You know those frightfully #organized people we're all jealous of? The ones who have everything at their fingertips, they're at Inbox Zero 90% of the time, with folders and post-its and color-coded calendars? Turns out, there's no "gene" for #organization—which means that organizational skills can be learned. While some people thrive on chaos, most of us spend more time trying to tame it. If you've reached the point where you've decided to accept disorganization as a part of life, we have some tips to pull you out of disorder and put you on the track to having everything you need, where you need it, when you need it. Try these seven tips (and a bonus at the end) to get the chaos under control and start being productive!
Start with a purge. You can't create a productive workspace without The Purge. Depending on the condition of your office, the purge could take anywhere from a few hours to a whole day. The final goal of the purge is to have an office that is completely free of clutter.
Don’t live in the inbox: We have a tendency to keep the inbox open, or to open it often. That means you’re constantly responding, instead of focusing. Instead, open the inbox, and one by one, put incoming items where they belong, and archive them in your inbox. You might not get to the bottom of the list, but you save yourself from having to contstantly look through the same things in your inbox over and over.
Always plan the coming day in advance.
Once you’re done with your day, then would be a good time to plan for the coming day. Every day needs its own unique to-do list!
Curated from 20 Daily habits Of Highly Organized People
Organized people have less stuff. The golden rule of organization is to have as little as possible to organize, says productivity expert Hillary Rettig, author of The 7 Secrets of the Prolific.
"They figure out what the core of their professional and personal missions are and eliminate all else," she says. "They will still have stuff to organize, but they’ve made the job doable."
Never label anything "miscellaneous." You put a bunch of things into a file or box and write this catchall across the front. "But within a week you've forgotten what's in there," says Morgenstern. Instead, sort items into specific groups—"electric bills," "lightbulbs," and so on.
Never label anything "miscellaneous." You put a bunch of things into a file or box and write this catchall across the front. "But within a week you've forgotten what's in there," says Morgenstern. Instead, sort items into specific groups—"electric bills," "lightbulbs," and so on.Don’t multitask. People who are more effective, organized and efficient believe in uni-tasking and focus all their energies on one single item at a time. These people give all their attention to one task and turn off all possible distractions, email pop-ups etc. to protect their time. They apply this philosophy wherever they are, whether at home with their family or in the midst of a high-voltage office situation.
Curated from How to be Organized - 12 Quick Tips
Delegate. Think everything is better when you do it yourself? Think again! Organized people have set priorities so they know when to farm a task out to someone else. To that end, they also recognize their strengths and weaknesses and aren’t too proud to admit them. If you want to be more organized and productive, ask for help.
If you're inspired by these tips for order in the workplace and want to carry it over to your home life, take a look at these ideas from Greatist:
Balancing a job, workouts, laundry, bills, and a social life makes it easy to let lots of stuff pile up—constantly. And we hear you: Whether it's our inbox, desk, closet, or well, pretty much anything (and anywhere), the clutter can start to feel overwhelming. But we've got your back. We combed through the greatest and latest organization advice to find the easiest and most effective mess-mastering tips so you can control the chaos—once and for all.
Curated from How to Be the Most Organized Person in the World, Starting Now | Greatist
