Making 2017 My Year - Some Pro Tips for Life

You know when Facebook shows you the memory posts of things you've posted on a given day for every year you've been active? Well the other day, my memories showed me a status update of something about organizing my life, getting my shit together as it were, and there was a comment on it. From my mother. "It's impossible to organize you!" Well, thanks mammy!! But she had a point. I'm a bit of a mess. I've been getting better though, and I'm going to share my tips for keeping on top of my shit.

Image: eritzerella.wordpress.com

If It Takes Less Than Two Minutes, Just Do It

This one is self explanatory, but let me explain! If it takes ten seconds to rinse the cup and put it in the dishwasher, just do it, don't just leave it in the sink. If, like me, you can put on a load of laundry during the ad break of Corrie, just throw it on.

Get A Great Cleaning Playlist For The Deep Cleans

Mondays are the day I set aside to clean, uninterrupted. I throw on a good playlist, and just get it done, I start in the living room, and work my way up one side of the hallway, and back down to the kitchen, and finish with the floors. It's easy, it takes me around two hours, max, and once it's done, it's easy to keep on top of things until the next week.

Take A Minute For Planning The Next Day 

I like to sit down before bed to plan the next day and make an itemized to do list. If there's anything I didn't get done, I delegate it to another day. For me, it breaks down into Errands, Home and Misc. A lot of the time, Misc is just a list for things to do when I'm over with His Lordship, so it mostly applies to Fridays. An average list looks like this.

Home: Laundry

                Vacuuming

           Dusting

Errands: Post Office

     Bank

                 Collect scrip

                        Get dinner stuff

Misc:  Dinner

             Laundry

                                          Confirm chiropractic app. 

If I don't get to go to the bank, or I can't collect my scrip, I'll jot it down on the next dates list. It's become a reliable system, and it means I get to take care of things in order of importance. Every night I take five minutes to do this, and so far I've had much higher productivity, and I've been able to enjoy my free time guilt-free!

Take Things One Task At A Time 

This relates to the lists, but it's also a case of keeping yourself from getting overwhelmed. One thing at a time, in any ways that you prefer. For me, I like to get the big stuff out of the way, and that motivates me. For you, it may be doing the small stuff and building up to the bigger tasks. Just take it one task at a time, and tick everything as you go, it helps a lot!!

Clear Out The Clutter 

I am a huge advocate of clearing out. At this moment I have four bags of clothes and two boxes of books to donate and recycle. I honestly feel so much better when things are tidy, and by reducing clutter, you reduce the amount of stuff you have to make a mess! Plus, everyone knows how good it feels to go to the recycling bank and chuck pointless tat you've been hoarding!

Eyes Open, Feet On The Floor

I learned this one from a book about Psychiatry by Dr Jim Lucey and it's so useful, especially if you don't have a set schedule. When you wake up, just get up. You can sit at the kitchen table with a cuppa and scroll Instagram just the same, and you'll be more inclined to actually get things done, even if that thing is only to clean the top of the cooker.

So there you have it, some of my top tips for getting organised, and motivating yourself, as well as keeping on top of your shit!

Have you got any more tips? 

Leave them in the comments below!  

Amy 

xo

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