Get organized today
Can’t get organized? Struggling to get ahead, financially, physically and relationally? Try the 7 tips that have helped us.
The 7 steps we used to get organized once and for all
1. Declutter your space to declutter your life
Homes continue to get bigger and bigger. Why? Look at our spaces and how we use them.
We store, store, store and pack, pack, pack like packrats.
I grew up with a one-car garage and it worked. True, we had an annual cleaning, but today homes have two and three-car garages that are filled to the brim with stuff, stuff, stuff.
De-clutter your house and declutter your life. Donate or give away anything that doesn’t “spark join,” and then adopt a one-in-one-out policy.
The one-in-one-out policy means that for anything non-essential that you want to buy, something in your house needs to go. No, you don’t have to give away a rug for every cucumber and candle holder for every box of quinoa. You also don’t need to sell your favorite shelves because you have to replace your toilet.
We’re talking “non-essentials.”
If you want to buy a new rug to update your living room or you buy a new sweater for the season, something needs to be donated or given away to let the rug in your front door. Likewise, with your new sweater.
This’ll also help you generate money. If you sell your items, you’ll make money from your sales. If you donate your items and itemize your deductions on your federal tax return you may be entitled to a tax deduction.
Talk with your favorite account before doing so.
2. Automate your money
For most of us, ‘out of sight out of mind’ is how it goes. So, we miss or are late on paying our bills. Then, we owe a penalty and ruin our credit scores.
It doesn’t have to be so hard.
Automate paying your bills. Most every bank or credit union offers Bill Pay. Set up Bill Pay on your account you use to pay your bills, set up recurring payments through Bill Pay to pay your bills that cost the same every month. That would be your rent or mortgage and your auto loan.
Then, set up reminders on your phone or elsewhere to pay your bills that have a different balance due every month, like your water and heat.
If this all sounds complicated, it’s not. We have tips to make this even easier.
3. Download AnyList
AnyList is one of our most favorite tools and it’s free!
AnyList is perfect for tracking things that you need to get, do and remember. How often have you gone to the store only to get home and realize you’ve forgotten something? AnyList stops there.
The other great thing is you can cross off items and anyone else who has access to your list can see the update real-time. John and I do this when we divide and conquer at the grocery store.
Finally, if the only reason you still put your ‘to-do’ list on paper is because of that special high you get when crossing a task out, AnyList lets you do exactly that electronically. When you finish a task, you actually cross the task out with a line that looks like a marker.
4. Pack breakfasts and lunches on weekends
Another trick to decluttering your life is batching. On Sundays, make your sandwiches, pack your soups, cut your salads and bag your snacks. This way, Monday and Thursday nights, you don’t have to make everything at the worst possible time . . . when you don’t want to.
On Sunday nights, our fridge is pack to the hilt with all our breakfasts and lunches. In the evenings, we put what we need in our lunch bags, and that’s it.
This saves time in the evenings when we’d rather be doing something else. It saves money because when we’d rather do something else, we usually do. When we do something else, then we must buy breakfast and lunch the next day.
You know the steps. Speaking of steps, 10Xs organizing your life with these 7 steps by taking the 13-Week Leap.
5. Get slow and focused to get organized
So many things come at us today . . . work, phones, kids, and on and on . . . it’s tiring and draining.
So, slow down and focus on one thing at a time.
Multitasking doesn’t work and gets you nowhere fast. Follow Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan’s advice and focus on one thing at a time prioritizing the one thing that by doing it will make everything else unnecessary or easier.
It totally makes life easier and puts things into focus.
6. Stop making decisions
The human brain makes between 50,000 and 60,000 decision every day, 95% of them are the same decisions every day. Brush your teeth with this hand. Turn here to go to work. Lock the door this way.
That doesn’t include all the decisive decisions we make every day. It all adds up and gets tiring. Eliminating choices saves energy and makes you smarter.
Here are some suggestions:
- Plan your day on AnyList focusing on “the one thing”
- Plan your attire for the week, so you don’t waste time in the morning
- Have a capsule wardrobe
What’s a capsule wardrobe? It’s the idea of having no more than 30 items in your wardrobe that can all be mixed and matched, so you don’t wear the same thing every day.
Some of the world’s smartest people wear the same thing every day to reduce decision fatigue. If they can get away with one thing, you can work with 30.
7. Meditate and chill
Every day take a few moments to stop and breathe. Take time for yourself to decompress and re-charge. Do a little bit of exercise, every day. Even a brisk walk does wonders for your heart and mind.
These will make you a better partner, friend, parent and employee.
When you get organized, you put time on your side and stress out of your life. These 7 tips are great ways to start getting organized. Take this even further and organize your financial life from start to finish, stop stressing about paying that bill or not having enough more here because it’s over there.