While I’m not nearly as on top of my game as I should be, I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person. I like to follow the mantra, “a place for everything and everything in it’s place” and can usually find something in my home in a matter of seconds. Although, if you walked into my house right now you may think differently! (Two busy kids, the end of school, baseball practices, and my husband switching back to midnights has really thrown a wrench into my routines!)
Over the years, I’ve observed many people who are very organized in their day to day life. They keep their homes tidy, their schedules in check, and they are rarely late to events. They aren’t perfect by any means, but they do keep their lives as organized as possible.
While I would love to say that these people are like those Pinterest-worthy pins you see all over the internet with immaculately decorated homes and perfectly polished sinks, they really aren’t. They are just like you and me. They have hand-me-down furniture and toys scattered on their floors. They don’t have perfect homes, but rather realistic ones.
They live their life organized in a way that allows them to spend less time sorting, finding, shuffling, and searching and more time playing, jumping, running, and singing with their families.
I’ve carefully observed the habits of the most organized people around me and I’ve found them all to possess 5 key ways of doing things.
1. Organized people set goals.
Organized people have a plan and they stick to it. They set goals, both big and small, and work towards achieving them. Their goals are realistic, time sensitive, and measurable. They don’t say things like I want to save some money, I would like to keep my house clean, or I want to spend more quality time with my kids. Instead their goals look something like this:
- I’m going to save $50 each week for the next 6 months in order to save a total of $1200 for vacation.
- I’m going to spend 30 minutes each day of the week cleaning my house by following a checklist of tasks for each day.
- I’m going to take my kids to the park every Monday and Thursday for one hour each afternoon.
See the difference? Goal setting becomes much more achievable when you follow the 3 simple rules: be realistic, give yourself a deadline, and make it measurable. If you still aren’t convinced that goal setting essential, check out these 6 reasons you should be setting goals.
2. Organized people follow routines.
Most of the time, people who are successful with their organized lifestyle aren’t sticking to a rigorous schedule? Why you may ask. Because tedious schedules are unrealistic to keep up with. Trying to schedule out your day into 15 minute increments is probably going to fail because life will happen and throw you off course.
Rather, it’s best to follow a routine for your day. A routine is more like a rhythm to your day. You may have a list of things you try to do in the first 2 hours after you wake up. Then you may try to get another list of things done before lunch. Similarly, you have a rhythm to your afternoons before dinner time and you almost definitely have a before bed routine. Routines help to keep you on track and in control of your day.
If you are struggling to create a routine for your day, try using my time blocking printable to break your day up into chunks and get more accomplished! You can get it FREE here or just enter your email into the box at the top of this page!
3. Organized people make lists.
From meal planning, to a daily to-do list, to a weekly cleaning schedule, it’s all written down. Organized people get their thoughts down on paper. They may even have a planner of some sort to store all of their lists! 🙂
Organizing our lives with lists is a great way to stay on top of all that we have to do as moms and homemakers. However, if we try to do to much, our lists quickly become unrealistic and overwhelming. Have you ever created a to-do list for a day that was probably more than you could actually complete in a week? It just makes it frustrating and you will quit before you even begin.
Instead, try making a list of things you need to do each and every day. This might include things like empty the dishwasher, wash a load of laundry, take out the trash, and prepare dinner. Then create a top 5 list of the things you want to try to do today only. These might include things like go to the bank, file monthly paperwork, clean out the pantry, wash the car, and take a walk with your kids. By keeping this “extras” list to 5 items you are keeping your to-do list realistic.
If you are struggling with an overwhelming to-do list, check out this post on how you can take back control of your day.
4. Organized people are decisive.
Organized people make decisions, particularly about items that should stay or leave their homes. They don’t keep things around that they no longer use, love, or need. This ensures that they aren’t cluttering their homes with unnecessary things which in turn helps to keep their homes organized.
If you struggle with making decisions to get rid of items in your home, you may find a little encouragement from these posts that will help you clear the clutter!
- How to Declutter Your Home When You Don’t Know Where to Begin
- 9 Reasons to Get Rid of Your Clutter
- Practical Tips for Moms When Using the Kon Mari Method
5. Organized people prepare in advance.
They aren’t ones to rush around the house searching for things they need just before the walk out the door. They may lay out their clothes the night before, they always keep their keys, purse, or diaper bag in the same place every day and they have a plan for their day.
By being prepared for the day ahead, you aren’t wasting time or money or losing your sanity searching for things you need.
Please note that there are many different personality types and all could have the organizing gene. These are just my observations. If you are organized, but don’t possess any of these habits, please let me know below. I would love to know how you stay organized!
What are some habits that help you stay organized?
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Sarah says
I always have back-up plans! Back up plans are so important to staying organized. Without back-up plans, when something goes wrong or different, it’s easy to slip back into being unorganized.