How to get and stay organised

Despite being dubbed the 'Monica' of my friendship group, I actually have to work at staying organised. I have a rough routine that helps me to stay on top of things and makes organising and getting things done much more fun for me. As I have said before, not everyone will be as enthused as me about organising but hopefully these tips will make getting organised just that little bit easier for you.

There are a few very simple things that help me to stay organised that don't require much effort and really motivate me to stay on track to achieve any goal I set. 

1) Keep an up to date diary or calendar 

I have two diaries - one on my phone that I fill in on the go when plans and deadlines come up, and then one paper copy that I update when I am at home. Ideally one diary would be perfect, but for me, having a digital and paper copy works really well and means I can keep up to date when I am on the go etc etc. 

By keeping an up to date diary I can make sure that I don't plan too many things into one week and also helps me keep track of any deadlines and tasks that I need to complete by a certain date. It's really simple but really effective. Before I started to consciously update a diary, I would often forget deadlines or plans I had made and it made me feel really dishevelled. 

2) Set monthly, weekly and daily goals 

As well as my overall monthly goals, at the start of the week (usually on a Sunday night) I sit down and have some time to myself and think about what I want to achieve in the next week and when I am going to find the time to do it. I recently bought a daily planner which really helps me visualise when I am doing what and whether I am giving myself too much to do. 

My daily planner has a 'to do' section where I write out everything I want to achieve for that week and then it has a section for each day (Monday-Friday) where I divvy up all of the tasks to spread the work throughout the week. 

When I wake up in the morning I have a quick look at what I have planned for each day to remind myself and then once I have done a task I tick it off which again motivates me to see that I am actually achieving something. 

3) Meal Planning 

Cooking and deciding what to make for dinner used to be such a daunting task for me before I started meal planning at the start of the week. I used to go to the shops every day after work to pick out stuff for dinner and it was just so time consuming! Now, I sit down at the start of the week and think about what ingredients we already have, what meals we want to make and what we need to buy. It means one less thing to worry about on a weekday evening after work and also saves time and money. A win win if you ask me. 

4) Setting realistic goals and don't be too hard on yourself

Let's be real, as much as I can dream, I am not wonder woman! One of the key tips I have for staying organised is to be honest with yourself and set realistic goals. Yes, those fantastic women you see on Instagram will show their perfectly clean houses and the beautiful organic and tasty meals they make but they probably won't Instagram the KFC wrappers from a rushed Thursday night. I try and be realistic when getting organised and admit that I have to let somethings go. Deep cleaning the oven might have to wait until next week and maybe I won't write four blog posts as well baking, cleaning and relaxing on a Monday night. It's all about balance.

What are you tips to staying organised? 

Xx A xX