If you're anything like me, then you like to stay organised. I have to admit that I do have more than one calendar hung up in my room, just so I can always have a clear plan of my month ahead. However, staying and becoming organised isn't as simple as it may seem. I can't count how many times my to-do lists have become messy and I started another one and the process repeated itself or how many times my calendar has become overwhelming.

I wanted to do a blog post on how I stay organised with everything and give you guys some tips so you can be organised too!



To-do lists:

For me, to-do lists are life savers. I use them for everything and I make them on anything I cant get my hands on, the majority of the time in my bullet journal and if I'm out the house then on my phone. However, you have to keep them reasonable. For example, don't have 50+ things on your to-do list )slight exaggeration, but if you do that's impressive), consolidate them down a little. Once you've done that, prioritise everything on your list. After this, complete the first 1-5 before even beginning to worry/ stress over the other items on the list. Repeat the process until everything is done. 

To-do lists are amazing for giving you a hard copy of everything you have to do and get done. It helps a lot to have a visual representation in front of you, instead of just having a mental to-do list. If you aren't much of a list maker then I suggest at least jotting down the top 5 things you have to do and get done.


Prioritize:

As important as this step is we can't predict what interruptions might pop up that could obstruct our priorities. This makes re-prioritizing just as important as prioritizing. An example of this was, that my media coursework was my main priority for a while due to its due date, however, once I had catched up with everything that I had to do I realized that I was falling behind in English. English then came my priority once my media coursework was handed in.


Organizing binders:

I'm an a-level student which means that I have a lot of paper with notes on that I have to organise into their designated subject folders and a lot of things I have to learn; so having my binders organised is such a HUGE help. I group things into different sections and texts I study so it's easier for me to look back over and revise from. Everything has a place and is easy to find, compared to that of a folder which is quite the opposite- which would probably take twice as long to find the same piece of information.


Planner:

This is the same as a bullet journal just a lot more structured and concise. My school provides us with one at the beginning of the school year to help with school events and homework. Planners are so helpful for keeping on top of deadlines and school schedules. I really recommend that if you are in school and you don't have a planner then you buy one, or make your own on OneNote, for free.


Keeping schedules and making deadlines:


I hat wasting time, I always want to be doing something and be productive at least. Keeping things organised goes alongside being productive like the numbers 1 and 2. Making deadlines and keeping to schedules and making to-do lists for everyday and for the week ahead makes me 100x more productive and more likely to get everything that I need to done. By setting goals and sticking to them you're speeding up the progress between you and your main goal.


Don't procrastinate

I know we are all very guilty of coming home from school and spending an 1 or 2 on our phone unlike the 15 minutes we had planned on the journey home. I've found for me personally, that the longer I leave a task, the harder it is to complete and the stress that comes with alongside it. I've prevented this as much as I can through organising everything that I can and getting the task done quicker. What gets me through procrastination and starting on my to-do list is the list of goals I have on my pin board above my desk, being my main motivation to get things done.


Everything having a place to stay

This is the most common form of organisation and the easiest to accomplish. Everything I have is organised by type of item and how frequently I use it. For example, all my stationary is organised next to my desk and easy to reach when I need it. When organising don't make a space really overcrowded or cluttered, that's just defeating the purpose of organising in the first place.