Organize Your Life With These Simple Steps

Organization can be difficult to start, but it brings your life cleanliness and order once it’s part of your routine. Amidst the chaos from COVID, I felt stuck. It was a brand-new decade, but I wasn’t going to graduate per my four-year-plan, was regularly rejected for jobs and generally felt like a hot mess. Between wearing the same outfits every week and watching “Sex and the City” reruns most nights, I was in a rut. Though I didn’t realize it, and I’m not normally a disorganized person, organization was the easiest way I could renew change and take control. Establishing a routine to “clean up” my mental—and literal—space made my lifestyle more clear and streamlined. Hopefully, with similar steps, yours can be too.

Make Lists

If you keep an extensive list in your phone of everything you need to do, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed! There’s no reason to look through one massive list to remember what needs to get done. Try making separate lists, like “Personal,” “Professional,” or “Academic,” to organize your goals. Categorizing these tasks reduces the idea that everything is equally important. Making a shorter “To-Do” list with a few daily goals to complete will keep you focused and level-headed, too.

Keep A Schedule

Maintaining a schedule will make your day-to-day life feel way more structured. By planning ahead, you’ll know when to focus on completing certain goals, and when you’ll have more time for other activities. Buying a day planner for your schedule, or organizing it on your computer’s calendar, is the best way to add structure to your daily routine. Physically and mentally, writing down and visually seeing your day’s plan maintains focus and drive.

Declutter Your Space

Having a clean space to work and live in will make you feel more “together,” and can bring a sense of accomplishment. Make time to regularly vacuum, dust and organize your living space. This will bring a “clean slate” to refresh your mind and visually keep you at ease. Take this a step further by ruling out which items are “necessary” or have emotional value. Placing these into piles for donations shows what you’re letting go of, will let you “give back” to your local community, and bring a refreshed space to work from afterward.

Edit Your Closet

For the fashionistas (and o’s!) especially, try editing your wardrobe. If you can remove a certain number of pieces, or just get rid of things you don’t wear regularly, your routine when getting dressed will be much simpler. Try donating any non-sentimental pieces you haven’t worn in the last six months to a local consignment store, or selling them online. Your clothes will have a second life, and you’ll have a little extra cash. If any items aren’t accepted, don’t throw them away! Drop them off at a donation center, like Goodwill, or gift pieces to your friends that you know they’ll love. Somebody will find use for them, or your BFF might get that pair of boots she’s been eyeing since you bought them! I