Organise Your Life in 4 Easy Steps

Let's be honest, everybody rolls their eyes when you talk about 'organising your life' and with good reason- because it sounds pretentious af.

But with a change in my life from a degree to a Masters, I feel like I have 900% more work than I used to and so much more going on in my life that I couldn't not organise. So here are the steps I've taken to make my life feel far more organised and put together.

The Calendar App.

The Calendar App (the iPhone calendar) has changed my life. I sync it to my university timetable, it's synced with my gym booking app - everything is on it. You can see from the screenshot how I organised everything for that week (this is my desktop view). Before setting up calendars, I'd suggest going into your settings and changing your alert settings. I turned off alerts & reminders as then I can add them to specific events as opposed to everything. 

The dark orange are things that I can't change - that's synced with my university calendar and is a 'subscription' in that I can't change anything on it. The light orange are my university events outside of the timetable e.g. research lectures, meetings for group projects, study time. The blue items are all personal e.g. dinner with friends, parties etc etc. The green is synced with my gym - I don't change anything for that. I also have a purple calendar for Blog events/meetings but didn't have any this week!

As all of my devices are Apple, the calendar syncs between my laptop and phone and means that when I'm on the go, I'm in touch with what's happening.

I also use my calendar for my tasks to do. On iCal, you can add in all day events (which I also use for deadlines etc) but I add all day events for things I need to do that day. From writing essays to finalising sponsored content, it means that I know what I'm doing.

I know that setting up separate calendars seems excessive but by having separate calendars, it means you can share them with individuals from managers to family. But by having the separation, it means that your management doesn't see when you're at the gym or your personal life. 

Do it the night before.

With University or a job, the prospect of doing anything first thing in the morning before rushing out the door is less than appealing. And although it seems tedious, I would highly recommend getting everything sorted the night before e.g. packing your gym bag, preparing your lunch etc. This not only means you can have a bit more of a sleep in the morning, but it means you don't forget anything. This has saved me (even if it takes me back to the days where Mum & Dad would make me pack my school bag the night before...).

Dedicate time.

I try to allow at least an hour every weekend to do a 'sweep'. Whether this means hanging up the clothes that have accumulated on the chair or putting everything away in their rightful place. By allowing for time to do it, it prevents things from building up for too long so that they become unmanageable.

Try a Minimalism Challenge.

I love those 30 day minimalism challenges where you have a task each day. But they don't even have to be daily - they could be weekly. I like planning them so one week I'll organise the kitchen, the next I'll organise the bathroom etc etc. This means that you're working through the bigger tasks and have a set of targets to achieve.

Is this not adulting 101? I personally struggle to switch off when I'm living in mess and find decluttering & organising really therapeutic and hopefully some of my tips help you! 

Are you a big fan of organising? What are some of your favourite ways to keep your life organised?