27 Great Tips to Keep Your Life

Organized
BY LEO BABAUTA

It’s a rare person among us who doesn’t feel the need to get more organized. I
consider myself fairly organized, for example, but there are times when I get a little
lax about my organizational rules, and there’s always room for improvement.

And if you’re already organized (read: you’re an organizational freak), chances are,
you like to read about others’ organizational systems.

As such, there should be something for everyone on this list.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked all of you for your best organizational tips and tools.
And you responded in force, with some great stuff. What follows are some of the best
of the tips (tools will be in another post), edited for brevity and consistency.
I must emphasize: these are not my tips, but yours, and when you see the word “I” it
refers to the reader writing the tip, not me. Names have been removed to protect the
innocent.
1. 3 Most Important Tasks. Writing down and making mental note of my top 3 tasks to get
done for the day. Everything else seems to fall into place if I do that.
2. An easy and workable task list, or to do list. While I love all of these handy web 2.0 apps,
computer software, very neat gadgets like palms and really cool cell phones, they just don’t
work for me. I’m a lazy woman, with an even lazier attitude. I might put a task in Remember
the Milk, another task in my palm, one in my Gcal and send another text to my phone. With
all of these different ways of doing things, I end up spending much more time trying to
organize my to do list, or consolidate it, that I don’t get much actually done.
3. Keep ubiquitous capture device. It might not be the same device for every location (I have
a moleskine for work, but use my mobile for inspiration on the fly) but just being able to
write stuff down when you think about it is key for me.
4. Choose one tool and stick with it.
5. Do one thing at a time.
6. Do it now.
7. Make use of the word no.
8. Use the recycling bin/trash basket. Organizing unnecessary items is wasted energy. It is
amazing how much more in control I feel just by ridding myself of now outdated articles I’d
like to read “someday,” or countless meeting notes from which relevant action items have
already been extracted.
9. A (good) place for everything, and everything in its place. By finding places that are easy
to get to for all the things I use most often, and places that are pretty easy to get to for the
things I use less often, I spend less time dreading doing things and more time actually doing
things. And the place for things you never use is elsewhere (trash can, place that accepts
donations, etc.).
10. Simplify, simplify, simplify!
11. Put it away now. The single, simplest thing I do to stay personally organized is to put
whatever tool, item, clothing, bag, hairbrush etc., away immediately after using it. I always
know where everything and anything is so I never waste time looking for something. Very
efficient. I could tell a stranger where to find anything in my home.
12. Keep a to-do list that syncs with your mobile phone (so you can add stuff as and when you
remember it). And make sure every item has a due date.
13. Change. It obsoletes unimportant things. It brings down any method or idea that isn’t
timeless. It brings up newer and more important things that you and others can’t resist
anymore. Best of all: it’s an organizing tool that operates itself. You simply have to embrace
it.
14. Divide material into red, yellow, blue and green plastic file folders. For example,
anything that has to be done today (paperwork to be given to a client, bills to be mailed) go in
the red folder. Contact material or anything related to customer field support goes in the
yellow folder. Your mileage may vary as to how you organize your briefcase, and like me
you may also have project-specific manilla file folders as well, but dividing stuff up into just
four color coded folders is a huge help.
15. Flylady.net. She helped me realize that I needed to apply GTD principles to my home life
and not just work. I had work under control using checklists, projects and next actions. I tried
the same system at home and failed. Then about a month ago I discovered flylady.net
courtesy I believe one of your blog posts. Wow, what a difference. My house is clean and so
is my desk at work. Many if not most of her basic ideas are just like GTD in a slightly
different perspective (control journal, baby steps) and also concrete methods for
accomplishing next actions (2 minute hot spots, 15 minute timers). Her most useful tip was to
put my daily/weekly lists into shiny page protectors in my control journal. I use a dry erase
marker and voila no more killing trees or not doing my list because I can’t print it (or want to
avoid the hassle). The best thing about this, I am more relaxed, my blood pressure is finally
