The Simple Joy of Being Organised

Today, I thought I would share a few of the strategies I employ to reduce the amount of stress and anxiety in my life and which enable me to feel more peaceful and happy. Perhaps someone reading will benefit from these examples.

Calendar, Notes, Reminders. I find these three apps work together to form a really great system for keeping my life organised. I use the Apple Calendar app for appointments (for example, a doctor’s appointment or repair visit to my flat), I use notes to brainstorm ideas for projects and plans and also to keep an inventory of everything I own, and I use Reminders as a daily ‘Things To Do’ checklist. In Apple Reminders you can schedule To Do’s to recur daily, weekly, monthly, or annually, which means you can get reminders to do your grocery shopping every week, or do an annual Spring Clean or boiler service, for example.

2. Digital Organisation. I don’t have a single item on my computer desktop! I keep just those applications and folders I use most often in the dock at the bottom of the screen. There are about 10 applications and two folders in my dock. Within my folders are only files I believe I may need to access regularly; the bulk of my files are on an external Samsung hard drive which I regard as a kind of storage cabinet. Keeping legacy documents on an external hard drive frees up storage space on your computer allowing it to run more smoothly. I also backup my computer every Sunday to another hard drive.

3. Cleaning Blitzes. This is a tip I always love to share with people. Instead of letting cleaning jobs pile up and feel like a terrible chore to tackle, instead you can set a timer for 20 minutes, and do as much as you can in that time. At the end of the 20 minutes, have a cup of tea and I expect you will feel satisfied you’ve made good progress. Most people can spare 20 minutes in a regular day, and if you do this a few times a week you should stay on top of the cleaning.

4. General Minimalism. I find it very reassuring to have an inventory of everything I own. If I need to move to a different home, or if I were to pass away, the inventory could be really useful. It also stops me from buying duplicate items, and when I started doing this I was able to donate many spare items to others in my community which is always a positive thing to do. If you’re bored during lockdown and have the motivation, I highly recommend having a crack at making an inventory. Do it on your smartphone so you can access and update it whenever you need to.

What are your tips for staying organised, and do you believe there’s a correlation between how organised you are, and your happiness levels? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below. Thank you for reading!