3 Things You Can Organize Today To Make Your Week (Much) Better
It’s Monday! Whether that fills you with joy or dread (or somewhere in between) here are three relatively simple things you can organize that I promise will make your week go smoother.
Give Your Digital Organization a Facelift
Now, I’m not proposing anything crazy here. I just have two simple suggestions that always make me feel little calmer and more in control of my week.
Use a digital calendar. When I was 21 in college, I went to see my therapist for a session and we were talking about time management. She asked me to pull out my calendar to schedule a few things and I said, “Oh, I don’t have one.” She was, appropriately, aghast. I tried to convince her that I could remember everything in my head, and she was like, “No you can’t.” She was correct. And even if I could, who wants to? As we age our lives get increasingly complicated. More to remember, more to keep track of, and why not have a little handy friend who keeps it all straight for us? You probably already have a calendar, but if you’re not using it regularly, give it a go this week. And if you are using it, but you’re not using it to its fullest potential - try that. On top of daily meetings and appointments, I use mine to remind me to do certain things like call friends on their birthdays or check my fridge for groceries before I head to the store. I prefer Google Calendar over iCal because it’s a more robust system, in my opinion, and you can easily program reminders before your events start, make recurring events, and share your calendar with your partner, co-workers and friends, and more. I like that now that the habit of using my calendar is there, I’ve freed up space in my brain for more important things.
Streamline your email. Now this might not be something you can tackle today, and that’s ok. But I want to empower you to get into the habit of unsubscribing to junk emails (or really any emails that aren’t adding something positive to your life) right away. Our email inboxes can easily become one of the most cluttered parts of our lives, and whether we realize it or not, having to sift through your emails daily to find the relevant ones is a huge time and energy suck. I like to do this in little pockets of time where I’d normally be scrolling Instagram or playing a game on my phone: waiting at the doctor’s office, watching TV at night, eating lunch, etc. It’s amazing how in a few minutes you can clear out a handful of emails you don’t care about (and when you unsubscribe, never get them again). And it feels like SUCH a treat when you’ve gotten to the end, finally, and you open your emails and there is no junk there. (Also, caveat, this is a process that is never over - you will forever be getting emails that you don’t want, but if you can keep up the habit of unsubscribing right away, I promise they won’t bother you as much.)
Make a To-Do List (And Use It)
So you probably have a to-do list already…but do you use it? I’m guilty of this sometimes, too - I write everything down with the best of intentions and then I essentially ignore the list for the rest of the day. But the days when I actually use the list? Whoa, productivity central. Your list doesn’t need to be fancy. I use the Notes app on my iPhone and then check the little bubbles when I complete something. I also have a first priority list for the day and a second priority list, so that the list as a whole feels manageable and I don’t have to be upset if I don’t finish everything in both categories.
Streamline Your Purse or Bag
When I leave the house every day, I am living out of my purse and my car for the time I’m out. In this way, I think of my bag as an extension of my home. I want everything in my bag to feel clean and easy to find, and I want to make sure I have everything with me that I might need to make me feel comfortable and productive throughout the day.
Take a few minutes to empty out your bag today. Throw out any old receipts or trash, dump out the crumbs, and then put everything back by category (you might need some pouches to do this - I love these from Baggu). You can have a pouch with personal care items like chapstick, essential oil wipes, etc. You can do an electronics pouch with your earbuds and an extra charger. Honestly, the world is your oyster here! The key is to make sure everything is contained and easy to find quickly. Also it can be useful to keep a list in your Notes app on your phone of things you want to add to your bag. Maybe you get a stain on your shirt at lunch one day and think that it might be nice to have stain remover wipes in your purse. Write it down, grab them the next time you’re at Target, and then bam - you’re superhuman.
I hope these tips help you to feel more in control of your time and your space this week! Thank you so much for being part of our Space Camp Community - please comment if you have any questions or anything else you’d like to read there. Have a wonderful week!
