If you’re anything like me, being organized can seem like a struggle. I am a naturally messy person, I thrive in chaos. However, I am also an extreme “Type A” personality (if that’s even a real thing) and so my messiness also gives me anxiety. Chances are if you work with me or live with me you will see my internal battle of instinctually leaving a mess everywhere I go and then also obsessively putting everything back in its place – it can be maddening to watch. I have always been this way, my family has nicknamed me Hurricane Alannah because I truly destroy every tidy thing in my path. However, I’m also an adult now who balances school, work and more work on a daily basis and I can’t afford to be unorganized anymore.

I have so many tips and tricks for all areas of my life but for the sake of time, I’ll stick to my top work-related ones for this post.

Keep reading below to learn how I went from Hurricane Alannah to a self-described organizational queen.

Tip 1

FILE FOLDERS. Yes, I’m yelling because wow this is so obvious but for some reason, it took me forever to figure out. I use actual physical file folders to keep track of all my bills, paycheques and various important documents. I keep these all organized by colour (red is top of the list important, yellow is for recurring bills or payments and blue is non-urgent documents and bills – I call this my evergreen folder and I keep mementos like birthday cards from loved ones here). In addition to those, I also have folders on my laptop where every single thing is classified into a folder. Prior to this system, my desktop screen was clutter central and it honestly gives me chills to think about now. I have four main folders: one for my business, marketing school, my day job and then personal files. Within those are further sub-folders for all further documents to keep everything super organized. The folders are searchable so that makes finding things really, really easy. I also keep different folders in the photos app on my phone. This allows me to find pictures for my blog and social channels quickly and easily. This all may seem very simple and obvious but if you’re not organizing your folders with intention and purpose, you might as well not be doing it at all.

Tip 2

Utilize your calendar. This could be an app, a notebook or even a real hard copy calendar but whatever it is make sure you are using one! I’m always shocked when I hear that people never write anything down in their calendars but just keep the information in their emails, texts or notes. I write down every single thing I have to do each day in my Google Calendar app and it keeps me from forgetting anything. For example, I try to walk my dog on my lunch breaks when I’m working from home so I’ll schedule in from 12:30 to 1 p.m. a walk. I also will schedule all my tedious tasks like replying to emails or printing off files for one hour of the day so I get it all done and don’t forget. Literally everything I do is in my calendar which is backed up on both my phone and laptop.This is probably the biggest change that helped me get organized in the past year or so.

Tip 3

To-do lists that are written up the night before. Everyone in my life knows that I never go anywhere without a notebook and I’ve been like this for years. Lately, I’ve been using this to remember to write out my to-dos list as the last thing I do before I leave work every day. I find doing it at the end of the day instead of the beginning makes my lists more targeted and useful! All of the tasks that I need to accomplish the next day are fresh in my mind and then when I sit at my desk the next morning I can just get into the work instead of wasting time figuring out what my top priorities are. I also do this for my personal tasks right before I get ready for bed. If I know I have laundry I need to do or certain chores like getting groceries I write it all down so I don’t keep forgetting (read: avoiding) them. After doing this for about a year I have noticed a huge change in not having my admin and less time-sensitive tasks get pushed into the next workday. Now this could be due to the immense satisfaction I feel when crossing something off my list but I guess we’ll never know.

I’ll stop here with my tips but if you liked this be sure to share and let me know on Instagram at @apage.creative.