How To Organize Your Life | 3 Tips For Staying Organized This Year

Being organized is extremely important for achieving goals and staying disciplined. Learn how to organize your life today, even if you are a naturally disorganized person.

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If you are anything like me, you probably feel the pains of disorganization far too often. You try to keep everything in order, but there's always a set of keys, a pair of sunglasses, or your favorite pair of jeans that have just vanished into thin air. Perhaps the jeans were in the pile of laundry you threw in the spare bedroom when that guest showed up unannounced. Or maybe your sunglasses got tossed into the backseat of your car- along with that paperwork that you threw over your shoulder.

Honestly, I can't help you there. I can't help you find your jeans or keep you from throwing stuff hastily into the back of your car. I can't help you because I do it too and don't have any answers as to how to fix it, other than to just stop doing those things - easier said than done, right? But what I can do is give you some ideas as to how to get more organized in general. I can help you get creative with organization, and I can also help you learn to organize your to-do list. I can help you with organizing the big tasks, appointments, and agendas of your day- so that you aren't quite as frazzled, and maybe won't be so disorganized with the little stuff. Think you could use the help? Keep reading to learn more.

3 Tips for Organizing Your Life (For the Super Disorganized Person)

1.) Use Baskets and Folders to Keep Your Home In Order

Have you ever seen pictures of those perfectly put-together homes on Pinterest that make you feel 100% like an inadequate house keeper? Chances are, you have. But the thing is, all of those people who have "perfect" homes all have one thing in common: they take the time to organize and properly store their stuff.

I am so bad about throwing things in the nearest chair when I am done with it instead of putting it away, but that's exactly how a house goes from Pinterest-worthy to disastrous in one fell swoop.

It really doesn't take much effort to put our paper work in a nice accordion folder like this one, to hang our jackets in the closet, or to store our unused blankets in a cute, stylish basket beside the couch.

Trust me, it's way easier to keep your house looking nice and inviting when you stay on top of the little things and decide to be a little more organized.

2.) Avoid Procrastination

One of the main reasons life gets in such disarray for me is that I allow myself to procrastinate so often. It's nearly impossible to have an organized life when I put my to-do list on the back-burner to do other things. I often find myself making excuses about why I procrastinated, but at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what my excuse is - procrastinating still keeps me less organized and more stressed.

So take it from a chronic procrastinator: instead of always using the "It was a special occasion" excuse, push yourself to take care of your to-do list on time, whether you feel like it or not. Self-discipline is not easy, especially when you aren't used to disciplining yourself at all, but if you refuse to reject procrastination, you will never have a truly organized life. 

3.) Use a Planner (My #1 Tip for Staying Organized)

I cannot function if I don't write my to-do list down. If I don't write everything down that I need to do each day, it will not get done. I will forget no matter how important the task, and then I will also forget the following day because, guess what: it's not in my planner to look back at! So what's a chronic forgetter like me supposed to do?

Enter my magical helper: The Happy Planner!

I have been using The Happy Planner for two full years now and I can honestly say that it is the best planner I've ever had. My blog and business would not function as well without it. And a little birdie told me that I will be getting another one for Christmas, which I am thrilled about. 😍

The thing I love most about The Happy Planner is that there are three blocked sections for each day of the week. There is plenty of space, but it is also great for organizing the different facets of my day. I use each block within the column for something separate.

For example:

• In Block #1, I list all of my blog and VA tasks of the day. Anything from writing a new blog post, checking on Google Analytics, or scheduling out pins for a client will go in this first block.
• In the second block, I list any and all blog groups I've participated in that day, and what I need to do to fulfill that group's requirements. So if I have participated in a thread in Blog Passion Project (a blog group I am an admin in), I list the group name and the names of the threads I participated in. This helps me stay on top of fulfilling the requirements of each group I interacted with. 
• In the third block, I list anything personal and non-bog related. Anything from mopping the floors, babysitting for a friend, calling a family member, or a reminder that it's Bible study day at church gets put in block #3. 

Setting my planner up like this has been so helpful for me because it enables me to see all my tasks for the day listed in one, easy-to read column, while still being organized by the type of task it is. 

Related Post: How to Organize Your Mind (For the Mentally Disorganized)

Another thing I use The Happy Planner for is to organize my content for the month. Okay, well actually I should rephrase that: I am trying to get into the habit of organizing my content of the month. I'm not very good at sticking to that yet.

But anywho, since the monthly calendar is big enough to jot down the name of a post I am wanting to write, I just use that as my "content calendar". All this means is that after a brainstorming session for upcoming posts, I go to the monthly calendar and pick what dates would be best for each post.

This can be especially helpful during the holiday seasons when you want to make sure you start promoting holiday content early enough, or for making sure you plan a series of post for the right days.

The Happy Planner also has an inspiring quote on the monthly calendar and some fun extras like monthly goal-setting sections, monthly birthday sections, and a "things I'm loving this month" section. (shown below).


Related Post: 4 Ways Disorganization Can Hinder Your Life

Related Post: How to Organize Your Mind

The thing that makes me think that The Happy Planner would be great for pretty much anyone, is that it is completely customizable. You can have a large planner (like mine), a medium-sized planner, or even a miniature planner. You can pick your cover, you can buy extra inserts to extend your calendar, you can buy budgeting inserts, pretty stickers, fitness planners, or bulk packages with The Happy Planner smorgasbord!

I really hope these three tips have encouraged you to get more organized this year. It might not be easy at first, but you can do it. Take the steps towards getting organized so that you will feel less stressed and more ready to tackle each day with joy. And most importantly, keep on being your peculiar self.

Need more tips for organization? Check out the posts below by some awesome ladies that I am teaming up with!

• How to Get Organized and Save Money by Ever Change Productions
• For the Birds: DIY Bird Seed Container by Curbside Overhaul
• Ordering Seeds, Stay Organized by Little Sprouts Learning
• Organizing Tips for the Unorganized by Home Again, Jiggety-Jig
• Free Ways to Organize your Stuff  by They're Not Our Goats