The key to being truly successful is knowing how to effectively organize your day. Easier said than done though, right? And with thousands of resources on the Internet and articles giving you tips and advice on how to accomplish big goals and telling you how you can be successful, it can be stressful trying to sift through everyone’s ideas and actually implement them into your own life. You’re often left wondering, “How do I actually apply this? Where do I even start?”
Well, my friend, you’ve come to the right place! We’re not here to bombard you with thousands of tips or tricks that will help organize your entire life. Rather, we want to provide you with 4 simple practices that you can do to organize your day, one day at a time!
Plan the night before
Your time is extremely valuable. Sometimes, when our schedules get busy or we are trying to juggle multiple responsibilities at once, our days can turn over on their heads, leaving you feeling defeated and disorganized. One way to stay on top of the day is to plan the night before! Before you go to sleep, take out your planner or notebook and write down a list of to-dos for the next day and an action plan to accomplish them! This should overall take only 10 minutes to do and will help you start off your day already organized and prepared!
Schedule buffer time
Who are we kidding? Most days, things just simply don’t go according to plan… and that’s okay! That’s why it’s important to schedule extra buffer time for those daily interruptions that pop up. Maybe your kid forgot their lunch and you have to go deliver it to the school. Or maybe you planned to work on projects back to back in the morning but you received a phone call from a friend. When organizing and planning your day, be sure to leave room for the unexpected or unplanned. Because life happens!
Organize your email inbox
Sometimes, just looking at your email inbox can be overwhelming, right? Starting off your work-day with 50 emails scattered here and there, not knowing which ones were answered and which ones are just junk. A great way to keep your day organized and stress-free is to organize your inbox. Creating individual folders for your emails to go into can help minimize the number of emails you see in your inbox while still keeping everything easily accessible. A great rule of thumb is to move an email to its folder once it’s been answered, that way you know it’s taken care of! Need help with this? We can help you clean up your inbox!
Make time blocks
Two words: Stop multitasking! Even if you think you are really good at it, try to get out of that habit and instead create time blocks for yourself. If you have a few projects to work on one day, schedule out blocks of time where that project needs your full attention. During these time blocks, turn off your phone, sign out of your email, and closeout of other tabs that will distract you. When the time block is over, use that time to take a break or answer some emails!
How can you start organizing your day? Big changes don’t just happen in a day. It takes time to form these habits. But by taking little steps every day to prioritize and plan out your days, you’ll be amazed by the results!