dropping and I feel less stressed.
16. Unapologetically take control of your time and priorities.
17. Sort at the source. My favorite organizational tool is my post office box. I visit it once a
week (usually Saturday), stand at the counter in the lobby and sort my mail. I use the P.O.’s
trash bin. What comes into my house is only what I need to have. Bills and letters and checks
go into my inbox (which by the way is a box with a lid that is wrapped in lovely fabric and
 has a yellow bow on it so it looks like a present sitting on my desk). Reading material goes on
the table by my chaise lounge which is where I do all my reading.
18. A sheet of paper, a calendar and a white board. I’ve found that the easiest way to organize
myself, my days and so forth is a good paper calendar, a sheet of paper that I divide into four
sections and a medium sized white board. For my paper the top left section is my actual
running to do list for today. The top right section is my running grocery list, or list of things I
must purchase. The bottom left is for notes such as calls I made, who I spoke to, appointment
dates. The bottom right is whatever I need to move to another day. If I’m told to call back on
Monday, then I note that on the calendar. As for the white board, the kids can make notes
(Can I spend the night at Brian’s on Friday? Grandma called), and I can jot down things as I
think of them to be added to tomorrow’s to do list. My calendar, and the white board are in
the same location, so I can transfer short notes if need be. I carry my paper task list with me
everywhere, so I can make notes at any given moment.
19. Color coding. I’m a visual person, and I find that color-coding my various lists and calendars
minimizes the time I have to spend looking at them. This worked especially well when I was
in school: I dumped every class syllabus into Outlook, and then color-coded every class
period (blue for paper due, yellow for quiz, red for test, etc). It took awhile to set up, sure, but
then for the rest of the semester I only had to glance at Outlook to get a very clear idea of
what kind of week I was going to have.
20. One binder. I use a binder cleverly labeled “@ 2007″ with the following divisions:
 @ Today – With my Emergent Task Planner from davidseah.com;
 @ Week – The remaining days of the week ETP’s as a skeleton;
 @ Year – All my historical sheets;
 @ Diet – Which tracks what I have eaten for the day;
 @ Fitness – Which tracks my workout routine for the day. My binder is with me all the time
and it has helped me become a better employee, family member and relationship guy.
21. Write down, execute and tidy up on the way. These are is my organization bible. I’ve been
living that way since more than two years and I can say that I’m an organized person.
22. A little whiteboard on my bedroom wall. I have it separated into two sections, a “todo” and
a “today”. “Todo” is a list of general things I have to do, like get my car inspected, buy
someone a present, etc. Then “today” is what I need to do, obviously, today! Things can be
moved back and forth as appropriate. I find having a specific list for today helps push me to
get the important things done in a timely manner. I also keep two things permanently on the
“today” part, which are meditation and exercise. This seems to help.
23. Note cards. One can write tasks on them — one per card, or in a list (depending on the type
of task in question; I do both). When doing one per card, the stack serves as an easy
prioritization scheme. But wait, there’s more: They can be arranged on cork boards, shared,
annotated, torn up and rearranged. They can be used as placeholders, as mini-white boards
 and as tokens to model ideas. They are easy to carry around, and to attach to other
documents. Further, different colors allow for a visual representation of different kinds of
todo’s (as can different annotations). Finally, they are cheap and most importantly of all: easy
(much easier than software) to reconfigure as needs and projects change.
24. Never rely on a single point of failure. I’ve seen people pay $1,000 to hear speakers at a
conference and only have one pen to take notes. It’s a great feeling when one thing breaks,
gets lost, or runs out of power, and you have another one in reserve!
25. Have.. less.. stuff.
26. Delegate. Learn to trust people with critical tasks in all areas of your life. When you learn to
effectively delegate tasks you actually find that it is easier to keep the stuff you cannot
delegate better organized.
27. You control your life. Whatever electronics or paper you use, make them work for YOU not
the other way around. Does Outlook really have to stay checking your email every 5 minutes?
Maybe, but I bet you’ll get a whole lot more done if you check it a few times per day. That
goes for the Blackberry too! After all, there are so many tools, and one to fit everyone – so
use what works, but make it work for you!

