David Given Schwarm

1. Write things down
If you ask an organized person to do something for you, chances are they’ll write it down immediately. Put everything you need to do into Actions. Everything – shopping lists, reading lists, your list of Famous Actors Called Chris (Hemsworth, Pine, Pratt). All your lists will be available at your fingertips. 

2. Believe in the power of now
Organized people rarely put things off. If there’s washing to be done, they’ll jump up and get it done. Organized people do things quickly and they do them now. Tick your to-dos off in Actions and feel the satisfaction.

3. Empty your inbox every day/night/afternoon
An inbox full of unanswered emails is the Achilles heel of the organized. Reply immediately to what you can, file away any emails that require a more intense response and only check your emails twice a day. Never go to bed with a pile of un-dealt with emails. It will give you nightmares.

4. Know when you’re at your sharpest
An organized person won’t waste an afternoon working on a difficult mathematical task when they know they’re better at things like physical labor in the afternoons. Organized people understand their work patterns and use it to their advantage. If you know your brain is a little cloudy in the afternoon, don’t leave your complicated task until then. Do them first thing in the morning and perhaps run errands or have meetings in the afternoons. On that note, know yourself. If a structured to-do list isn’t your cup of tea, pop your thoughts down in Flow. It’s basically a digital version of a blank notebook. Go bananas. 

5. Clear your workspace
Organized people have enough room on their desk to get their work done in a timely manner. Clear your desk of anything unnecessary and keep it that way. It can be tempting to have your desk decorated with clusters of knick knacks but a clear workspace is much more conducive to productive work. Why not set a recurring event in Timepage on Friday afternoons to give your desk a quick going-over? You’ll get a little reminder on your phone and then you can start every Monday with a clean slate. Delicious. 

6. Plan
An organized person starts thinking about their next activity well before the appointed time for that activity. If you have to go straight to a dentist appointment after work, have a think ahead about how to make that run smoothly. You might like to pack your travel toothbrush to give your teeth a quick brush before you go. What time do you have to leave to get there in time? Where will you park? Do you need coins to pay for the parking meter? Just thinking about the tasks you need to complete before you start rushing off to complete them will make an enormous difference to your day. Hot tip – put all calendar events in Timepage and it will automatically tell you when you need to leave, what the weather is like and the best way to get there. Massive time saver. 

7. Make decisions quickly
Organized people don’t labor on decisions. They know that the lunch they eat today is unlikely to be their last meal ever so they just pick something and get on with it. Don’t waste time trying to decide between the dark blue t-shirt and the light blue t-shirt because it actually doesn’t matter.

8. Embrace imperfection
Being organized doesn’t mean being a perfectionist. It means doing the best you can, with what you have. Don’t get bogged down in making sure everything is 100% the way it should be. Organized people know that done is better than perfect. Your underwear doesn’t need to be in perfectly folded squares and stored according to color. Just get it clean, and put it away where it belongs. That’s all you need to do.

9. Have a positive attitude
Organized people don’t see roadblocks. They won’t drop their bundle the second something doesn’t go their way. Organized people use systems and tools like Actions and Timepage to help anchor them when things get a little bit out of control.