ORGANIZATION. It’s almost like a 4-letter word. When you’re on top of your game, it feels great to say it! And when you’re swirling in chaos, it’s a word that can plague you. The goal is to get organized and stay organized. Easier said than done when you’re juggling the day-to-day running of your business, your personal life, a spouse and perhaps a child or two … If you’re like me, it is very easy to get distracted with all that I have going on and I can easily have a non-productive day unintentionally due to lack of organization. The question is how to get organized?
I’ve found that the key to organization is list making. Whether you create them on your phone or on paper, writing out your monthly, weekly and daily To Do items means that you’re less likely to let things slip through the cracks. These lists serve as guides – just because it’s written down for a particular day doesn’t always mean you’re going to get to it. That’s ok, write your list out and figure out what your top 2 or 3 priority items are. (You can employ this tactic for the week and month too). Get your priority items done! If the other things on your list don’t get done, roll them over to the next day and start all over again.
Having a daily guide means that you’re starting off each day with a plan. Yes of course, you may deviate from this plan, but starting off with a plan is half the battle. At the end of each day as I straighten up my desk, I create the next day’s To Do list. I may come up with a few more items in the middle of the night (what entrepreneur doesn’t?) that I’ll need to add the next morning, but at least this way I have a pretty good sense of what the next day will encompass. I’m a planner, so knowing what’s in store gives me great peace of mind.
If you’re a tactile person like myself, it’s good ‘ole pen and paper! I’m partial to our To Do List notepad (pictured above), but I also like using a notebook for personal/family To Do items. If you’re looking for a great daily planner, I’d check out the DayDesigner by Whitney English.
Now, if you’re all about keeping everything in your SmartPhone, there are a ton of great apps to check out, my favorites are:
So which do you prefer? Paper or SmartPhone? How do you keep yourself organized?