How to Be Organized
Five Parts:Keeping Everything in Its PlaceUsing a Calendar, Planner & SmartphoneMaking ListsKeeping to the

ScheduleWorking EfficientlyCommunity Q&A

If disorganization is congesting your life and as a result you're feeling scattered and
frustrated, then it's time to get organized. To achieve organization outside, you have
to do something on the inside, like clarifying your priorities, and deciding how you
want your belongings to be arranged. Try to keep stuff where it belongs. Know what
you need/want to do, when you are going to do it, and avoid the stressful situation of
not knowing what needs to be done. Organization takes time, but when you get into
the habit of it, life becomes so much easier! It only takes a week to start a habit.
Ad
 Part 1
Keeping Everything in Its Place

1.

1
Organize your space. Whether it's your home, bedroom, kitchen, home office, closet,
or desk, you need to see what's in there, throw/give away anything you don't often use, and
give everything else a convenient and clearly designated space.

 Organized doesn't just mean tidy. The purpose of organization is to be able to find,
exchange, and evaluate items quickly. However, organization can also help keep them tidy
by providing a quick, logical space for adding and removing things.
 Example: If you have a lot of books and fill a bookshelf with them in order of size, they'll look
neat, but you'll have to skim over them one at a time whenever you don't remember where
one is - maybe even move some if you've put one row of small paperbacks in front of
another - and rearrange many whenever you need to add a few more. If you give each
 category its own shelf area, and leave some extra space at the end or between book ended
groups, you can find a book quickly by glancing at the category layout and skimming just the
few books in the right category, and add or remove books here and there without disrupting
the overall layout.
 By organizing your items hierarchically, you'll just have to make a few decisions as you work
your way down the hierarchy into increasingly narrower categories (e.g. rack, shelf, crate,
bag), rather than browsing. For instance, you could put all your sports equipment in a crate
for each sport and small items like golf tees in a baggie. A few big odd things like skis would
go elsewhere. You could put cleaning supplies on another, sorted by the kind of area they
clean.
 Don't overdo it, because it's much faster to look at several items than to open and close or
remove and replace a container. Two or three levels is plenty. Organize electrical, electronic,
computer parts, cords, and other very small or awkwardly-shaped items that tend to sink to
the bottom of piles or tangle by putting them in more accessible, jam-free containers like
slippery plastic zipper bags.
 Leave some empty space in each of your storage areas to add things without disrupting the
scheme. Set aside a "buffer" space[1], such as a small table or shelf, for items that need to
be put away in order to avoid misplacing things or too-frequently being distracted from other
activities to deal with sorting, and save time by putting things into a given storage space a
few at once rather than individually.
 Some items need layout or ordering rather than just grouping. Frequently used unique items,
like spices, should be kept handy and each viewable and accessible, not tucked away with
something they're somehow related to. Perishable items, like food, should be consumed on
a first-in, first-out basis: you could load stacks from underneath, or rows from the back.
Interchangeable but not identical items in which one enjoys variety, likeclothes, should also
be queued or periodically churned so nothing lingers at the bottom of a pile. Very large,
messy or dangerous items may need special places.
 Clean out your belongings before you think about organizing (organizational tools, furniture,
etc.). Don't do it the other way around. You can only really accurately know what space you
have when you've cleaned up. If you don't really take a hard look at what you're stuffing in
your spaces, you'll waste time and money organizing stuff you don't need anyway.
 Observe how you use your things and work out how to use your space efficiently. If it's
inconvenient to get to things (or to put them away), your organization system is more likely to
fail. Make it easy to get to and put away the things you need most often. In that vein, put
things where you use them most. Pots get stored near the stove, envelopes and stamps are
stored in the desk, stain remover and bleachgoes in the laundry room or linen closet. (It
 sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people just put things "wherever" and
then are surprised when doinganything is tremendously inconvenient.)
 Do you have items in your house that just take up space? Be sure to de-clutter regularly.
Good questions to ask yourself in deciding: Do I need this? Will I need this in a year? Have I
used this in the last year? Do I really love it? Is there someone else who could use this
more? Do I have more than I could reasonably use in foreseeable future? Will I miss this if I
don't have it? If I do happen to need it, can I replace it with an equivalent easily?
 Know what "organized" looks and feels like. Organized spaces are simple to use. They have
enough room for the items there. It makes sense. Every item in your home has a location.
Organized spaces also feel calm, open, and welcoming.
 Use timers. Set a timer for how long you think a cleaning organizing task should take then
work like crazy to get it done in the allotted time.
 Have a spot for all bills. Open all mail immediately and dispose of the outer envelope with
the junk mail. Keep only the bill in a prominent location.

2.
 2
Put it back. Right now. Once you establish where everything belongs, you need to get in the
habit of putting it back there as soon as you're finished using it. Don't put it on the kitchen
table or on the couch and move onto something else, thinking to yourself that you'll put it
away later. That's a big no-no.

 Always put your keys things in the correct place. (or else you will lose them)
 Always put your cell phone in the same place. Have a cell phone charging station set up.

3.

3
Reusable plastic baggies (like Ziploc bags) are your friends. Store away items in plastic
bags. This way, the items will be compact, clean, and dust-free. But they will also be all over
the place if you don’t have a storage system! Place the bags in closets, desk drawers,
cabinets, and other places. Ziploc bags are convenient, useful, and cheap, so use them!
 Try drawer organizers for drawers that are enclosed. You can purchase a wide selection or
make your own by slicing off the tops of empty plastic bottles of various sizes. Milk jugs are
handy because they are fairly square, but any bottle or jar will do if you can trim it so it fits in
the drawer.
Part 2
Using a Calendar, Planner & Smartphone

1.

