5 Tips to Increase Organization
by Morgan Breitling
I’m naturally a relatively organized person. I even call myself the Morganizer. "Morganization" is my superpower. I’ve taken some time to write out why I do things the way that I do!
So you’re feeling unorganized…
Figure out what got you there.
Bad habits? Disrupting big life event?
You can’t heal what you don’t expose. Find the issue so you know how to help it.
Now that you know the problem… what next? Here are some tips to consider!
1. The root of organization for me is found in always thinking about the effect my decision has on something or someone else.
Anything you do is ultimately going to impact something else. Your decision to do things promptly, early, or late will impact outcomes. Your choice to make a note of something so you don’t forget is going to affect the other people involved. This isn’t just planning ahead, though! This is more like the butterfly effect. My decision affects someone else, and that affects someone else, and that affects how an event turns out, which affects the people who attend, and the chain continues. Ask yourself in any decision, "What are the effects that my choice to do this could cause?"
2. Your surroundings will affect and reflect your mental state.
I know I’m not doing well when my bedroom, office, or other personal space is MESSY. Usually, if I can muster up some strength to pick up a few things, it makes resting easier, makes focusing easier, and makes the environment feel lighter.
Keep an eye on your personal spaces. Notice how your health is causing the cleanliness or the mess, and choose to do something to change even a small part of it. See how that affects your health. This isn’t just for cleaning your room! This is for organization overall - making lists, using a calendar, showing up on time, etc. It’s SO easy to get stuck in these messy cycles. You have to make the choice again and again to break the patterns and choose something healthier.
3. Don’t put off until later what you can do now.
Your future self will thank you. If you put that event in your calendar NOW, then that’s one less thing you have to remember to do later. If you send that message NOW, that’s one less message to send later … when you’re at home relaxing … or in the middle of a task and can’t do anything about it, so you forget… again. If you absolutely cannot do it in the moment, WRITE IT DOWN if at all possible. Don’t put off writing down important dates. If you wait too long, you will forget!
4. What is important to you is what you will make time for. Find what that is, and let it drive you.
Being organized for the sake of being organized likely won’t fuel you to become more organized. You’ll likely need another reason to help you want to make choices that have good outcomes. For example, having a home that is ready to host people is very important to me. Because of that, I help keep it clean. I take care of my plants. I like to think my home feels welcoming because of this.
On that same note, one of my biggest passions is caring for people. It’s hard to do that when I have too many things on my plate, if I don’t know when I’m available, or if I overcommit/double-book.
5. Ask for help. Know your limits, and set boundaries around them.
Think of Jesus in the garden in Luke 22 before his crucifixion, literally begging his Father for help for the situation he was about to face. How much more permission do you need to ask for help?
Furthermore, when learning your limits and when you need to ask for help, it's important to remember that saying yes to something means you’re saying no to something else. We teach this a lot when it comes to Sunday mornings. Staying out late on Saturday is going to make that 5:30am call time brutal. It’s the same for literally any other commitments in your life. When you sign up for one thing, it automatically takes away time that could be used for something else.
Additional Practical Tips:
Give everything a home. Everything has a place. Put the things in their places. Not beside their places. Not behind their places or on top of their places or across the room from their places. Put your things where they belong.
Schedule times to get things done. Don’t wait on chance to work the timing out. Carve out time to make lists and set aside time to thoroughly do what you need to do.
When you need to focus, eliminate distractions! Turn off notifications. Uninstall social media if that’s what is needed.
Set reminders! It’ll make you look more organized than you really are, plus it’ll help you get things done.
Make lists! I love lists. My lists have lists.
Use your calendar. As soon as I schedule something, I immediately put it in my calendar.
Always be open and looking to grow! I have a lot of good patterns going for me, but I still often run into someone doing things better. We have to stay open to someone having better options and trying them. Don’t stay where you are! Always be learning and growing.
Questions to Ask Yourself:
Am I being a good steward of my relationships, belongings, and time?
Am I caring for myself and others well?
Is what I’m doing producing the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness/longevity, gentleness, and self-control)? You get good fruit by growing it.
This is tough stuff sometimes. But you are literally forming new physical grooves and signal pathways in your brain each time you choose to do what you need to do. You already have similar pathways formed from your normal tendencies. Sometimes you need to purposefully recognize your tendencies AND where you need to grow. Choose to do what doesn’t come naturally! Grow those fruits!
“For the overflow of what has been stored in your heart will be seen by your fruit and will be heard in your words.” – Luke 6:45