Time.  It’s our most precious commodity.  We all have the exact same hours and minutes in a week, nothing will buy us more time, not even money.  Everyone is busy, some even crazy busy.  It’s up to us to manage our time and schedules, it takes discipline.  Here are some productivity tips to help you get organized.

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As someone who loves to organize, there are times when I just can’t seem to find the time to get to one of my organizing projects.  The project is either too big or I just get distracted and lose my focus.

Accomplishing a goal or project is such an amazing feeling, it’s like winning a race.  All that hard work has paid off. Tackling a large project or goal such as a marathon doesn’t happen overnight.  You have to train yourself to get there, it takes practice.

If you have a large organizing project, break it down into small manageable goals.  Work at it every day or every other day, and before you know it, you’ll be close to finishing your project.

10 PRODUCTIVITY TIPS TO GET YOU ORGANIZED:

1. List out all of your projects

Separate them into two different categories, small and large.  Write down what you want to accomplish and when you want to accomplish it.  Having all of your projects written down in the same place clears the mental clutter.

2. Estimate the time it will take to complete it

Always give yourself more time than you think. Time management is a bit of a guessing game when you first start doing it, you’ll get better at it the more you do it.  If you are uncertain of how long it will take to complete a project, double the time.  For example, if you think it will take an hour, plan for two hours.

3. Start small

Once you have your projects listed, pick out the smallest project first to complete, the one that will take the least amount of time.  You want to get a quick win under your belt to stay motivated.  If you’ve ever done the debt snowball by Dave Ramsey, you’ll understand why a small win is important.

4. Schedule your project

Look at your calendar and see where you can fit into your project.  When it’s written out, you’ve committed yourself to getting it done.

5. Get off social media  

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. can be a huge waste of time if you’re not paying attention to them.  Turn off notifications.  The average person spends 2 hours and 22 minutes a day on social media!  Think of what you could do with that time, and easily knock out an organizing project 🙂

Set boundaries when it comes to social media.

• Make it a goal to check your accounts only once a day for a set amount of time.  Set a timer if you need to.  It sounds corny but it works.
• Give yourself an hour after waking up before checking social.  The same applies when going to bed.  Don’t let social media be the first and last thing you do.
• Unplug on the weekends.  This one can be hard to do since social media gives us that dopamine hit.  You can do it, I promise you.  We used to get by just fine without it 🙂

6. Turn off notifications on your phone

We live in an ever-distracting world and these distractions can easily take us in another direction where we lose our focus.  If you have a smartphone, there’s a good chance there’s a red little number on an app screaming at you to “check me” so it can go away.  Even the alerts on your screen, turn them off.  This way you won’t check your phone when they pop up.

Every time we check our phones, it’s an interruption and distraction.  Think of it as having a conversation with someone.  If you were talking to someone, would you constantly be checking your phone?  I hope not.  If it’s hard for you to turn them off, start small.  Only turn off notifications on a few apps and slowly build up to more.

7. Turn off the TV

There seems to be a trend here huh?!  It’s turning off the things that keep us distracted.  I love TV and will confess I’m a recovering reality addict 🙂  TV isn’t completely out of my life because I do like to unwind with it sometimes but it’s taken a back seat.  It took me a while to get there but I did it by asking myself a few questions:

“Will this show improve my life?”  and “What value is it adding?” 

Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit explains how to replace old habits with new habits.  It talks about recognizing your triggers and replacing them with new habits.  To replace this habit, I recognized the trigger of turning on the TV and replaced it with grabbing a book and reading it.

8. Turn on Music

Finally, something that can be turned on! 🙂  Put on some of your favorite music and you will instantly feel your mood improve and feel motivated to get something done.  Create a playlist of all your favorites so a song you don’t like doesn’t interfere with your progress 🙂

If you don’t want to create a playlist, you don’t have to.  There are plenty of apps out (Amazon Music, Spotify, and Pandora) there that are free and play the music that you like.  Pick out your favorite artist and go from there.

9. Set a Timer

There’s a sense of urgency when you set a timer and have it countdown.  Have you ever waited until the last second to buy something?  Many companies run sales that are for a limited time.

For example, Amazon.  In July, they have their Prime Day sale where many products are on sale for a short period.  There is a ticker that counts down until the sale ends.  If you’re like me, I will put that item in the cart and wait to see if I need it.  The decision comes right before the sale ends, I either purchase it or don’t get it at all.

A timer is like a sale, there’s an adrenaline rush to finish it before the buzzer goes off.

10. Get an Accountability Partner

Tell someone about your project and ask them to hold you accountable.  It’s easy for us to cheat ourselves but when we have someone there asking for updates, it keeps us motivated and focused so we can give a good report.  No one likes a bad report card, giving it or receiving it.

Chances are you have a best friend that you could ask to hold you accountable.  If you don’t want to ask your best friend, find a Facebook group.  There are thousands of them.  Find one that fits your needs.

FINAL THOUGHTS

These productivity tips clear the clutter in the mind and will help you get organized.  Start small when implementing any of these new productivity tips.  Pick one, master it, and then pick another one, and so on.

We all have the same 24 hours, using these productivity tips will save you time and get you organized.