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As I get older, I feel like I become more organized each and every day. I have learned that when my life and home are organized, I am less stressed and more productive. I feel happier, less anxious, and even cleaner when various aspects of my life and home are in order. Therefore, in honor of the first weekend of spring, I am sharing 8 ways you can stay organized to reduce stress in your life. I hope this inspires you to implement some organizational strategies into your spring cleaning this year!
1. Utilize a physical calendar
I know a lot of people use all sorts of calendars to keep track of their schedules. Whether you use your computer, cell phone, or any other method, keeping track of your agenda is super important! However, I have found that using a physical calendar, like a planner, has made such a difference in my everyday life. Using a physical book to keep track of things has helped me to stay organized and better remember things. I would also recommend having one calendar for both you and your spouse or kids. I find it is easier to keep track of our days when I know what responsibilities Ryan and I each have. I can better schedule appointments or date nights when I know exactly when we both are free! My favorite planner is this one here. I LOVE this one because you can buy so many inserts and stickers to really personalize it. It almost feels like I am keeping a journal (how fun) instead of just writing things down on a blank piece of paper (how boring).
2. Plan meals
This is something I always do in conjunction with my scheduling, and just another reason why I love having a paper planner. Every Sunday, I sit down and take a look at the upcoming week in order to plan our meals. I’ll even write it directly into my calendar so I know what is scheduled for each night. This is so helpful to me because if Ryan has a late training session or is away for games, I know this in advance and it really helps me to prepare. I just recently started to plan out our meals and I am so glad we did! We used to be that couple who spent approximately 30 minutes every night deciding what we wanted to eat. Our conversations usually went back and forth between “What do you want for dinner?” and “I don’t care, I’ll eat anything” until one of us just gave up and chose something. Sound familiar to you? Yeah…I thought so. However, since I began planning out our meals, I have saved us so much time and I can now make one large grocery trip every week. Game changer!
3. Keep a running to-do list
Yet another thing I combine with my planner. Seriously guys, my planner is like a one-stop shop for everything in my life. Ryan calls it a planning-addiction but I think it’s more of a blessing. When it comes to my to-do lists, I usually have two going at once; one is for weekly tasks and the other is more for longterm use. Every week (in my planner, of course) I keep a running list of all the things that I have to do that week, but not necessarily things that are time sensitive to a particular day or time. This could be things like buying dog food or cleaning out the car. I find that I am always more productive when I have a physical list that needs to be followed, rather than just making mental notes. My longterm list usually contains things that I want to accomplish, but wouldn’t be hurt in any way if they never got done. Items currently on my longterm list include backing up all my computer documents and photos from the past few years, and ordering photo albums from our wedding events. These are items I tackle when I have a little extra time to spare.
4. Set up automatic payments
Okay, I know this isn’t rocket-science but you guys…this is something I NEVER did until recently. For some reason, I had this fear of setting up automatic payments. Like maybe more money was going to be taken out of my accounts than was supposed to. Hello…crazy talk! But, the more “adult” I become, the more bills and payments I have coming in and it was just getting to be too much to keep track of. I was constantly stressing about the payment due dates and trying to remember if I paid certain things or not. So finally, I set up everything to go through automatically and it was such a stress-reliever. Fun fact: most companies here in Germany don’t give you any choice, and you sign up for automatic bill pay as soon as you obtain contracts for things like internet or cell phone services. If you think about it, it’s actually a super smart idea! You never have to worry about physically paying your bills and you will never get a late fee. It’s a win-win!
5. Have a cleaning schedule
I started doing this the second I began living on my own with Ryan. The way I tackle my cleaning has changed countless times but I have always stuck to a schedule. And that’s what’s important here people! Whether you clean daily, designate one cleaning task for each day, or any other method, stick to some sort of schedule. Currently, I am “lightly” cleaning each day. Meaning I run the vacuum through the house if needed or I windex our glass surfaces if they appear dirty…things like that. Then, once a week (usually Saturday or Sunday) I do a “deep” clean. I’m talking scrubbing the bathroom, washing the floors, dusting all our shelves, and so on. By doing this, I feel better knowing my house is constantly in a semi-clean state and gets the ultimate cleaning treatment once a week. This has worked out best for me because when I have a clean home, I have a clear mind, am less stressed, and ultimately more productive.
6. Put things away
This goes without saying, but you should get in the habit of putting things away after you use them. **I should make my husband read this section…maybe he’ll learn something (haha). I know it sounds incredibly obvious but after a while, everyone’s home gets a bit disorganized. Maybe you were rummaging through your desk looking for a document, or maybe you went scrambling through your jewelry box to find a particular bracelet on your way out the door. Bottom line is…if you spend time organizing your home, it probably gets disorganized after some time. Get in the habit of putting things back exactly where you had them organized, and things will never be out of place. Along the same lines, designate a “drop spot” for yourselves because come on…it’s impossible to keep EVERYTHING in your life in order. Use this as a place to drop your coat or your purse when you come home and then spend time organizing it once a week.
7. Plan for serious organization
On the topic of organization, plan out when you are going to conduct your serious organization and clean-outs. I’m talking refrigerator, closet, pantry, you name it! These tasks obviously take a bit of time, so you’re not going to be tackling them that often. However, if you can plan when you want to perform these particular jobs, you will feel much better and your home will thank you for it. Currently, I am organizing my closet and dressers about twice a year when I change out my seasonal clothing (anyone else use the KonMari method?!) and our refrigerator/ pantry gets a good cleaning every other month.
8. Have a system for important documents
This is definitely something that took me some time to get used to. In my opinion, I think it is really helpful to have some sort of system where you can file away all your important documents and paperwork. Ryan and I have a giant portfolio-style folder that has about 8 different sections. In here we keep things like our birth, marriage, and church certificates, past and present housing contracts, Ryan’s past and present soccer contracts, our adoption papers from our dog, Jax, and a few other things. I have found it to be really helpful having all our essential documents in one place. This way I always know where things are and if I need something, it is all in the folder. We also have a separate binder where we keep everything for when tax time rolls around. We keep all the documents we need as well as receipts for all our write-offs. This has saved us SO much time and stress!
I hope this post provided you with some organizational inspiration! Comment below and let me know the ways you keep your life and home organized!
