How to Get Organized

 

7 Simple Tips that Work

Everybody can benefit by learning how to get organized. You know how it feels; the sense of satisfaction, even smugness that comes from knowing you’re on top of things.

The benefits affect every area of your life; even if you improve your organization skills a little, the ripple effect will have a positive impact throughout your day.

Organized living is all about habits. Getting and staying organized (easier said than done), makes life so much simpler.

Whether you want to learn how to get organized at work, home or both, try out the following 7 organizing tips for wherever you are and whatever you’re doing.

1. Designate places

If you want to know how to get organized, doing this is crucial. For everything that you own, designate a place for it.

Something doesn’t have a place? Make one. Then simply put things back where they belong when you’ve finished using them.

It's simple and effective, but hard to do at first until you consistently form the habit.

2. Designate times

One of the best ways to keep your life organized is to create routines.

You probably have a morning routine on working days. What about lunchtimes, evenings and weekends?

Routines mean you don’t have to constantly make decisions about what to do and when to do it. For example, you could routinely check your personal emails at lunchtime.

You can have too much of a good thing though; use enough routine to make a difference, but not so much that you get bored.

3. Start small

If you want to know how to organize your desk, home or office, you don’t have to conquer everything at once. Choose a small chunk (maybe the top of your desk, or a drawer?) and organize that.

Use the tip after this one to keep it organized, and practice that system until it becomes habit.

Once you’ve got on top of that you can expand your 'empire'.

4. Put it away promptly and properly

Done using something? Most people will put it down somewhere nearby, with the intention of putting it away later. But disorganized places are full of these intentions.

Instead of letting things pile up, put them away immediately.

This principle applies for pretty much anything, from phones to food.

5. Capture it

Information and requests come at you verbally, digitally or on paper.

Use the simplest, fewest and most accessible capture tools you can to act as your inboxes.

Have an in tray and dump everything on that, then choose a regular time to go through it. This works particularly well if you really want to organize paperwork. 

6. Keep filing simple

If your filing system is too complicated or inaccessible, chances are you won’t use it.

Try using a tickler file - create a filing system of 31 sections, one for each day of the month - then file the paperwork in the appropriate section for the day you want to deal with it. See this quick tickler explanation for more.

A quick and easy guide to this brilliant system

A tickler file is a filing system that makes it easy for you to get hold of whatever you need, whenever you need it.

Typically it is organized into 43 sections:

• 12 for each month of the year.

• 31 for each day of any given month.

This system allows you to organize, access and act on time sensitive documents at the time that you decide is most appropriate.

Of course, when I say time sensitive, I'm referring to anything you decide to do on a particular day, regardless of whether it needs to be done that day or not.

Examples

Use it at home and at work to store and retrieve…

• concert tickets
• hotel reservations
• meeting minutes
• birthday cards
• reminders
• unpaid invoices

… and so on, as and when you want to.

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How to Use It

Each day - ideally at the same time so that you make it a habit - check the contents of the folder for that day and act on each one as required.

It works particularly well if you do all your tasks in one burst, but you certainly don't have to do it that way.

During the day collect anything that you decide to put your system and either do so then or, if you have several things to add, batch them together in a daily folder (call it ‘Today’s Ticklers’?!) and file them all in one go at the end of the day.

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Types

• Paper based. This can be created to suit however you process your tasks best. Filing cabinets, index cards or ring binder folders can be used.

• Computer based. Particularly useful for organizing emails. Create folders for days and months, then put time sensitive information in the appropriate folder. I do this myself and it works really well.

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Variations

Adapt your filing system to suit your circumstances.

For example you could have something simple such as daily folders for each working day of the week and a ‘future’ folder that you check on Friday:

(I use this one myself, both for physical files and for all incoming emails.)

Alternatively, create folders for each working day of the month plus the 12 monthly folders.

The tickler system only works if you use it daily, so make it as easy to get to and to use as possible.

7. Make sure it's usable

If you’re still not sure how to get organized, ask yourself two questions:

Have I formed the habits I need to get and stay organized, and are my systems simple and accessible enough?

Improving both or either is probably all you need to do.

How to Stay Organized

Once you feel you are relatively organized you probably want to know how to stay that way.

Knowing how to get organized is a change process.

You set up systems that take you from one state – ‘disorganized’, to another – ‘organized’.

Staying organized is all about maintaining easy-to-do habits.

