How to Stay Organized

Getting organized is surely not as easy as it might sound but it is possible and doable. It actually can be a lot of fun! On top of that, it will help you to stay on top of things and become stress-less.

I absolutely love organizing and planning, that's why I can hardly contain the excitement to share my tips with you on how to stay organized and how to plan your day, month and year(s). So let’s dive in!

What you need:

a calendar

You might want to go for a month-at-a-glance (and a week-at-a-glance - if you're a busy gal) calendar with enough space for your notes. Just find one which you can download for free online or design your own using the simplest software (I used to use good old Microsoft Word to build a table and divide it into sections according to my needs). The key is to see it every day so you stay focused.

a planner

I honestly prefer this one to the calendar. I always keep a planner (apart from summertime - I will show you my summer organizing tips below). It's compact so you can carry it with you wherever you go. Plus, they come in such a big variety of shapes, designs, colours, patterns... Ahhh, the possibilities! Personally, I've been dreaming about Erin Condren life planner for a while now and hope to get my hands on it some day soon :)

your smartphone

If you and your smartphone are inseparable, maybe it's time to take advantages of it to help you stay organized. Check out the apps that help you to keep your busy lifestyle in tip top shape. I love MLO, Evernote and Remember the Milk. However, if you enjoy checking things off on your list, you always would go for paper ;)

Useful tools:

pens: I am the biggest hoarder of pens you can find
pencils: read: pens #hoarder
highlighters: I love my Paperchase cute kitty highlighters
Sharpies: I have a mixture of those but my favourite ones are Ultra Fine Permanent Markers
sticky notes & tiny notepads: love them, can't get enough of them (my favourites ones are: Cupcake Notepad (Dylan's Candy Bar) - impossible to say 'no' to; I'm Having a Blonde Day stickies; sticky notes I got at Walt Disney World; fun sticky notes I spotted in M&Ms World store in London, New York and Las Vegas (can you tell we love M&Ms)
washi tape: to be honest, I haven't used them yet but I completely understand why they are all the rage! Talk about all the decorating possibilities!

Happy conclusion: the list of stationery goodness is endless...and it's amazing!

What I do every day to stay organized:

1. Use my planner or a week-at-a-glance sheet.

Perks:

+ lets you see the whole week

+ draw those little boxes to tick completed tasks off (what a joy!)
+ nice for the time when you are not too busy (summer?)

2. Prioritize: mark 2 or 3 most important "must-do-today" kind of tasks and tackle them first! I divide mine with the help of this cute Things to Do pad by Bitty Button: ASAP (can't put these off!), Sooner Than Later (would be amazing to do ASAP) and If I Have Time (these can wait but have to keep an eye on them).

3. Avoid procrastination: I know, easier said than done :) If you do want to get things done, stop checking facebook, instagram, twitter etc. every 5 minutes. Also, watching TV or having too many snack breaks won't help as well. You feel like you're doing something and being busy but it doesn't help you get anywhere.

4. Get inspiration from Pinterest, blogs, YouTube! Ideas, ideas everywhere!

5. Be realistic about your daily to-do list. Do not write something for the sake of writing it down and don't overload your list with tasks - it might simply make you feel overwhelmed at the end of the day when half of that list stares at you through its blank check boxes. Ask yourself if you can realistically accomplish a certain task TODAY.

And finally, if you made it to the end of this post, you are a star! ;)

Happy organizing!

Thanks so much for reading. Please leave a comment, share, subscribe to my blog, follow me on Bloglovin' and stay tuned!