Those who know me really well say that I am a very organised person. However, I am far from perfect at it and still learning as I go. After many years of juggling a variety of responsibilities in my life, I’ve implemented some good habits to try and keep on top of things. So here’s sharing my 5 quick tips on being organised, which I hope will be of benefit to you:

1. Write a To-Do List

I start with what I want to achieve in a year, which I break down to monthly goals.

Next, I split these up into weekly tasks on my whiteboard so I can tick them off as I complete them.

Then according to my schedule for the day, I will allocate these tasks to a daily to-do list making my goals bite-size and achievable.

 

The good old pen and paper works fine, however I highly recommend using a program like Asana because you can access your list from anywhere such as your phone, tablet or computer.

The satisfaction I get from crossing things off my list are both addictive and rewarding.

2. Label Items as Much as You Can

I find this the biggest time saver!

I have plastic containers in the garage that stores a lot of idle items, which are labelled for an easy find.

My kitchen pantry is organised with Tupperware containers labelled for easy access.

Investing in a couple of filing cabinets with labelled manila folders for personal documents and bills makes for a well managed life.

It does take a lot of effort to sort all your items out and put them in a labelled container or filing cabinet. But once it’s done, it saves you so much time and money. Not to mention saving you a headache in either looking for things or replacing them because you cannot find them.

A labeling machine is a smart investment to being organised. I’ve had my DYMO labelling machine from Officeworks for 10 years now, which I still use to this day, and highly recommend it.

3. Plan Meals for the Week

A trick I use to save my household time and money is to write up a meal planner for the week.

Kikki K sells ‘A4 Meal Planner Pads’ for around $12.95 and they are awesome! On a Saturday or Sunday night, I spend 30 minutes going through my freezer, fridge and pantry for whatever food items I need to use up.

 Then I plan the week’s meals accordingly so that food doesn’t go to waste. Whatever items I don’t have in the kitchen then pops onto my shopping list to buy from the supermarket.

Organising meals for the week helps greatly in making sure my family and I have a well-balanced diet due to planning ahead.

4. A Place for Everything

When you’re on the go and juggling so many responsibilities, you can do without the stress of trying to find where things are.

It pays dividends to have a place for everything and everything in its place.

This is extra helpful at those times  when you want to locate things instead of wasting time finding where they are.

Shelves, cupboards and drawers are perfect tools for this tip; even better when they are labelled.

5. Do Multiple Jobs In One Go

We live in a double storey villa so my habit of keeping our home tidy and organised is to multitask as much as I can.

If I’m walking from my home office downstairs to the kitchen upstairs, I’ll collect any used coffee cups to take up with me.

If I’m waiting for the kettle to boil, I’ll load or unload the dishwasher.

If I need to collect mail from the post office, then I make sure I get things done that require driving around like filling up the fuel tank, washing the car, meeting a friend for coffee or buying things from the supermarket.

In that way, my time is used to its maximum capacity, which helps greatly in ticking off those items on the to-do list.

Summary

Being organised takes a little effort but once you’re in the habit of it, it’ll become a natural process. Envision what you want to achieve in a year then work backwards from there, so that you end up writing to-do lists to give direction to your day.

Label containers so they are easy to find. Utilise a meal planner so that it saves you and your family both money and food going to waste. A place for everything and everything in its place. Multi-task as much as possible to save you time.

“A well organised life finds time for everything. Always settle in advance that which you have set for yourself,” Anonymous.

If you have any tips to share on being organised, let the hub know by commenting below.