If you habitually put your keys in the same place every time you come home, you’ll know where they are. Next time you need them, you can locate them

Learning how to stay organized means you can have, be or do things easily. You apply minimum thought and time to achieve the results you want.

Sure, it takes some setting up if you haven't got a place for something - and that's a crucial part of the process - but it's equally important to make it easy enough to do.

3 tips on how to stay organized

Use your systems. 

Got a good thing going with your current paperwork filing? Do you always know where your phone is?

Whatever system or habit you built, use it. Stick to it, tweak it if you want, and return to it when you slip up.

Trust your systems - they'll save you huge amounts of time.

Stay balanced. 

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the late, great Stephen Covey proposed the ‘P/PC’ balance. It refers to Production and Production Capability.

Take care of your production capability (your systems and habits), and you’ll produce consistently good results.

Stay aware. 

Habits slip unless they're maintained. Once you’re organized, support your awareness of them to ensure you keep up the good work.

Visual reminders are effective. Sharing your success with others is even better.

An example...

At the time of writing I play in a band. We have a system – meet and practice every Monday evening.

We do this to ensure a good balance between our 'production capability' (practices), and our 'production' (gigs).

We support our awareness by writing it in our diaries. We tell others via our website and marketing.

Some weeks, our system goes down and we don’t meet up.   But, sooner or later, we always return to our Monday night ‘production meetings'.

If Mondays ultimately proved to be too inconvenient for everyone we could always 'tweak' it and meet on another day.

Think about the systems you're currently using to help you stay organized. What works, what could be better, and what could you start?

7 Simple Organizing Techniques for Your Time, Space and Well-being

Are you organized?

It doesn’t have to be rocket science to become so.

Learning a few organizing techniques is really all it takes for you start to feel more on top of things.

Try these ideas out today and notice the difference in your life...

1. Tidy as you go

One of simplest techniques is to put things back after using them. On the surface this seems obvious (it is). But many people just don’t do it.

Why?

Because tidying as you go depends on your willingness to form the habit to do so, and, as you’ll know, changing bad habits takes time and effort.

Living and working with other people’s mess makes it even more challenging.

Solution?

Start small. Get better by degrees. If you have a messy desk, home or office, start by tackling it with a timed tidy.

2. Do a 'Daily Timed Tidy'

This is a great way to keep things organized (i.e. more stuff stays where it should so you can find it faster).

Every day, set a timer for whatever length of time you like, then put things back where they belong. It doesn’t matter what you do or how long it’s for -- anything is better than doing nothing at all.

Using visual timers can be useful if you want to see how long you have left as you’re clearing up.

3. Out with the old, in with the new

Living with clutter? It’s probably because old things aren’t completely eliminated when you replace them with something newer.

Whether it’s a new commitment, a new computer, or a new coffee cup, fully removing the old is one of the most important organizing techniques to effectively manage your time and space.

You’ve only got so much of both, so don’t try to cram too much in.

4. Plan a time to organize

There are two ways to organize anything:

The first is to react.

This usually happens when things become so disorganized that you feel you have to do something about it immediately.

This is fine if you’ve got nothing else to do, but the fact is, reacting makes it crisis management, which we could all do with less of.

The second technique is to schedule it.

Planning to get on with organizing computer files, for example, may open a can of worms if your desktop is a disaster zone, but if it’s on your to-do list, you can tackle it in chunks (the same principle applies as for the ‘Daily Timed Tidy’) and with a sense of control.

5. Pick up and drop off

When you leave the house, what do you usually take with you? This is one of the most effective organizing techniques for making sure you always have what you need when you go out.

Create a pick up/drop off point somewhere near your front door. When you come in, put your phone, wallet, keys or whatever else you rely on, in a container of your choice. Next time you go out, you’ll know where everything is.

Make sure it’s easy enough for you to use, but not so easy for others.

6. Schedule your planning

Organizing your space takes time, but organizing your time takes planning.

The best way to do this?

Schedule time each day, week, month and year for planning.

Create a simple routine (some point in the evening is best) to briefly go through the following day.

Make your planning time pleasant -- sit down with a drink and work out what you want to do. If you’re planning the following week, month or year, you’ll probably need more time, but the principle is the same: keep it short and sweet.

7. Limit Your List

Have you got a to-do list that keeps on growing?

