People often comment on how much I achieve in a day, a week, a month, and ask me if I have an extra day a week to get things done. Unfortunately, not. It’s simply because I have always been an organised person and I wrongly assumed that everyone shared this same skillset. Over the years though it has become more and more evident to me that being naturally organised has been a true gift that I have taken for granted. Recently I got described as one of the ‘most organized, efficient and driven persons on this planet’. High praise indeed though not backed by anything to make it official. Curious as to what evidence I have displayed to understand why someone might describe me this way, I delved into my daily routine and therein was my answer. My daily routine, I have one. My day is structured into time chunks with clearly defined time-protected boundaries for different tasks which I have prioritised as important to me. Paradoxically though, my daily routine gives me my freedom and the ability to be spontaneous! How about you? How does organisation affect your life? Are you naturally organised or does the thought of organisation send you into a complete tailspin? If you’re the latter, allow me to share with you some top tips to help you to be more organised so you can gain more time in your life to do what you love doing. Firstly, do a time audit. How do you spend each day? Where are you wasting time? There are 24 hours in a day, that’s 168 hours in a week. If you break it down, let’s say eight of which is spent sleeping each night and you also have to eat and wash, you then have approximately 100 hours left per week to fill. You have likely heard the rocks, pebbles, sand, water and glass jar story before that Stephen R. Covey shared. It is a powerful one. The order you put things into a jar will determine what else can fit. The same applies to your diary. So how will you divide these 100 hours you have amongst all the roles you play in a week? Once your audit is done, start to time chunk and protect the non-negotiables in your diary fiercely. With organisation comes focus and with focus comes productivity. Don’t believe that you are being productive by multi-tasking. It is not true. Focus on one task at a time and complete it before moving on to the next. Remember that according to Parkinson’s Law, time swells to the amount of time you apportion a task so be strict. Set a timer and work to that timeframe. It’s incredible how much you can achieve when you set a time limit. Focus on tasks which will bring in income prioritising them over non-essential tasks. Don’t be a busy fool, work smart. Ensure your phone is on silent, all notifications are muted and that all social media apps are not visible on your phone’s home screen. Mine all sit on the second screen so I don't see the red circles with white numbers rising. From a business and personal perspective, focus on what only you can do and outsource everything else. Free up time to do what will generate income for your business and delegate more menial tasks to others. At home, I outsource almost all of the household chores. I cook perhaps once or twice a week and that’s it. Plan ahead. Either on Sunday night or Monday morning, look at your week ahead and map out any preparation time needed for each task and block it out linking it to your external calendar booking system. Plan even further ahead than you think. I have all the important dates in my diary up to ten years ahead. Again, this doesn’t prevent spontaneity. It simply allows me to treasure and plan for those important moments. This is about the quality of life. Spending quality moments with those people who are important to you. Put these dates into your diary today. Keep a tidy environment around you. I am a natural hoarder keeping things for those ‘just in case we need it’ moments! Forgot the man-drawer, I have a man-garage! It is organised though and having been totally convinced by the Marie Kondo way, I now throw away most things that don’t bring me joy. My wardrobes are organised by colour and items which saves me so much time picking out what to wear. Knowing where my money is being spent is also key. I highly recommend doing a money audit too. You may find there are areas where you are spending money without even realising. Move all your files to be cloud-based so you can access them remotely and ensure you regularly back up all your files in several different locations. Back up your back ups too. This includes all the copy you have on your website just in case. I know someone who lost their whole website content and was not able to retrieve anything including their client CRM system and email lists. Be ingenious with your time by leveraging it. I listen to books and podcasts while exercising, walking, driving or cooking. I also use the following apps which help me to focus on organisation:
Calendly – linked to my family and work calendar so people can only book time when I choose to be free
Canva – easy creation for presentations and podcast artwork
Vimeo – storage of video resources with links to share with clients
Headliner – used to create short podcast snippets
Zoom Pro –auto-linked to my Calendly booking system and podcast recordings
Otter ai – use for transcripts from my podcasts to repurpose for blogs and newsletters!
Knowing what to do, why to do it, when to do it, who will do it and how it will get done ensures you are focusing on what matters in your life. Focus on Organisation!
ACTION POINT What area of your life could be better organised? Give yourself an hour, set the timer and find the solution. Go!
Amy BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS* The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey - https://amzn.to/3BIrZdx The Life-Changing Magic of Marie Kondo; a simple, effective way to banish clutter forever by Marie Kondo - https://amzn.to/3bChMVd *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.