Start the New Year Organised!

A good balance of your time is needed for work, goals, recreation, and relaxation. Take a close look at your daily routine, examine your findings and come up with a plan. Be prepared to follow your plan and with this, you can become better organised.

Why be better organised?

Being organised will keep your mind off worry because you will not be thinking of two different things at one time. You can make good use of your time away from work to increase your knowledge of things and life, to work at a hobby or project, and then to relax and be content. This is good balance and when you are better balanced you are better organised.

Perhaps you are a single parent and in a bit of a time crunch each day. Make a point to sit and relax each day and plan. If you are careful you should be able to find just a few hours each day to apply yourself to being better organised.

The more organised you are the more time you will have for yourself.

Remembering to Organise

Being well organised takes lots of time and effort and there is a lot to remember. Below are good tips to help you to remember it all:

Jot it down. With the many details that you have to remember in any given day, why should you rely on your memory? At the very moment that you remember something needs to be done, the very best thing to do is write it down in a notepad that you can keep in your handbag. Then it will be there for you in an instant and you can tick it off when you have dealt with it.

Use sticky notes. Little sticky notes are amazing as memory helpers. Want to remember something prior to leaving your home? Just mark it down on a sticky note and stick it to the inside of your door. The bright, neon colors will be great to catch your eye as you are leaving.  Need to make an urgent call first thing in the morning? Leave a sticky note on your telephone.

Keep it all in one place. Once you have developed the knack of writing everything down, your next step will be to keep your writing all in one place. Use one note book for when you are out and another one for whilst at home, and keep it in a convenient place so that you can joy down things easily. You will remember better this way. Otherwise, you are going to spend valuable time searching for your notes.

Stay healthy. A keen memory is a well-nourished mind. Eat healthy; get plenty of rest and lots of good exercise. These will all see you through to having a good memory, staying focused and being alert.

Call ahead. When you are at work and you want to do something when you arrive back home, call ahead to your answering machine and leave yourself a message or programme and alert message into your mobile phone. As soon as you get home you can listen to your message and remember exactly what you wanted to do.

Handy email reminders. There are many good and free e-mail reminder services available. You can type in what you want to remember, such as a welcome party, anniversary or special event, and you will receive an e-mail reminder when the date is approaching. This is a terrific way to jog your memory by Internet.

Use timers and alarms. Take advantage of alarm clocks and timers throughout your day. Have to leave home by 12 noon? Set your alarm clock to remind you. Have an appointment for 7 p.m.? Set your timer to beep a few minutes before it is time to start to get ready. This is my personal favourite organising tool. I have an alarm that signals to the children that it is time to put on coats and shoes and grab school bags ready to go, I have an alarm for bath time, one for school run pick up,  and a variety of alarms for the children’s various after school sports.

Visual memory joggers. Visual reminders will help you remember and stay focused. Use visual reminders for remembering your goals. If your goal is to take a trip to Italy in a few years, keep a magazine photograph of Italy right on your desk. If your goal is to lose 30 lbs. in six months, find a picture or ornament that will help remind you of this goal each day.

Be confident in yourself. If you keep saying you have a bad memory, you will probably continue to have a bad memory. It is important to have a motivated, I CAN remember attitude.

Read my next article on Saying Good-bye to Clutter

Carla

I am a preschool and primary school teacher and mum to 3 children. I have been involved in education since 1997 and have trained in a variety of educational specialist areas. It is with this expertise that I write articles to help parents and educators provide quality learning experiences for the children in their care.