Being disorganized leads to chaos and invariably accumulated clutter that has piled on because of their unwillingness to sort and segregate things. But there’s hope for everybody.
There’s no denying that an organized lifestyle and life can go a long way. There are people who have developed simple systems to make their life easier and reducing their effort spent in cleaning the mess. Being disorganized leads to chaos and invariably accumulated clutter that has piled on because of their unwillingness to sort and segregate things.
Not living an ordered fashion might be due to various reasons like, laziness, dependency on people to do it for you or you are a scatterbrain. Being scattered and unorganized can hamper your productivity at work, which can cost you your name at the workplace. There have been studies which have suggested that cluttered spaces restrict your ability to concentrate and focus on targets.
If you can relate to such situations and have been thinking of how to go about cleaning the clutter around your personal and professional spaces then here are some tips that would help you be a little more organized and function efficiently.
1. Keep your office stuff filed and stored
Piling the paperwork and other important documents by not discarding the waste or filing the important ones can create a clutter. Discarding the things, you do not need would result in you having lesser things to keep tidy and reduces the chance of you scattering something.
You might need to buy storage boxes or filing cabinets for your work desk to maintain everything in a systematic fashion. So, toss out everything that is not important or contributing to your work, thus, helping you organize your office space.
2. Follow the touch paper rule
With time the paperwork and emails would pile up at the office making way for a more disorganized lifestyle. Following the paper-touch policy would help you deal with paper instantly reducing the clutter. So, once you have reviewed the document or email follow the simple rule if it is of utmost importance then take an action over it, if it can be reviewed later file it, and none of the above then toss it. This rule can be applied to emails as well. This would save you from bundles of paper on your desk in the long-run.
3. Note every little task on your planner
Well, this method would help you reduce the clutter in your mind. You might have a packed day and the thought of the other tasks would reduce your efficiency of the current task. Jotting the tasks down would allow you to get the bothersome tasks out of your head. Well, the clearer your head the faster you can get things done and move on to the other task.
4. Set deadlines for everything
Setting a time limit for everything that you need to do would help prioritize your task helping you to get everything done in an orderly fashion. In addition to planning everything you need to allocate the time limit and determine what is flexible, has a deadline, or has no deadline. Obeying the deadline and putting an end date to everything that crosses your desk would help you clear the to-do list and help you plan a course of action.
5. Use simple tools for planning
If the planning and scheduling take more time than doing the actual task then you are not being productive or effective. This is a reason for many business professionals sticking to pen and paper for their planning activities. Use something that is simple and straightforward, which would help avoid the relapse to your chaotic and messy ways.
6. Clean your workplace before leaving
to be prepared for the next morning (Pexels)
It is a good practice to clean and tidy up your workspace before you call it a day. This might be annoying at first since all you want is to go home and relax. But, it will give you a sense of completion and your workspace would be ready for a fresh start the next morning. You would be able to start the next morning with a clearer mind and not deal with the previous night’s clutter in the morning.
7. Break down each task into simple actions
If you are habituated to procrastinate and finishing things off at the last minute then, you would need to set action steps with set deadlines. This would help in avoiding you straying away from the task at hand and wasting time. This method is applicable if you cannot plan or organize your actions. Breaking down each task into realistic and doable tasks is beneficial to avoid cramming your day with ways to avoid the unpleasant.
8. Prioritize your day
Planning and scheduling tasks for the day is necessary, but getting carried away and setting unrealistic targets would reap no benefit. It would result in you wasting your time doing things that do not carry as much importance. Prioritize and pick three of the most important tasks for the day and channel your energy to get them done. Shutting off social media and other distractions while finishing these tasks would help get through these tasks at the earliest.
9. Use storing appliances that require less effort
Using basket and bins are a good way to keep things where they belong, but in the long run, it gets strenuous. You might just fall back on your previous disorganized habits that would create a mess. Well, keeping trays and closest would reduce the effort to keep things back and assign a designated location to your things. Though this method is not efficient, it would help keep your home or office clutter-free.
10. Setting reminders to be on top of everything
It is normal to have a busy schedule and being buried in paperwork. Sorting through the paper clutter and filing the important documents would allow you to get through the pile of mess. Also, setting reminders for appointments or lunch meetings would help you beat places you need to be, on time! You might be engrossed in work and lose track of time, but a reminder would be effective in reminding you about events, lunches, or appointments you have for the day.
11. Put together your outfits ahead of time
A missing sock or glasses is a common trait of disorganized people and hunting these things a few minutes before leaving would delay your arrival. It would also make you seem disorganized and tardy. But, setting out your outfits for the next day ahead of time would allow you to gather the things you need and not turn to dress up into a treasure hunt.
12. Getting closet and drawer organizers
can reduce your effort (Pixabay)
All of us are guilty of dumping things in our closet and drawers and soon things pile up and create a mess. But getting organizers would help set a certain place for things that go into a particular drawer of the closet. This would reduce the effort to stuff things into a corner, thus, making it easier for you to put things back in their designated place.
13. Set a reward system
can help you get things done at the earliest (Pexels)
There is a list of tasks that have no deadline and you might be pushing it forward. But, setting a reward system would get these menial tasks out of your way. For instance, every time you finish 80% of your tasks of the day, at the end of the month treat yourself with a meal at your favorite restaurant.
Being a disorganized person can hamper many aspects of your life. It may not allow you to get things done in an orderly fashion and it might foster procrastination. Laziness is probably the root cause of not putting things back where they belong or just letting things pile up. Well, these are a few methods that make your life a bit more methodical and systematic by reducing your effort and making you a bit more efficient.