Introduction

With the busyness of our society, we often feel like we have to jump from one
activity to the next. With work, hobbies, and family life; it’s easy to see why so
many people are overwhelmed.

Although there are certain things out of your control, staying organized is not
one of them. Many people dismiss the importance of staying organized
because it seems so simple. However, it can make a world of a difference.

If you are often feeling overwhelmed in life and feel like you don’t have
control over your decisions, here are five secrets to staying organized.

1. Make Checklists
The beauty of checklists is that you can make them in whatever way makes
the most sense to you. If you prefer to have a colorful journal with pens and
stickers, you can do it that way. If you prefer to just make a simple list on the
computer, you can do it that way as well.

Your checklist doesn’t have to look the same as everyone else’s. Just make
sure it’s readable and good for you so that you can use it to complete all the
tasks you have to do.

You can make checklists for just about everything in life. The most common
reason to make checklists is so that you can see all the things you need to do
in one organized place.

You can also make checklists for other things in life like groceries, hobbies
you want to try, or places you want to travel to. Checklists are very versatile
and perfect for organizing your life.

If you have children, you might also want to make checklists for each kid. It
can be a simple list of things that you cannot forget to do like buying school
supplies, paying a tuition balance, or ensuring they get to sports practice on
time.
Part of not being as overwhelmed is delegating tasks that you do not need to
yourself. If you have older children that can help with tasks, you can make
checklists for them of chores they can do around the house to help.

Of course, most children do not like a list of stuff to do, so try to make it fun if
you can like offering rewards or incentives

Rewards can also be used for yourself. Make a checklist of goals and then
list a reward under each goal that you know you can look forward to.

For example, you can have a checklist of your weight loss journey. After you
lose the first five pounds, you can get a new item of clothing or have a cheat
day where you eat something you haven’t eaten in a long time.

It’s also a good idea to make checklists for things you do often. For example,
if you travel for work often, make a checklist of all the things you need to pack
and pin it to the closet wall or put it inside your suitcase.

This is a super easy way to stay organized because you always have the
checklist rather than needing to overthink what you should pack every time
you go on vacation or a work trip.

2. Prioritize
You probably feel overwhelmed because you have many things to do. Not
every task is equal though. You might have a long to-do list, but that doesn’t
mean that everything needs to be done right now.

Try to make some of the tasks more of a priority based on if they are urgent
or important. You can then start the day by doing these tasks first. Even if the
tasks are not pleasant and you dread doing them, you should still try to tackle
them first thing in the morning and make them a priority.

This will give you a sense of accomplishment since you are tackling the tasks
you hate the most first thing in the morning.

Once you have done the tasks that are number one on the priority list, you
can move on to the things that are less urgent and less important.

When making your checklists, consider making the list in order of most
important to least important things. This way, you can go down the list in
order.
Remember that things can always come up during the day that might warrant
a change in the schedule. This is okay. Try to be flexible and continue to do
the tasks in order as best as you can.

If you are having trouble getting the priority tasks done, this is where the
delegation as discussed above comes into play. Try to give other people
some tasks if they are trained to do them.

Keep in mind they need to be skilled at doing the tasks already or you’ll
spend more time training them or correcting their mistakes as compared to if
you just did the task on your own in the first place.

If you find that there are not enough skilled workers in your company, try
doing a training program to change this.

Sometimes you can also prioritize the harder tasks. They might take longer to
complete but doing them first will leave you with a feeling of satisfaction
knowing the rest of the day is smooth sailing.

3. Give Everything a Place

If you are trying to get something done or are in a hurry, it can be easy to get
overwhelmed if you cannot find the thing you need. When you have a “home”
for everything you own both at home and in the office, it becomes super easy
to find the stuff you need for tasks and your checklist.

Make sure everyone in the office and at home knows where things need to
be. You can remind them if they forget so that everything is returned to the
right place before the end of the day.

Once you have a designated place for everything, try not to change it up as it
be confusing to you and other people. Before leaving the office or going to
bed at night, make sure you see everything is in the right spot.

It can be tempting when you are busy to just stick something wherever you
have space, but this can make it super easy to get frustrated the next time
you are looking for it and you are in a hurry.
 4. Clean Our Your Mind and
Home
One of the easiest ways to get overwhelmed is if your mind or home is
cluttered. This always goes for the office. If your working space in the office is
constantly crowded and dirty, it can be very hard to get anything done.

For your physical spaces like the office and home, consider giving them a
good clean at the end of every week. You should also have a full cleaning out
and decluttering every few months. This gives you a chance to throw away
the things you don’t need. You can also replace items that might be broken or
getting old that you can no longer use.

Your mind needs to be cleaned out and decluttered more often though. It’s
best to clean out your mind every day. The best thing you can do is to turn off
your electronics at the end of the day and lay in bed quietly. Some people
also find that meditating or reading a book before bed rather than being on
their cell phones helps them to quiet their minds.

You will find what works for you in regard to cleaning out your mind. Maybe
you need to exercise or maybe you need to meet some friends for lunch.
Some people also find that crafting or doing something creative helps them to
clear out their minds.

Try a few different things to see what works best for you. You might find that
you’re able to quiet and clean out your mind in more ways than one.
 5. Track Your Progress
Sometimes you need to see the progress of your goals to stop being
overwhelmed. Nothing is worse than feeling like you are working hard and
being organized but haven’t seen any good from it.

This is where tracking your progress comes into play. You can use the
checklists mentioned earlier or you can come back with another system of
being able to track your progress.

Whatever method you choose, make sure to stick with it. Tracking your
progress can also help you to see the areas where you are most productive
compared to parts of your life or schedule where you could be doing better.

When you have a checklist, you can simply cross offer or make a mark next
to the items you have completed and then you can get a good visual picture
of what else there is left to do.

If you are tracking progress for something in your personal life like weight
loss, you can keep a log of the times you weigh and the scale reading. If you
are trying to track the progress of something at work, you can make
spreadsheets where you track sales, employees, or other information.

Some people also find that an agenda helps them. Agendas are typically the
place where you write down meetings, conferences, or due dates for tasks.
However, you can also use them to track down your progress.

For example, you can make a note of the date that you want to complete
something. You can make it about work or you can write down the date when
you want to have lost 5 pounds or the date when you want to make sure you
have enough money to go on vacation.

As the date approaches in the agenda, you can see if you are close to the
goal or not. If you are close to the goal, you can keep going as normal until
you reach the end. If you feel like you are not close to the end goal, you might
need to change the way you are completing tasks and getting work done.

Make sure you always evaluate progress before the deadline is approaching.
By checking the progress several weeks or months before it’s due, you can
see if you will be able to make the deadline or not.
If you refuse to track the progress, you might get close to the deadline only to
find that you are nowhere near to being able to finish it.

Tracking progress might seem mundane and it might seem like a way to see
you are failing, but this could not be further from the truth. You need to know
if you are on the right track or not.

Another part of not getting overwhelmed though is not being afraid of failure.
When you are not afraid of failure, you will feel better at tracking your
progress because you know regardless of the result, you tried your best.

Final Thoughts
Ready to stop being overwhelmed and start being organized? Following
these 5 secrets and tips will have you on the right journey.

Being overwhelmed is easy because there is so much pressure from society

If you’re truly ready to get organized, you need to know that busyness is the
thing that’s overwhelming you. Once you realize busyness is the enemy of
organization and productivity, you can begin to start getting organized with
your goals and achievements in mind.