HOW TO BE A MORE ORGANISED & PRODUCTIVE WOMAN
I love organising my time and space and when I got married I had to step it up a notch. Since having my son, being organised and feeling productive has become even more important when you have a million things competing for your attention and energy every single day.
What do you put your energy to when it seems as though everything is urgent and necessary?
I find that being organised and productive in my world is vital, especially as I am the sort of woman that keeps my very long to do list in my head! It's so easy to forget things, and be taken over by the overwhelm.
Organisation is KEY, and planning helps me to think more clearly about what's ahead, and what is currently in front of me. I love being able to mentally and physically visualise, as well as creating the emotional space to move around. It's gold to me.
If like me you are a little obsessed with everything organisation and planning, or you need some inspiration and ideas to help you MAXIMISE your days; then you'll love the tips below. I'll be touching on three main categories when it comes to the area of productivity and organisation:
- Productive planning (with tools)
- Organising your physical space
- Mental and spiritual
1. Map out your week or month, then set daily goals
Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity
~ Albert Einstein
Knowing what's roughly coming up in a given month or week is very important for me to know as it then means that I can plan for it financially, as well as prepare a plan of action if that is what is needed. I currently use my phone calendar to input information for the month (birthdays, date nights, Dr appointments etc), and set reminders if I have to. This also gives me an idea of how much money needs to be spent on recreational activities, gifts for loved ones etc.
I then use a notebook to plan my week, breaking it down day by day. The overachiever in me used to jot down 10-15 tasks to accomplish each day until I realised that I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, setting unrealistic targets that I couldn't often achieve, which then left me feeling unproductive, overwhelmed and unmotivated- the opposite of what I was trying to accomplish!
Since then, I don't give myself more than 5 tasks a day to achieve (depending on what is happening that day, and where I am). Jotting down such few tasks helps me to really think through what should be a priority for that day, and what can wait until the next day, week or month. It also helps me to mentally break down my tasks over a given period, making something that looks like a mountain suddenly appear very do-able ( a great way to eliminate stress).
To help you set weekly, monthly and daily goals, you can use a large visual calendar on a whiteboard or a notebook. I love using the productivity tracker designed by the lovely FIONA. Check it out if you do get a chance, it's great for helping you sort through the mental clutter!
2. Declutter- Practice Mise En Place (Putting In Place)
The most important things in life aren’t things.
~ Anthony J. D’Angelo
Having a place for everything is so very important when trying to be organised. Initially, doing this will take some time, but after a while, you’ll see how easy it is to find what you need when everything in your space has a home. I love decluttering and organising, and do this almost weekly - it's a natural thing for me now so I don't notice it much when I do it. I find that decluttering and keeping things in their place helps my soul to breathe.
Decluttering helps me to not feel hoarded in by too many things around me, allowing me to SEE everything that I own, and actually USE them. I have found that decluttering also helps to keep your space clean which means overall, less tidying up to do. Purchasing good storage really helps with this!
Also, I have found that decluttering allows me to be more appreciative of the things that I have because they have been selected to be in my space. Concerning my wardrobe, this has been a big time saver when I need to get dressed in the mornings! It also encourages me to be more selective with any additional pieces I may want to add when out shopping - instead of impulse buying.
3. Feed your mind with inspiring things
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
~ Philippians 4:8
Amen to that!
Nothing can make you feel more disorganised and unproductive than when your mind is unfocused. A wonderful friend reminded me of this a few days ago when she encouraged me to feed my mind with the things that inspire me toward particular goals that I am working on.
What you feed yourself with mentally each day is so very important. We are responsible for how well we keep our minds, and at times though it may seem like a daunting task, God’s instruction, assurance and encouragement to us is for our benefit. I blogged about taking care of your mind, and you can have a read of that HERE.
It took me a little while, but I finally came to the realisation that I hadn’t been stewarding and gate keeping my mind very well. In our social media driven world, it is so easy to become distracted with mindless scrolling online.
A little idleness here, a little distraction there, and before I knew it, I was growing a little numb to not only spiritual things but life itself! I wasn’t my usual self – no motivation, and no zeal for anything!
Colossians 3:2 encourages us to set our minds on things above.
Heavenly things.
Upon God.
When we shift our perspective to this, our focus changes and all of a sudden our motivation does as well. I am a constant work in progress in this area, but I enjoy listening to sermons online, Christian based podcasts, worship music, as well as reading Christian /spiritual books, and my Word to help keep me focused on the right things.
4. Stick to the schedules that you set for yourself
Organising is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.
~ A. A. Milne
Have you ever set a task for yourself to work on, and then not fully committed to starting or seeing it through? (raises hand).
If you have set yourself a time scale to do something, sticking to that is a great way of training yourself in the area of organisation and productivity. I typically don't give myself more than 1 hour to work on a task- unless it is something that I know I can spend more than 1 hour on, I am realistic and manage my attention span!
As a goal oriented person, this makes it much easier for me to work and feel productive.
For example, when it comes to writing blog posts, I sometimes set myself a 1-hour slot (if I know what I want to write about). This challenges me to be efficient with my time, so that before I sit down to write, I have done all prior research that is needed, and I focus to give my best in that 1 hour. This works so much better for me than sitting up with no time frame to write a post. I find that I become easily distracted and I am more likely to browse the internet!
This blog post was written in a focused 1-hourslot :) GREAT ACHIEVEMENT!
5. Create A Centralised Family Or Work Information Center
Once you have a clear idea of your priorities – that is your values, goals and high leverage activities, organize around them
~ Stephen Covey
As a wife, it's really important that my husband and I stay organised together as much as possible even when we have our own individual things going on. Now that we are parents, it's even more important that we try to stay as organised as possible- for my sanity!
What has helped us is using a joint calendar to work together from and add information into. He works as a freelance photographer too (sawukuphotography) so it's essential that as jobs come up, we update the joint calendar with this information to ensure that they don't clash with our personal plans.
We have been able to do this simply by creating an email address that we both have access to, and then linking that to our calendars, so when any one of us puts information into our calendars, the other can see it.
I’m always aiming to improve my efficiency and organisation so I would love to know your own tips and hacks when incorporating organisation and productivity in your life!
Alethea xo
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Alethea Awuku
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