Many people crave better organization in their homes and in their lives in general. To attain a more organized life it is essential to learn how to organize or manage your time. Sometimes people separate the way the organize items from the way they use the time they have during the day, but there is a strong connection between the two. Better use of time leads to better organization and vise versa.
Clear And Focus
Learning how to get your thoughts, responsibilities and worries out can help you focus on the task at hand and set aside other thoughts so they can`t distract you. Allowing too many thoughts to clutter your mind at one time can make it easy to forget things or not to give your full attention to the task at hand. This often means you won`t complete the task as quickly or as well.
The most productive and efficient people get their thoughts out in an organized way so they can focus on one task at a time, giving it their full attention. One of the best ways to start organizing your thoughts is by creating to-do lists. Update the list as often as necessary for it to be the most helpful to you. For worries or other thoughts that don`t belong on a to-do list try journaling. Sometimes journaling is a great way to solve problems because it provides a new way of looking at something while expressing it in words.
A Better Way:
Starting to do these things will likely lead to greater organization in other ways too. Becoming more deliberate about what you are thinking will make you more deliberate about what you are doing. This often leads to creating homes for stray items and putting them away right away instead of waiting until later.
Adapt a systematic approach:
It may take a little time, but developing a system that works for you is important. But more importantly is sticking to that system. This system can include both where you place items and how you perform certain tasks.
If you lose items often it is likely because you don`t have a set place for those things, or you simply don`t return those items to that set place when you are finished with them. Keys are a great example of this; you should have a set place for your keys at home and a place for them while you are at work or running errands. If they are always put in a set place when not in use you shouldn`t need to waste time looking for them. The same thing goes for a number of other items, including paperwork.
The same thing can apply for the way you approach certain regular tasks. Email is a good example; instead of constantly checking your email, which takes you away from other tasks, check it once an hour and respond to anything urgent but let other messages sit and have a set time each day to handle them.
Try practicing these two methods of time management and organization. Tweak your systems until you find something that works for you and something you can realistically stick to. You may be surprised how externalizing and adapting systems can make a significant difference.