1
Use a calendar. Get a calendar and put it in a place where you see it every day, preferably
in the morning. For most people, that's on the refrigerator, on their desk, oron their computer
desktop. Wherever you put it, make it part of your routine to refer to it every day. For
example, you can put it on the inside of the bathroom cabinet where you get your toothpaste.
Every morning, while you're brushing your teeth with one hand, touch today's date on the
calendar with the other, and look to see what's marked for today and for the upcoming week.
 Keep your calendar close at hand when sorting papers. Often, you can file or even toss the
announcement for an event if it is recorded in your calendar. Your calendar can remind you
to do things on time. There's no need to rely on that stack of paper.

2.

2
Use a planner. A planner is especially useful if you have a lot of appointments and your
days are so varied that you have trouble keeping track of your schedule. For example, if you
travel a lot or attend classes at various times of day, it's much easier to carry a planner with
you to consult frequently--you can't do that with a calendar. You can also usually fit more
information in a planner.
3.

3
Try a smartphone. A smartphone, particularly synchronized with network-based personal
information manager[2] software running on other computers, is even better than paper
calendars and notes because the data is searchable, it can easily be entered into phone or
Web-based tasks that need to be done, and reminders of urgent information and purges of
unneeded information are automatic.
 Part 3
Making Lists

1.

1
Write it down! A short pencil is better than a long memory. Anything and everything you
need to remember should be written down. Even if your memory is great, nobody is perfect
and it doesn't hurt to put it on paper, just in case. Record phone numbers, appointments,
birthdays, shopping lists, and things to do, and record them where you can easily find and
refer to them when you need them.
2.

2
Make to do lists.

 Make a to do list for your day. Your daily or immediate list should never be more than 5
items long, or else you're taking on too much and setting yourself up for failure. Mark one or
two of those items as things you absolutely must get done that day, and pursue those tasks
relentlessly until you get them done.
 Make a to do list for the week. Appropriate items here would be: Grocery shopping, fix air
conditioner, etc. Draw from this list to make your daily to-do list. A white board or board with
erasable markers can help to remember all one has to do every day, or long term goals.
 Make a to do list for the month. This list would have more general tasks like: Birthday gift to
Jill, get car serviced, dentist appointment. Draw from this list to make your daily and weekly
to-do list.
 Make a to do list for your life. Drastic, yes, but why not use this time to rethink your life and
where it's going? Getting organized is all about priorities, and it never hurts.

3.

3
Taking the time to organize receipts for things going back, whether to the store or to
the library, can really help. It creates order and structure, and will also help avoid not being
able to return things to stores and fines.
 Part 4
Keeping to the Schedule

1.

1
Follow through. There's no point in making a to-do list if you don't discipline yourself to
complete the tasks you've assigned yourself. There are many ways to stick to your to-do
list. Stop procrastinating, remove or ignore distractions, and hop to it.

 If something keeps slipping to the bottom of your to-do list, take a good look at it. Is it really
important? If so, get it over with, or at least get it started. If not, put it back in the long-term
list for "someday" or get it off the list altogether. Don't let yourself get hung up on something
for too long.
 If you find yourself bored, or your normal routine interrupted, you might distract and satisfy
yourself by attacking the to-do backlog.
2.

2
Setting a time frame in which each task has to be done throughout the day is another
good way to keep one from procrastination, and keeping to their agenda. Having a time
frame is a very effective way to organize one's day. Knowing that one has designated a time
slot for each item on the list lets one know that there is no need to rush to finish things. Just
take the time that you have granted yourself and do the job well. Don’t rush to finish it. If one
were to rush to finish a task, it might not have been done as accurately as if one had taken
the time and done it gradually and more effectively.
3.

3
Combine similar activities. Make all your phone calls at one time. Do all your errands at
the same time. Pay all your bills at the same time. Do all shopping in one trip.
 Part 5
Working Efficiently

1.

1
Multitask. Task-switching[3] takes time, so don't try to think about one thing, like a TV show,
while thinking about another, like studying. It's most effective to multitask when one task is
mindless, like folding towels, or can be set aside for automatic processing for a length of
time. You could load the washing machine, send some emails or load a stew pot while it
churns away, load the dryer, arrange your travel supplies, then hang the clothes as soon as
they're done so they don't stay wrinkled.

 Just keep in mind that some studies have shown that multitasking may diminish one's ability
to focus on one thing at a time.
2.

2
Delegate responsibilities. Make sure the person you appoint to do the task has all the tools
necessary to do the task. Remember that most things are much better done than set aside
for doing perfectly, and that doing them can teach the person (maybe a child) not only how
to do them but how to address related problems. It's hard to be organized if you insist on
doing everything yourself.
3.

3
Make more decisions. Clutter and disorganization is often the result of failing to decide
what to do about, or with, something. Start flexing your decision muscles with little things,
and you'll soon find yourself more confident about taking action on the stuff around your
home, on your desk and in your office. Try it today!