5 key ways to stay organised
I like to write about getting organised because I am on always trying to improve myself and get my acts together. You can check out my other posts on 7 Amazing ways to organise jewellery and 10 fabulous space saving ideas. Today’s post is about five key ways to stay organised.
1.Dairies| Planners| Note Books| To Do Lists
Our brains are amazing and all but when it comes to bringing up the very things we need to do at the specific times, they sometimes falter. Diaries, planners and notebooks are a great way to organise your tasks so that you can keep on top of them. I particularly love planners because they have different sections for to do lists, addresses, notes, finance etc. so that you don’t have to carry around ten notebooks for each category. They come in daily, weekly and monthly spreads which is ideal for planning weeks and months in advance. I use the paperchase A5 planner which you can buy HERE.
Notebooks are great as a brain dump. If your brain’s functioning is similar to then you know that your brain processes too much information at any given time. A notebook is great to off load. Writing down your thoughts I find, helps to give life to ideas. I literally have notebooks littered everywhere in my home and I’m not even joking!
To do lists helps you to visualise your tasks so that you can a lot specific times to them. I find that I am more productive when I put specific times to the tasks rather than just listing them. Picture this, If you knew that you have the whole 24 hours to do something there may not be any urgency to get it done, however if you know to load the washing machine at say 8.00am, it gives you some impetus to get up and do it.
If you are out and about and say you don’t have a notebook to write on, you can always write on your phone’s notepad. Desist from writing on loose pieces of papers, how many times have you lost important information because of that? yes, I thought so.
2. Paper work Organisation
We are literally swamped with receipts, bills, certificates, notes, manuals etc. I recommend a good filing system for this. Not only are you able to sort your bits according to categories, they are easy to reach, find and put away. I have gone through bouts of looking through piles of papers for important documents, and that isn’t how anyone should be spending their free time. This vertical file organise is from Target but you can find similar ones in stores. You can buy online by clicking images below.
suspended home filing system
3. Home Command Centre
Managing the home could be hectic especially when you have little ones. To keep on top of each member of the family’s schedules in terms of meetings, birthdays, parents’ evenings, appointments and work, you surely need something to keep you sane. I personally use the front of my fridge as a command centre due to space but you could set one up literally anywhere in the house you frequent, it needs to be at an area you spend a lot of time at or else it will be of no use. The following one from howtonestforless is my go to for inspiration. It has all the important component., a monthly spread calendar, a space for keeping note pads so that you can leave notes for other members of the household, a space for stationery, a space to keep mail when they come in and a section to store ticket and vouchers.
4. Pre Planned Outfits
This is an important one. Picking out clothes to wear takes too much time at least for me. Planning out outfits in advance saves you the time. One of my personal hobbies is to plan outfits online and save them for future reference when I need an outfit for a function. I use polyvore to do the styling. Here are some of the outfits I styled. You can find me on polyvore HERE.
5. Meal Planning
Growing up , my mum used to have a menu chart in the kitchen which gave us an idea of what we were going to eat for the week. I also remember all her dry food containers were labelled for easy identification, an obvious origin for my anal retentiveness.
Prepping your meals in advance cuts down on cooking time. It also helps with varying your meals and ideal to keep you on track if you are o a healthy eating face Habits such as cutting your vegetables and storing them ready to use and freezing pre cooked meals saves time. I recently found a free printable meal planning kits by Dear Crissy which I love. It contains inventory lists, recipe cards, baking conversions, holiday meal planners and many other amazing resources. You can sign up to get the printables HERE
Printable Meal Planers
Thank You for stopping by. Please remember to subscribe!!!
Smooches, Marianne
Disclosure: Affiliate links were used in this post
Loads of great ideas ☺ have you read up on the KonMari method? It made me so organised!
Author
thanks Leanne. Yes I have. I am gradually easing into the whole minimalist thing.
Some great advice here! I love the suspended filing system. I’ll have to look into buying one of those.