When that happens, things first put on the list often get forgotten. I

f you want to do everything on your list, try this system, based on the ideas developed by Mark Forster:

• Draw a line after, say, 10 items (it doesn’t have to be 10 -- you choose the number).

• Add more items to your list as and when they crop up -- put them under the line.

• Don’t do anything below the line until you done, or worked on each of the items above the line.

• Anything above the line that is not completed can be recycled to your next list of 10.

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Life is rarely straightforward, but gradually putting these organizing techniques into practice each day will allow you to reclaim a bit more time and space to use as you choose.

Each one is really a habit. You don't need to become an expert overnight.

All you need to do? Start small and see what happens...

https://tinyurl.com/mrx56j2x

To get organized, start by decluttering excess items, capture every task in a single trusted system, and time-block your daily priorities.

1. Declutter and Reset Your Space

• Purge first: You cannot organize excess stuff. Go through one small drawer or surface at a time and toss, recycle, or donate items you no longer use.
• Assign a home: Every physical item—from keys to paperwork—must have a designated, permanent spot.
• Use open bins: Store items in labeled, open baskets or bins so putting things away takes less than 30 seconds.

2. Capture and Centralize Your Tasks

• Brain dump: Get every single to-do, deadline, and random thought out of your head and onto paper or a digital app.
• Use one core tool: Avoid scattering notes across five different apps or notebooks. Centralize your tasks using reliable task managers like Todoist or Asana.
• Rule of 3: Limit your daily focus to your top 3 must-do tasks to prevent overwhelm.

3. Master Your Time

• Time blocking: Assign specific blocks of time on your calendar for deep work, emails, and errands rather than working off an endless to-do list.
• Eat the frog: Tackle your most difficult or important task first thing in the morning when your energy is highest.
• Habit stacking: Attach a new organizing habit (like clearing your desk at night) to an existing autopilot routine (like brushing your teeth).

 

In management work, standard time-blocking often fails because your day is inherently reactive—filled with unexpected crises, team questions, and shifting priorities. To succeed, you must block categories of work (themes) rather than hyper-specific tasks, and leave up to 30–40% of your day completely unblocked as a buffer.

Here is a highly effective, manager-tested daily time-blocking schedule template built to withstand workplace chaos:

🕒 The Strategic Manager’s Daily Template

Time Slot	Block Type	Focus & Purpose
08:00 - 09:00	Morning Admin & Comm Run	Process overnight emails/Slack. Check team metrics. Align your daily execution plan. Do not start deep work yet.
09:00 - 10:30	Manager's Deep Work	High-leverage strategic work. Writing project proposals, budgets, performance reviews, or quarterly planning. Close Slack/Email entirely.
10:30 - 11:00	Reactive Buffer Zone	Put out fires, answer urgent team questions, or handle spillover from your deep work block.
11:00 - 12:00	Team Touchpoints & Standups	Sync with your direct reports, unblock dependencies, or run collaborative team meetings.
12:00 - 13:00	Lunch & Mindful Recovery	Completely disconnect. Step away from your computer to avoid midday burnout.
13:00 - 15:00	Meeting & Collaboration Batch	Cluster all cross-department meetings, 1:1s, and client calls into this single afternoon block to minimize context-switching.
15:00 - 16:00	Afternoon Admin & Review	Inbox Zero check. Sign off on approvals, review documents sent by your team, and log project updates in Asana or Todoist.
16:00 - 16:30	Open-Door / Buffer Zone	Leftover unblocked time for ad-hoc conversations, final daily sign-offs, or unexpected manager escalation issues.
16:30 - 17:00	Daily Shutdown Routine	Tie up loose ends. Draft tomorrow's schedule blocks. Log off clean.

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🛠️ 3 Rules for Making This Work in Management

1. Schedule Your "Appointments with Yourself" First: Managers often treat calendar blocks for others as sacred, but discard their own work blocks. Treat your 09:00 AM Strategic Deep Work block exactly like an important meeting with your CEO—do not reschedule it unless absolutely required.
2. Aggressively Use "Task Batching": Answering emails every 10 minutes ruins executive focus. Force communication into the morning, midday, and late afternoon slots. Let your team know you check Slack at designated intervals so they learn self-reliance.
3. Expect Your Schedule to Break (And Move Blocks): If an emergency meeting drops into your afternoon, don't abandon the schedule. Simply drag and drop your remaining blocks. "Moving a block" instead of "canceling it" preserves your weekly goals.