Get organized Today
Can’t organize yourself? Are you finding it difficult to move forward financially, physically and relationally? Try the 7 tips that helped us.
The 7 steps we took to get organized once and for all
1. Declutter your space to declutter your life
The houses are getting bigger and bigger. Why? Take a look at our spaces and how we use them.
We store, store, store and pack, pack, pack like pack rats.
I grew up with a one car garage and it worked. True, we had an annual cleaning, but today houses have two- or three-car garages filled to the brim with stuff, stuff, stuff.
Clean up your house and your life. Donate or give away anything that doesn’t encourage participation, then adopt a one-in-one-out policy.
The one-in-one-out policy means that for anything non-essential you want to buy, something in your house has to go. No, you don’t have to give away a rug for every cucumber and a candlestick for every box of quinoa. You also don’t have to sell your favorite shelves because you need to replace your toilet.
We are talking about “non-essentials”.
If you want to buy a new rug to update your living room or buy a new sweater for the season, something needs to be donated or given away to keep the rug hanging on your front door. Same with your new sweater.
This will also help you generate money. When you sell your items, you make money from your sales. When you donate your items and itemize your deductions on your federal tax return, you receive a donation May Be entitled to a tax deduction.
Talk to your favorite account beforehand.
2. Automate your money
For most of us, it’s “out of sight, out of mind.” As a result, we miss paying our bills or are late. Then we owe a penalty and ruin our credit.
It doesn’t have to be that hard.
Automate paying your bills. Almost every bank or credit union offers Bill Pay. Set up Bill Pay on your account to pay your bills and set up recurring payments through Bill Pay to pay your bills that cost the same every month. That would be your rent or mortgage and your car loan.
Then set reminders on your phone or elsewhere to pay your bills that have a different amount due each month, such as: B. for water and heating.
If this all sounds complicated, it’s not. We have tips to make this even easier.
3. Download AnyList
AnyList is one of our most popular tools and it’s free!
AnyList is perfect for tracking things you need to access, do, and remember. How many times have you gone to the store only to come home and realize you forgot something? AnyList stops here.
The other great thing is that you can cross items off and anyone else who has access to your list can see the update in real time. John and I do this when we divide and conquer at the grocery store.
And if the only reason you’re still putting your to-do list on paper is the rush of crossing off a task, AnyList lets you do just that electronically. When you complete a task, you actually cross out the task with a line that looks like a marker.
4. Pack breakfast and lunch on the weekend
Another trick to declutter your life is stacking. On Sundays, make your sandwiches, pack your soups, chop your salads, and pack your snacks. This way you don’t have to prepare everything at the worst possible time on Monday and Thursday evenings. . . if you don’t want to.
On Sunday evenings, our fridge is filled to capacity with all of our breakfasts and lunches. In the evening we pack everything we need into our packed lunches and that’s it.
This saves time in the evening when we would rather be doing something else. It saves money because when we would rather do something else, we usually do it. If we do anything else, we have to buy breakfast and lunch the next day.
You know the steps. Speaking of steps, 10Xs organize your life with these 7 steps by taking the 13-week leap.
5. Be slow and focused to get organized
There are so many things coming our way today. . . Work, phones, kids and so on. . . it is tiring and exhausting.
So slow down and focus on one thing at a time.
Multitasking doesn’t work and will quickly get you nowhere. Follow the advice of Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan and focus on one thing at a time and prioritize the one thing that thereby makes everything else unnecessary or easier.
It makes life totally easier and puts things in focus.
6. Stop making decisions
The human brain makes between 50,000 and 60,000 decisions every day, 95% of which are the same decisions every day. Brush your teeth with this hand. You can go to work here. Lock the door this way.
This doesn’t include all the crucial decisions we make every day. It all adds up and becomes tiring. Eliminating decisions saves energy and makes you smarter.
Here are some suggestions:
- Plan your day on AnyList and focus on “the one thing”
- Plan your clothes for the week so you don’t waste time in the morning
- Have a capsule wardrobe
What is a capsule wardrobe? The idea behind this is to have no more than 30 items of clothing in your wardrobe, all of which can be combined with each other so that you don’t wear the same thing every day.
Some of the smartest people in the world wear the same thing every day to avoid decision fatigue. If they get away with one thing, you can work with 30.
7. Meditate and relax
Take a moment every day to stop and breathe. Take time to relax and recharge. Do a little exercise every day. Even a brisk walk does wonders for the heart and mind.
This will make you a better partner, friend, parent and employee.
When you are organized, you take time and eliminate stress from your life. These 7 tips are great ways to start organizing. Take it a step further and organize your financial life from start to finish. Stop stressing about having to pay the bill or not having enough money because it’s over there.