How To Be Organised When It Doesn’t Come Naturally

Being organised doesn’t come naturally to everyone. I’d like to think I am organised person, but there are some things I’ve put in place to give the impression that I have my sh*t together.  It may feel like a ‘born with it’ trait but you can train yourself to be organised when it doesn’t come naturally. But ironically it takes a bit of organisation (and willpower) to get there.

When things are organised you’ll know where to find things and what you need to do. This will leave you with more time and chances are you’ll be more productive.

The most important thing is figuring out what being organised looks like for you. Is it having structure in your week? Is it not forgetting deadlines and birthdays? Or is it having less processes to remember? It will look different for everyone depending on your lifestyle, priorities etc.

Here are some ways to stay organised when it doesn’t come naturally.

Use tools to help

You don’t have to be organised all on your own. There are a lot of different apps that can help you stay on track.

I’ve always been a fan of lists and structure, for me it helps to dump everything down and then my brain doesn’t need to remember it. I use a fab app called todoist which can be used through the app or via website and it’s genuinely changed my life.

I’ve done a whole post on how the app has boosted by productivity, so I won’t talk about the specific app too much but how I use it. I put down absolutely everything on this digital to-do list so my brain doesn’t need to remember it. This includes cleaning tasks, birthday’s, taking my vitamin tablets, looking for car insurance deals, and so much more.

If I didn’t note things down I would 100% forget them. But the app reminds me at the time I ask it to and it makes it seem like I’m a super organised person.

Whatever app you do use for notes/ lists etc keep them all in one place. This way you won’t be trying to find a trail of notes across ten different digital locations plus your physical paper notes.

Be organised with automations

Some things are just laboursome and take up too much time. But by utilising automations you can help your organisations.

I use a lot of automations on my to-do list app by asking it to repeat certain reminders. For examples insurance reminders happen every year, cleaning reminders happen every week/ month, and other reminders every single day. Now my reminders are set up I never have to remember them.

Automations can also include things like purchases to save you remembering. We have things like cat litter and bin bags on Amazon subscribe and save as they’re things we need with a certain level of regularity. I don’t need to remember to buy them and they turn up just when I need them.

I also automate a lot of savings both for our household stuff on a monthly basis, or my personal savings pots on a weekly basis.

Reduce the steps process take

Cutting down the number of steps a process takes can really help you across life.

In your home life this may mean buying pre-chopped vegetables which you’ll actually eat rather than veg you don’t prep that ends up thrown away. For work it might be creating e-mail templates for common responses. I have some templates set up in Google when brands reach out for prices etc. It saves me typing the same thing out every single time. This means I can reply to multiple in the time it would take for me to type one from scratch.

It might mean batching tasks so you’re not switching around all the time. For example doing all of your tasks that you need to sit down at a laptop at together not spread out across a week.

Be organised by outsourcing things

We can’t all be great at everything so if there are things you hate and leave it feeling flustered outsource them. For some people this might be admin tasks that you keep putting off. Or it might be your accounts if you’re self-employed.

It’s fine to admit that we can’t be organised and perfect at everything so let someone else help.

Keep a streamlined space

A clean welcoming space is more energising and less stressful to walk into than a messy one. I’m sure we’ve all wasted time looking for one item in our home just because it was put back in the wrong place, or not where you’d expect it. If your space was organised then you wouldn’t waste time.

If you work from home make sure your physical space is clean, clear and free from clutter. But this also includes your digital space. Keep your desktop clutter free, organise files into folders and declutter your inbox whenever you have the chance.

Do you have any tips on how to stay organised?