Organise Your Life

I'm not sure how others feel, but when I'm organised I feel a lot less stressed and a lot more calm. Especially with school, homework, revising and exams etc. (and blogging!) all of us at some point have 'to do' lists or ideas floating around in our head. I find the best thing to do is to just get it down on paper, therefore it can't be forgotten. 

This weeks post will be lifestyle based, and something I actually thought of whilst using these tips! Overtime I have created tips and ideas that work well for me, ways to keep organised and release stress. In this post I will share with you the different ways and tips I've been using to organise, mostly in terms of (for me) homework and blogging. But when it comes to comparing them both, school work definitely is my priority over blogging. That's a main element I've been considering too. Priorities.

The first few points/tips will be in order of what I feel works best, mainly what's most important. Afterwards will include ideas that help you feel more organised. 

Procrastination 

I'm sure at one point you know you should be getting on with your task, but instead you’re putting it off. What you have to do is beat procrastination, and just get on with it. Get it out the way and then you can spend the rest of the time doing whatever you'd like. I remember once been given a large amount of coursework to do over the summer. Instead of getting it out the way I would drag the task out by doing little bits everyday, when really I could have just done it and finished all in one. This then made me feel guilty everyday because I knew I should be doing something, and if I just got it out the way I wouldn't have felt that way. 

Recently I have therefore been completing dreaded tasks as soon as I receive them (...homework). I've also been completing my homework on Friday night, so for the rest of the weekend I can relax and not have it worry. 

Prioritise 
Before begging the tasks, I feel it's important prioritise. Get done what’s most important first. The first (for me) I think is school, then... I prioritise my priority (if that makes any sense). Therefore I complete the homework that's due in first straight away, and so on. Afterwards I can complete tasks that are less important. This was your not leaving important tasks until last minute, and if you don't have time to complete all then the ones you can't complete shouldn't matter so much. 

Reward yourself 

When you feel you've finished the task, and finished it well (don't rush). Its then time it reward yourself. If you tell yourself what the reward is and when you can receive it beforehand, it will motive you and also prevent procrastination. I like to reward myself with food; this may be a lovely cup of tea or a small snack, which I can then enjoy knowing I've completed what I need to. 

Tip and tricks 
Lists - You may think you can remember all the little tasks circulating around in your head, but one can easily slip away and you just totally forget. Instead of making your mind stressed and confused, write it down. Give the responsibility of remembering to a notebook, then your brain can stop worrying, leaving more space for ideas and less for stress. 

I now have quite a few notebooks, some I assign to schoolwork, and some I assign to blogging. They're a useful book to have with you at all times. Whenever you have an idea, you can just pop it down in your little book so it can be safe and not forgotten. 

Schedule and time tables - Hopefully I'm not the only one who does this, but for the people that don't it’s useful to try. Especially with school, homework and exams - we all at one point have numerous tasks to do in a short space of time. When you feel it all becomes overwhelming, take a break and stop. Grab your notebook and schedule what you will do first (remember priorities) and when you will do it. I actually make timetables/schedules telling me at what time I will do what, therefore if I'm behind in my schedule it motivates me to keep going. 

For more 'everyday' or 'weekly' plans, a useful thing is to get a dairy! I haven't had a proper diary in a while, but when my mum gave me one she didn't want, I accepted the offer and found it comes in pretty handy. It's feels great to have a book that you can just organise your life in, to write down what you will do and when. I do really want a dairy which has a page per day, therefore I can write more about my day to actually look back on in the future. 

Sticky notes - These are my saviour. Whenever I have something on my mind that I need to do, I can just pop it onto a sticky note so that I don't forget. Especially before I go to bed, a lot of things come to mind. I just grab a sticky note and write it down, then stick it somewhere I will see in the morning - therefore this way I don't wake up questioning what that 'thing' was. 

Stationary - As well as notebooks and diaries, something I really think helps is stationary. When I have a pencil case full of colours and exciting stationary, the tasks become more fun. When it comes to revision, I'm a visual learner and having nice stationary definitely motivates me.

Sleep - I may be diverting slightly here, but when it comes to organising your life and completing tasks, being tired makes it all a lot worse. I've recently been trying to turn off the lights an hour or so earlier, so I can wake up going to school feeling a lot more alert and ready to learn. As my dad always says... "The bridge between hope and despair is... A good night’s sleep". I do still feel pretty tired in the morning, but I think if I try keeping my sleeping pattern relatively the same, overtime I will definitely benefit from it. 

I hope this post came in use to you, or you just enjoyed reading it. Have a lovely week and a lovely valentines day too!

What do you do to organise and plan? 

~ Writing is thinking on paper ~