There is so much to get done in a typical day. For the average person, time creeps up on them and they find themselves wishing that they were more organized so that could get more done.
The idea of becoming a more organized person can seem intimidating, especially if you feel like you lack the skills necessary to get yourself on track.
When you watch a highly organized person in action, they seem to have it all together. If you ask them for something, they know where to find it and if they don’t have the answers, they know how to get them. You can count on a highly organized person to get things done, even when crunched for time or resources.
Even though getting organized and becoming a more organized person may seem daunting, you can learn a lot by watching a highly organized person, in action.
The following is a list of four lessons that you can learn from a highly organized person.
1- Lists Are Your Friend
A Highly organized person stays organized by compartmentalizing the things they need to get done. They do this by writing things down and keeping a series of to-do lists.
A to-do list is not complicated and can be written down on something as simple as a cocktail napkin. Although, writing notes in a small notebook or on your smartphone, would be far more effective.
Things to include on a to-do list would be:
- The task to be completed
- The date and time the task should be completed by
- The things, likely, required to complete the task
2- Time Is Not Your Enemy
A highly organized person keeps themselves on a strict schedule. They make use of time-management skills in order to stay on-task and help them meet deadlines, even while juggling more than one task, at a time.
Keeping a daily schedule on a day-planner or on the calendar app on your smartphone can be invaluable in helping you find time and make time to keep up with your to-do lists, according to OrganizingRGV.
Use notifications and reminders, on your smartphone, to remind you when it’s time to get to work on a particular project or to motivate you to move on to something else, so you don’t get bogged down in one major task.
3- Everything In Its Place
A highly organized person does not let things pile up. It’s likely that everything around them has a proper place.
For instance, paperwork is, likely, not piling up in the middle of their desk, unless they are processing it. If you were to look inside their desk, you would find that every drawer has a purpose. It’s not just used to put tasks “out of sight, out of mind.”
A good rule of thumb is simply, don’t touch it if you don’t intend to do anything with it and once you have done something with it, put it away; don’t wait.
For instance, this may look like:
- Only open your emails when you have time to respond to them.
- Upon arriving home, hang your keys up, immediately (so you don’t have to remember where you put them, later).
- Once the laundry is folded, put it away, as soon as possible (so you don’t have to dig for your lucky socks).
4- Two Hands Are Better Than One
A highly organized person understands that, even under the best of circumstances, even they can’t do everything. In order to stay on track, they have no problem asking others for help.
There is no shame in asking for help, particularly, if a task is on track, but you don’t have all of the necessary time or resources to complete it.
Highly organized people are made, through patience and practice. This is, by no means, an exhaustive list, but if you are interested in learning to be more organized, in your daily life, the above lessons are a good place to start.
