It’s no secret I love to organize. Lists, spreadsheets, colour coding, I love it all. I’m constantly changing them up to keep myself motivated and on track when a system stops working for me. As much as I love the feeling of crossing something off my to do list, I’m definitely guilty of using organizing to procrastinate actually doing the items on my lists, so I’ve collected some tips for what’s currently working for me to kick procrastinating and cross items off that need to get done!

• Brain dump.
  • Get everything out of your mental to do list, and get it on paper. I like using small squares of paper (about 2″x2″) so I can easily rearrange the items on the list or move categories without having to re-write the list.
• Categorize.
  • You won’t have “buy groceries” in the same category as “write blog post”, so divide your items into a few categories. I tend to go a bit overboard with sub-categories for my business (finances, blog, marketing, etc), but personal all gets lumped into one category.
• Prioritize.
  • Instead of putting them in order of what you feel like doing, put them in order of what’s stressing you out the most on your list. Eat the frog – and know the worst, most stressful task is done.
• Be realistic: break down big tasks into small ones.
  • “Reorganize entire house” isn’t going to happen in a day, so if that’s what’s really weighing on you, divide it into rooms, or by closet/area. It will make your list a lot longer, but I’m sure there’s a specific room/area that’s in need of organization more than other ones, and that’s the one pressing on your mind.
  • Only give yourself a to do list for the day that you know you can reasonably get done, or you’ll end every day feeling like you didn’t get enough done. Be kind to yourself!
• Use a timer for tasks you don’t want to do, but need to get done.
  • I’m loving this trick, especially with my goals for the new year requiring doing some stuff that’s not as much fun (tax prep, egh). I can suffer through 15 minutes of pretty much anything, and typically, once I get started, I can keep going and finish whatever it is that needs to get done.
• Use a timer for tasks you do want to do!
  • 15 minutes of something I do want to do is a snap, it’s stopping to get the “frog” items done that’s the problem.
  • If you’re having trouble stopping after the timer goes off, alternate between tasks you do want to do and tasks you don’t. You know you’ll only have to wait 15 minutes to get to the one you really want to do, and can feel good that you made progress on the task you’re not digging.

Best of luck organizing this year! I’d love to hear your tips and tricks, so feel free to comment below, or send me an email!