5 Tips to Organize Your Life
Dec 30, 2020
MY TOP 5 TIPS TO ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE
If you’ve ever wished you were more organized then today’s episode is for you.
Today I’m giving you my top 5 tips to organize your life. These are the hacks that I use to keep myself organized.
Start with your home. Everything should have a home in your home. Clutter is the fastest way to feel disorganized and unprepared. Do a daily pick up each night.
For me, if my home is a mess then I feel like a mess. I can’t find anything. My husband can’t find anything - well, he can’t find anything when things are where they belong (but that’s besides the point) haha. I’m sure the ladies with a husband can feel me on this!
But seriously, your home is your sanctuary. If you have a lot of clutter or things just everywhere, you cannot possibly feel refreshed or productive in that kind of environment.
Take time to find a home for all the stuff that is lingering around. Weed out what you no longer need and tidy up. This will help you feel more organized and ready for the day.
What I do is every night I go through my house and pick up whatever has been flung around by my kids. I attempt to clean up the counters and our entryway which typically ends up having nine thousand pairs of shoes scattered!
By doing this every night, I wake up in the morning to an organized house which allows me to focus my energy on the things that matter most without distraction.
Routine. Do you have routines for yourself? If not, starting one that feels good to you, keeps you on track and accomplished, will be helpful. Routines establish what is important and helps you to get it done every day. I will share some of my daily routines with you for an idea of what I mean. My husband doesn’t think there is anyone more structured than me when it comes to my routines because it’s just something that I don’t normally waver on.
MORNING ROUTINE: this is the routine I enjoy the most. I wake up at 4:30am so that I can get up before my kids. Getting up wasn’t always this easy even being a morning person. I had to establish and commit to the fact that getting up WITH my kids just did NOT work.
Trying to drink my first cup of coffee while waiting on them would leave me annoyed that they couldn’t wait for me to have my cup of coffee. So because of this, I determined that when I get up BEFORE them, I start the day on the offense instead of defense.
Because they like to get up early too, I have to get up at 430am. Another part of this morning routine is that I drink 16 oz of water before I even take a sip of coffee. Water is a super struggle of mine so getting this down first thing is important to me.
I try to get in 30 mins or so of exercise because I know it helps me feel good about my body and makes me more emotionally fit.
After I exercise, I listen to an audio program or do something for my business while I drink my coffee.
Once the kids get up, I’m awake and ready to be present for them instead of annoyed that I can’t drink a cup of coffee.
Does this always work out like this? NO. There are times when Nyla wakes up with me or 5 minutes after. But I try to continue with my morning routine because I want them to see that making time for yourself is important. And build their patience muscle in the process.
NIGHTLY & BEDTIME FOR THE KIDS: Since becoming a mom, I have always been very rigid about nap times and bedtime routine. I personally think it’s important for kids to know what is expected of them and bedtime can be one of the more challenging parts of the day.
As a mom, I’m tired and I am ready to unplug with time to myself. From dinner to bedtime, our night looks pretty much the same day to day.
- bath time is between 4 and 4:30pm. We do bath before dinner because Nyla is energized by a bath so giving it to her right before bed is not ideal.
- dinner is around 5pm. We talk about what we are grateful for from the day.
- after dinner we play
- 6:30 we unwind. The purpose of this is to give the kids a half hour of coming down from a high energy state.
- 7 we brush our teeth and read or let the kids watch the ipad
- 730 time for bed
This is what works for my family. I’m not saying that my schedule will work for yours but having a routine is a way for the kids to know what is expected of them.
MY NIGHTLY ROUTINE: kids are in bed, I go to bed. That’s it. Haha. Just kidding, kind of. Once the kids are in bed, I stay upstairs with them in case they need me. But I brush my teeth with the kids and take my vitamins. I gather my workout clothes for the following day so I have no excuses when I wake up. Once the kids are asleep, I do my nightly journal of something I’m proud of and something that I deeply appreciated and then I watch some TV and go to bed.
I know it seems simple but that’s why it works. If you overcomplicate any routine, you’ll be less likely to stick with it. Routines are the perfect tip for feeling organized and in charge!
Online system for all the stuff. It’s easy to have things in your notes section on your phone, google drive, your laptop, a sticky note here or there. But that is scattered and when you have to find something, it’s time consuming. Time is the biggest obstacle for most of us so if what you’re doing is zapping time, it needs an upgrade. Utilize one place like Google Drive or Trello so that your access point is one place. There are so many other organizational online platforms that you can use but these two are my favorite because you can access them from your computer AND your phone. What you do in one saves to access from wherever.
It’s a time saver and keeps you feeling organized when you only have to go to one place to retrieve info.
Know what you want. I know this doesn’t seem like an organizational hack but when we know what we want for ourselves and our life, we get to pour our energy into these things instead of a little bit everywhere. You’ll feel much more organized in your thoughts than scattered about doing anything and everything.
And my last tip is Perspective on Time. When you can take a step back and realize that there is no pause button, you must start living. You begin to recognize what is most important. Prioritizing is part of being organized. Your time is EVERYTHING. You will learn to say NO to the things that don’t matter and YES to the things that do. Once time is gone, you can never get it back. Don't waste it moving forward.