48 Incredibly Helpful Tips on How to Organize Your Life & Take Control

Although I am a personal development blogger by profession, I am in no way a mental health professional. See my disclaimer for more info.

Does it feel like your life is chaotic? No worries — I’m going to teach you how to organize your life.

Is your life in shambles? Does it feel like you’ve lost control of your life?

One of the main compliments I get is that I’m neat, tidy, and organized. I don’t know if I’m naturally this way or if I’ve just built more structure as time goes on. Regardless, though, I’m proud to say that I make an effort to keep everything nice and organized.

Having this structure in my life allows me to take control and not feel clueless as to what I’m doing. I don’t know what the heck I’d do if I weren’t so organized! Thankfully I don’t have to worry about that.

If you want to take control of your life and live out your Pinterest dreams (LOL), keep reading. I’m going to teach you all about how to be your most organized self.

This post is all about how to organize your life.

What does it mean to be structured?

When you’re structured, you have a sense of stability and routine in your life. You know exactly how everything goes and have an exact method or routine for every aspect of your life.

But make sure you’re not too structured. You don’t want to feel like you have to follow your schedule to a “T” everyday.

Leave in some wiggle room in case something doesn’t go as planned.

You definitely don’t want to feel stressed just because you weren’t able to mark something off your to-do list.

I’m telling you now. If you think it’s possible to do that everyday, think again. There will be days that you just don’t go to it.

And that’s okay! You’ll need rest days so you can get back to it, fully yourself.

If you feel your routine is getting a little boring, don’t be afraid to change it up. Add something fun to it or remove what feels daunting to do.

After all, being structured is supposed to help you, not hurt you — mentally, physically, or in any other way.

Why is structure important?

Being organized and structured helps you:

• accomplish your goals
• be productive and get things done more efficiently
• reduce stress by not being all over the place
• have more time for the things you love to do, like hobbies
• live in the moment rather than worrying about the future

Alright. Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get into these organization tips!

How to Organize Your Life:

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR WORK LIFE:

1. Plan your week ahead
2. Use a calendar (Google Calendar is AWESOME!)
3. Prioritize your tasks (do the most important ones first, then work your way down to the ones that aren’t as time-consuming)
4. Make sure to take breaks, often
5. Organize NOW, not later
6. Get advice from a mentor or coach
7. Make lists
8. Use the Reminders app on your iPhone
9. Unsubscribe from spam emails
10. Use a spam call filter (I use Verizon Call Filter and it works really well)
11. Regularly clean up your files
12. Try task delegation
13. Use different browsers for school, work, and personal life (I like to use Google Chrome for school and Safari for personal things)
14. Have multiple emails with different purposes 
15. Pick out your outfit the night before a big day
16. Know when it’s time to stop for the day to avoid burnout

FREE DAILY PLANNER

My planner is the perfect simple, yet effective daily tool to help you keep your daily life in order. It includes a task list, a notes section, and my favorite part: a daily evaluation, where you reflect on your day!

To get the planner, click here now!

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR DIGITAL LIFE:

1. Make every page a dedicated page on your phone (ex. first page: personal life, second page: work life, thrid page: academics, etc.)
2. Use folders on your mobile devices
3. Use widgets
4. Use your control center wisely
5. Unfollow people who don’t provide value to your life anymore
6. Delete unused apps that don’t serve you in any way
7. Set screen time limits (Avoid spending an unnecessary, excessive amount of time on your phone. This time could be put toward more meaningful, important things)
8. Delete unnecessary contacts
9. Free your storage
10. Put your phone on do-not-disturb (DND)
11. Get rid of old messages
12. Pin important messages to the top
13. Save your passwords in a password keeper (I like to use iCloud Keychain)

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR HEALTH:

1. Journal about your daily thoughts
2. Go to therapy
3. Practice self-care (AKA “me-time”)
4. Schedule a special day to hang out with your friends/family 
5. Use a pill organizer for your daily medicine and vitamins
6. Set an alarm/reminder to remember to drink water

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR TIME:

1. Get up earlier in the morning (you’ll have more time to complete your to-do list)
2. Create and stick to a consistent, realistic routine
3. Set timers (the Pomodoro technique is great! Work for 25 minutes then take a 5-minute break.)

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR HOME:

1. Use storage bins 
2. Embrace your junk drawer(s)
3. Keep your office tidy
4. Have a home for everything (It’s frustrating when you’re looking for something (like a pen) and you are having trouble finding it. When you know exactly where everything is, it makes it far less stressful.)

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE:

1. Have multiple bank accounts with dedicated purposes
2. Track your expenses + income (this way, you will have less work to do come tax time)
3. Use a card tracker (to keep all of your card details together)
4. Work with a financial advisor
5. Track your free trials
6. Set up bill notifications (you’ll be emailed days before a bill is due and avoid late payments)
7. Use AutoPay

THINK: Which of these organization tips will you try first? Tell me in the comments!

Let’s recap!

We made it to the end of the post!

Today, we talked about how to organize your life.

Staying organized is essential to every aspect of your life. It keeps your environment and mind clutter-free and allows you to take control.

Please remember to take time to take care of yourself!

I know, in this economy, it can be hard to find free things to do that are fun. That’s why I put together a list of 7 free self care activities to enjoy today!

In the midst of chaos, don’t forget to smile, 

DeMarcus – your self care buddy

PIN IT FOR LATER:

This post was all about how to organize your life.