How to Stay Organized at Work and Home in the Modern World

One of the toughest skills to master in literally any job is time management. Whether you prune trees or work at a computer, we could all use some improvement on our time management. If you know the general outline of what your day is going to look like, especially if it looks similar from day to day, write out a roadmap and try to stick to it as closely as possible.

Give estimates of how long you think each task will take, and it will motivate you to hit each deadline before moving on to the next task.

In an office setting, especially if you're in a tight cubicle, clutter makes work a lot more stressful. Have a filing cabinet? Use it. Get one if not, and use the drawers on your desk as much as possible.

Use folders, add labels, and try to develop a system you can stick to in your office to avoid clutter whenever possible. All it does is make your job more stressful and waste your time when you're trying to find things.

Write things down in calendars, set reminders, and make sure you check them every day. This small habit will go such a long way to help you keep track of your schedule! On here, you can add important meetings and tasks for dates you write down in advance.

Similarly, keep to-do lists for the short term. At the start of the week, write up a quick list of tasks that you need to accomplish by the end of the week, and check them off as you go.

Picking up the kids from baseball practice, cooking dinner, doing chores, and going grocery shopping. That's a lot to accomplish between the time you leave work and the time you go to bed.

Well, similarly to when you're at work, try to consider what tasks you'll need to do ahead of time and then try to create a system for getting them done as efficiently as possible, maybe giving yourself some reading or TV time before bed!

At work, we said to reduce clutter. That's because reducing other things that waste time is the responsibility of management, whereas you have control over your own desk.

However, at home, you have total control. Use a timer on a regular day of yours, or even just watch the clock, and see what you spend the most time doing at home. Is it cooking? Consider meal-prepping at the start of the week.

How is your commute? Are you thinking about moving out of the city? These are things to keep in mind, this could easily be taking a couple of hours out of your day.

Look for anything that feels like a drag when you're just trying to relax at the end of the day, and do your best to figure out how you can reduce it. Reducing clutter is a good start, but there's plenty more if you look for it!

Having storage bins, labels, and an organization system will save you so much time on cleaning and looking for items. How often do you check a couple of drawers before finding your spatula in the dishwasher or drying rack? Do you have clothes you swear just disappeared? Well, stop wasting time looking for them and figure out the right organizational system for your home.

Your daughter's friend's birthday party is next month on the 16th, got that? Well, what about when your daughter comes up to you on the 13th to remind you but you already made plans for the plumber to come over?

Having a calendar for your at-home tasks is very helpful. Stick it on the fridge, on your wall, or on your phone so you can see it, but don't mix it with your work calendar.

To-do lists, but with set schedules to do them. When are you most productive? If you're a morning person, save the chores you like the least for the mornings you have free. From there, just make your coffee when you wake up, get to work, and save yourself that extra stress for the rest of the day!

If there are chores you've really been putting off because you don't want to do them, get the family involved! You can set to-do lists at the beginning of each week, even for everybody's tasks! It's a great way to stay organized.

Do you spend a lot of time reading the news? Are you walking back and forth to change songs all the time when you're cooking?

Try adding smart home technology like Google Home or Alexa to your home and have it help you out with hands-free tech. It'll give you weather updates, change the song, and maybe even work some of your appliances! They're surprisingly affordable and easy to install!

If you work in a private office, they can even be used for work! There's a reason they're called "Google Assistants".

For your to-do lists, there are apps like Todoist that allow you to quickly and easily add and complete tasks. You can even change the settings on your iPhone so you can use Siri to set tasks in it. Your calendar and reminders app on your phone are also great alternatives. You can use one for home and the other for work, if you prefer it that way, or you can combine them.

There are apps that save you time with your finances, managing contact information, curbing your phone usage, reading you the news, and so much more. You know the saying, "there's an app for that!"