t help you stay organized at all. You might find it helpful to write things down.

We can externalize our memory by writing things down with a pen and paper, which is a method that is far more long-lasting.

You may also take advantage of this very advanced digital brain.

You are simply going to make your life more difficult for yourself if you try to keep key dates and reminders in your head.

Put everything in writing, including grocery shopping lists, Christmas present ideas, ideas for decorating the house, and significant dates like birthdays and meetings.

Try this experiment: as soon as possible after meeting someone (while they aren’t looking), jot down their name.

I’m willing to wager that you’ll remember a whole lot more names if you do it that way.

6: Find out when you have the most energy.

There is no universal body clock; everyone has their own.

While some of us have boundless amounts of energy first thing in the morning, others of us don’t get our footing until much later in the day.

Some of us require a kick in the pants to start moving and to unleash our positive energy and inner strength.

Coffee can provide that jolt on occasion. On other occasions, the boost comes from exercise.

However, that jolt can come from a motivational statement or a discussion with a good person.

When you are putting in the effort to achieve anything significant in your life, the following are some of the most effective ways to cross tasks off of your to-do list related to that objective:

A) Tackle those to-dos when you’re feeling the most productive, whether that’s first thing in the morning or late at night. It doesn’t matter when it is; just do it.

B) Before beginning your assignment, make use of or put into practice the “motivation booster” of your choice, whether that be physical activity, the consumption of a cup of coffee, listening to a motivational song, etc.

Putting yourself in this state of mind will put you in a better position to achieve the objective that you have set for yourself.

7: Make sure a Place Is Clean Before You Leave It.

When you leave a room, always take a quick look around to see if there is anything that needs to be thrown away or put back where it belongs.

If you get up from your desk to get more coffee, for example, take your breakfast plate with you and put it in the sink.

Before you retire to bed after turning off the television in the living room, make sure the blanket you were using is folded up and that you bring your slippers with you.

Dealing with a substantial accumulation of clutter all at once is not only more difficult but also frequently less successful than making these little selections throughout the day.

8: Put the smaller items into the larger ones for storage.

Think about all of the plastic bags you’ve stuffed beneath the sink in the kitchen and all of the cardboard boxes you’ve thrown around in the garage without much thought.

Instead of piling up the cardboard or bunching the bags together, stuff everything together or stack it so that it occupies less space and is easier to get when it is required.

You can also stow smaller suitcases inside larger suitcases, and small purses within large handbags.

Likewise, you can store larger handbags inside smaller purses.

9: Handle your finances

It’s possible that you don’t have a clear picture of your income or savings if your finances are disorganized.

It’s also possible that you’re overspending without realizing it, and that you’re depending on your paychecks every month to keep you afloat.

The key to living an orderly life is to have a firm grasp of your financial situation.

To efficiently manage one’s finances, on the other hand, is not something that comes naturally to everyone.

If this is the case, making an initial investment in a reliable app or tool for managing one’s finances, such as Mint, might be the first step in achieving a more structured approach to one’s finances.

You should make it a habit to regularly monitor your checking and savings accounts, keep a record of your purchases, and schedule reminders to pay your bills.

To keep yourself from having to scramble at the last minute, set up automatic payments for any necessary bills.

10: Keep it light

More than two months are required for the majority of people before they can form a habit.

At first, it may be difficult to remember to put your things back where they belong after using them, especially if you use those things frequently.

If you strive for perfection right from the start of a freshly formed habit, you increase the likelihood that you will eventually give up the behavior.

Keep things simple and easy in the beginning, and eventually, organization will become second nature.

Read also: 7 things rich people advice but never do

11: Make a checklist of things to do.

Create a new list of things to accomplish every day by starting with the list from the previous day and adding anything new that has come up since the previous list was made.

Even if you don’t make a lot of lists and you only jot down major projects, you should still review them every day and cross off the items that you’ve finished (or the items that you’ve decided are no longer important).

Not only will this help you stay on top of your responsibilities, but it will also give you a sense of accomplishment when you can mark an item off your list once it has been finished.

CONTRIBUTED BY Ounassi Ali

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