Staying Organized to Reach your Goals

So, everyone is telling you to stay organized, but how do you do that. Well, here are a few tips to get organized early in 2018 so that you set and meet your life goals.

1. Find a way to keep up with your daily tasks. Do you have a planner? Do you have a an app where you list your goals on your phone? Do you write your goals in a spreadsheet on your computer? Writing your tasks and goals can keep you organized. So, if you do not currently have a way to track your goals, find a way that works for you, your personality, and your schedule.

2. Review your goals Weekly. Once you have a way to keep track of your written goals and tasks, set a time each week to review those goals and tasks. It's best to do this at the beginning or end of a particular week. While you are reviewing your goals for the week before, you should also list any goals or tasks approaching for the coming week. If you have a long-term goal that cannot be completed in a week, check your progress on that goal each week and be specific about what you will do each week to move toward the goal.

3. Take a note of when you are most disorganized. Are you disorganized when you are frustrated? Are you disorganized when you have a ton to do with less time than tasks? Start to ask yourself these questions and take note of when you are disorganized as well as well you are most organized. Then you can take the appropriate action. For example, if you are most disorganized when you have a lot on your plate, you can commit yourself to not taking on more than you can accomplish because you then know it is not productive for you.

4. Develop routines. Get yourself a morning and night routine. Commit 15-30 minutes each morning on something that helps you prepare for the day, and spend that same amount of time at night to help you prepare for the coming day. When you get into a routine, you are training your mind to be organized about strategic about your plans each day. For example, during my night routine, I pick out my clothes at night and review major tasks that need to be completed the next day. That way, I am less stressed about the task of picking out clothes in the morning and I have an idea of major or important tasks that need to be done so that they do not go unattended.

5. Break down your tasks into actionable steps. Finally, for each task you have, make sure you break it down into actionable steps. For example, knowing you want to make an A on your next test is one thing, but knowing the actionable steps to reach that goal will help you get there. So, for each goal you have, make sure you think through the smaller steps that need to happen to reach that goal. You can use your list of these small steps to add to your planner or list of daily/weekly goals so that you stay on track with your overall goals.