The meal planning is something I do as it really helps, especially when cooking for small people too! 🙂
Author
thanks for visiting
It is really hard sometimes to stay organized. Especially with two little kids. I like your last idea about using your front of your fridge as a command centre 🙂 I can really use Some of your tips.
this would be really useful for me as a student
I need this! It is so easy to get messy these days. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
Thanks for sharing – I have a series on my blog about organization as well with a DIY menue planner – maybe this is interesting for you too. It works very good with my family. I used to do meal planning with free printables as well but I did it all alone – now my sons help with the meal planning.
https://sabrina-wohlfeil.de/en/blog/2017/06/15/diy-menu-planner/
This is good information, thank you. It seems like organizing takes a lot of work and discipline! Definitely will need an article on how to improve discipline 🙂
I would need all of them, cause if there is something in my life that I really want to change is this. Thanks for sharing.
Author
I’m happy that it helped. thank for reading
Super amazing.
I struggle with pre planned outfits and meal planning.
This makes things easier ♥️
Love this so much! I make sure that I have everything planned out before I start the week. Meal planning has made life easier for me and my husband and we’ve been eating healthier meals because of it too!
This is great – I am terribly disorganized 🙁
This is so perfect.. like u know my problem!! I want to do paperwork for sure ! Some great tips ! And thank i got some free printables
Wow! You have made my life easier!
Thanks!
Great tips! I have to use my planner more to stay organized. Meal planning has helped a lot.
Great article. I am always looking for ways to get more organized. Makes life less stressful. I’ll implement these tips
Excellent post! I live by my planners and to do lists. I have found that doing a brain dump, then batching similar items together, prioritizing, taking into consideration my personal productivity cycle, and reassessing what I got accomplished at the end of the day makes a HUGE difference in my productivity.
So many great ideas! I am a list maker, it makes me feel better and like I am getting stuff done!
I’m really good about using my planner but I’m so bad about meal planning! I need to better too about planning outfits in advance.
Great post I always start out being so organized and then just fall off the bandwagon. One way I stop having to pre-plan my outfits was to go to a capsule wardrobe were everything goes with everything I pick 1-2 pieces and I am dressed. I also to my meal planning electronically with a spreed sheet a created so much faster. Thanks for sharing.
Yes – love these! Recently getting more into meal planning. Definitely looking into the printables!
Pre planned outfits for the family are so important to stay organized.. Last moment things done , sometimes never take proper shape! Good article.
http://www.mommyinme.com
Great way to get organised. !! well composed post
Such nice ideas and suggestions. I also maintain a planner to keep me organized. Never thought of having a planned outfits and not I have to consider this. Thanks!
I would be all over the place if I didn’t have my planners! I have one that I carry always and also use the online service any.do! It’s a lifesaver!
Am not an organized person, my desk is organized today, tomorrow its a mess 🙂
But I try my best not to clutter too much.
Loving the organisational tips! Especially the preplanned outfits idea.
I really want to stay organized but my little boy doesn’t allow me to stay organized these days. Beautiful article!
I do try to practice each of these key suggestions from time to time. But I can never manage to do them simultaneously. LOL! But it’s nice to have a system anyway.
Great tips. I am starting to use a notebook instead of online apps. Sometimes I find it is easier for me to remember my plan for the day or the week. And I also have started to start writing down my meal planning. Which really helps me for not shopping for unnecessary groceries. 🙂
Both putting your clothes together ahead of time and meal planning have surprisingly helped me a ton with staying organized! Good ideas, thank you!
This is such a wonderful and helpful post!
I have nominated you for the Liebster award Marianne – would love to get to know a little more about you!
https://rommanne.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/liebster-award/
Have a great day! Cheers!
Author
Thanks for the nomination
It’s really very Informative Article Keep Posting you are Good.
Awesome and useful tips! A great list to stay organized!
Pammy – joyfulsource.com
how the way you organize thing will define the day for you.this is a great guide to keep you going organize.
ok welcome to you, get free software!