Tips for staying organised

Folder Organizers - Ikea
Glass Vase - Ikea
Faux Rose - Ikea
Macbook Pro 15" retina display - Apple
Ipad Air - Apple
Iphone 5 - Apple
Pink mug (doubles as my pen pot) - Ikea
Faux Sheepskin - Ikea
All images on my wall are copied and pasted, edited in photoshop and printed in one size

Organisation is something that I've grown up really struggling with. It ended up being one excuse or another for not getting something done, and that crept into my school work as well as being a large part of my home life. It's something that I continually have to keep working on, and I've found that just the simplest of things can make such a big difference. When I lie in bed at night, I want to feel like I've been productive and done as much as I can, the best I can that day. Here are just a few things that I've noticed:

1. Post-it notes are actually your friend

They don't neccesarily look nice against your picture perfect workspace (lets be honest neon pink and green just aren't really the best colour combination for interior design), however they really can do a world of good. They'll help to you to remember that website URL that you were meaning to check out later, (but you can't because you didn't write it down on a post-it note!) or they'll remind you that you've got an essay to submit by 3pm. As ugly as they are, they're pretty in your face and hard to ignore. Next time you glance at that thing you were supposed to go back to you'll probably do it anyway, just to satisfy the need to get rid of of the post-it note. Rip it up and bin it as a reward...

2. You think you don't have enough time to do it but you probably do

At the end of the day, you sometimes feel like you haven't done enough with the time that you've been given. The truth is, you probably haven't.  My prime example is thinking that I don't have enough time to exercise, when I actually do! I found excuses to not even do the 30 day shred (A work out DVD which is only 25 minutes long per day with brilliant results) which looking back on now, I find ridiculous. I found time to watch 8 seasons of Dexter in 3 weeks, so surely 25 minutes of cardio can be done, right? The point is, get the nitty gritty stuff done now, and you'll be free to waste time later, whilst feeling good about it.

3. The two minute rule should be lived by

I can't stress how important the 2 minute rule is for me! If you don't take anything else from this post, take this- IF IT TAKES YOU LESS THAN 2 MINUTES TO DO, OR START, THEN DO IT. In context, it will take you less than 2 minutes to get changed into your gym kit or go upstairs to get your laptop, so just do it. Once you've begun the process of getting things out of the way it's much easier to continue. Sometimes its just the sheer thought of starting that scares me, and thinking about tasks like this really helped me to overcome that.

4. To-do lists are a companion of your post-it note buddies

To do lists are life savers too. It takes no time at all to quickly write down what you've got to do for the day, and then tick them off when you've got each task done. If you're more of a do-it-digitally person, then you can download the Todoist app for iPhone (I'm not sure if they have an android version but you can certainly check). It's really handy because it synchronises all my tasks between my iPad and iPhone so when I'm out and about or working I can still see what I've got to do. I've just managed to synchronise it to my mum's iPhone too so she can nag me to get my homework done...

5. If you file everything away properly now it won't take you years to find it later

I used to complain at my teachers when they'd ask me to hole punch sheets and put them in my folder before disappearing off to lunch. That was a huge mistake of mine- I found myself at the end of year 12, revision season rapidly approaching and none of my work was in the right place. I couldn't even find half of it! Unfortunately I had to learn this the hard way but same principle applies to keeping your belongings in order in your bedroom, as well as your files on your laptop. As a graphic designer I find it important to have folders which allow me to find everything that I need to quickly. It might be annoying to have to go through MY DOCUMENTS > SCHOOL  > GRAPHICS > YEAR 12 > SUMMER TERM > PHOTOSHOP > to get to one item, but it means in 6 months time I won't be wondering what on earth I did with that work I needed to finish.



What do you think of these organisation tips? Are you organised or as hopeless as I am...

Joksie xo


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