Tutorial 4-How to Organize your Life ?
7 WAYS TO ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE AND BE MORE PRODUCTIVE
1.WEEKLY PLANNING
This is something that I started strictly implementing with my day job, and my process is, every Friday I reflect on what I got done that week. For my day job, I have an on-going Google Doc where I (and a separate one where the team writes their top five goals for the week) list my goals and objectives for the following week. Additionally, I write all of my to-dos in my planner. It essentially ends up looking like a schedule of sorts for each day. This way, when I open my planner on Monday (my craziest days), I say “okay, I’ve got xyz to do today”, and I adhere to that plan. And while I do have items listed on each day that week, I still reflect each day on what was done, what wasn’t, what was added to my list, and I adjust my days according to that.
Something that I do in regards to my blog, which I believe could be implemented for anyone doing weekly meal planning/grocery shopping, is my recipe planning/shopping. The way I format it is I make two lists in my notepad: the top bullets are the recipes that I’m making that week, and the bottom bullets are what I need from the store to make them. This is compiled after I have made my weekly plan.
2.EDITORIAL ORGANIZATION
This is for anyone that writes for a living. If you don’t, maybe you can use this process in some way for another task – who knows! I use this process for my day job (I am in charge of all content creation for my day job; blog, social media, emails, etc). This might seem like a super simple step, but trust me, it has made a huge difference in the way I work and my productivity level. I truly believe in mind over matter in regards to productivity and organizational tactics – the smallest changes can make the biggest differences!
I will speak on this in regards to The Blissful Balance for simplicity’s sake. I have three forms of editorial calendars: hand-written in each monthly calendar in my planner, CoSchedule (life-saver), and a Google Sheets spreadsheet. This tactic is primarily used in my spreadsheet, although I have done it by hand, as well, in my planner.
I have my list of recipes planned out in my spreadsheet, along with their publish date. My process is: as soon as I finish making the recipe and shooting it, I add a strikethrough to that particular recipe/date in my spreadsheet. Then, once I have the post written and scheduled to publish, I add a highlight to the recipe/date in the spreadsheet, signifying that it’s good to go. That’s it.
I swear, some sort of positive chemical rushes through your system when you cross something off of your to-do list. What this has helped me to do is to majorly calm down. I don’t know about you, but when I look at my to-do list, a lot of times internal panic ensues. So, when I see my editorial calendar with some scratched through, some all finished, etc, it helps me feel on-track, accomplished, and calm.
3.SET A TIMER
Something that I often do, mainly for my day job, is I will jot down a list of 3-4 items that I need to get done. I will then set my phone timer for 45 minutes. I ex out of any social media sites, turn my phone to airplane mode, warn my co-workers that I’m signing off Slack to focus, and I get those items done in my dedicated 45 minutes. Our abilities are only constrained by our mindsets; doing this gives your brain some guidelines and policies to follow. It’s the same tactic I use when I work out of a coffee shop: I give myself x amount of items to finish before I leave that coffee shop. I almost always get them all done, because I’ve set that parameter for myself. Otherwise, everything floats around in my mind and I feel lost.
4.USE NUMBERS FOR YOUR TO-DO LIST
This has majorly helped keep me on track. For this tactic, I add numbers to the items on my to-do list in order of what to get done first. I cannot move on to number two before I finished number one. If number one takes me all day, so be it. It’s a great way, again, to give yourself parameters to work within. This tactic has really, really helped me focus and get sh*t done.
5.USE A MOUSE
Okay, this is probably the most random tip ever. I’m not even sure if I can explain it, but I’ll try. It’s as simple as this: if you’re using a laptop every day, use a mouse with your laptop. You guys, I don’t know what it is, but I am so much more productive when I use a mouse with my laptop versus my trackpad. I initially purchased a mouse to use because my trackpad is all sorts of screwed up. It works from time to time, but most of the time I can barely click on anything. But I have to say, I really like using the mouse much more. Maybe it’s because it’s quicker than using a trackpad, I’m not sure. But I swear, I have felt a difference in the way I work with the mouse as opposed to the trackpad (in a good way). All I’ve got to say is, give it a try! Let me know if you feel a difference!
6.DEDICATE DAYS, BUT DON’T IGNORE INSPIRATION
Again, I use this tactic for my day job and. When I do my weekly planning in my planner, I dedicate certain days to certain things. For instance: Monday is dedicated to editorial planning and topic research, Tuesday is dedicated to graphic design, and Thursday is dedicated to writing. Again, parameters for your brain. However, working in a field that requires constant creativity, it can be hard at times to follow these guidelines. There are times where although I’ve set Thursday as my writing day, I can’t write for the life of me. Or, there are times where it’s Tuesday and I feel like I could write ten essays in a row. However, I think it’s a worth a try to set those designated days for yourself – see how you like it! For food bloggers, this could mean that Monday and Tuesday are cooking days, Wednesday is photography, Thursday is writing/graphics, and so on and so forth.
7.LEARN WHEN TO SAY NO
I’ve learned this the hard way, but I learned it nonetheless: you have the right and ability to say no. Maybe your co-worker has an idea and task for you to do but not only does it not align with your goals or even your job, but it will take time away from your [important] to-do list. All you have to say is say no. Explain your reasoning, or even offer to push their recommendation back to a later date until you get the tasks you’ve designated, finished. I’ve been caught up too many times feeling like I had to say yes to everything. I would then feel majorly overwhelmed, to the point of not being able to perform to the best of my ability because I had so much going on. Not everything has to or can be done at once.
All in all, I know what it feels like to lack control. But once you take control of your to-do list, your goals, your productivity, I promise, you will feel unstoppable. Not only that, but you will be able to focus more, your tunnel vision will be activated, and you won’t pay attention to ‘competition’ or fall in the comparison trap. I’m sure my process will change in the future, as we are always evolving, but for right now, this is the routine that works wonderfully for me.
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