Tidy-up your workspace

Making sure your desk and workspace are orderly and clean has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety. Additionally, reducing clutter and distractions in your surroundings allows you to focus and work more effectively. Consider using antibacterial wipes to keep your desk and devices clean from bacteria and germs to decrease your risk of getting sick, especially as flu season approaches.

Declutter your devices

This can be an especially daunting task for those of us with thousands of emails, photos, and files, but this is truly one of the best ways to feel more organized. The few hours it may take to create folders and rename files on your computer and sort photos in your phone will save you a substantial amount of time when you aren’t blinding through thousands of unorganized files and photos.

Keep your schedule in one place

Writing something on a post-it or even setting a reminder in your phone isn’t a bad idea when necessary, but it isn’t sustainable. It’s nearly impossible to remember everything when pieces of your schedule are in several different places. Whether you use Google calendar or a good old-fashioned written planner, all your engagements and meetings should be in one place. Don’t rely on your memory or post-its to keep track of everything you have to do or you could very well miss important meetings.

Incorporate planning days into your weekly and monthly routine

When you have a clear vision of the week and month ahead, you can better prioritize what needs to get done and when. Use planning days as a time to clean, organize, plan, and set goals for your near and distant future. Spending time organizing your schedule and planning is one of the best investments you can make, because being prepared for the future will reduce stress and give you a strong sense of direction. 

Keep an ongoing to-do list & reassess it often

Keep an ongoing to-do list for each area of your life. It’s helpful to have a Word doc. Of lists one for professional obligations and projects, one for things I want to get done around the house, and one for personal goals. This system is helpful because it allows me to see everything in one place, delete, and reorder things as they become a priority. Certain things will become priority as things change, but it’s important to have everything in one place and be able to modify this list often.

Create a morning and nighttime routine

Morning and nighttime routines are very important to helping you start and end your days on a positive note. Some ideas of what to incorporate into your morning routine include: drinking a glass of water as soon as you wake up, stretching, exercise, writing down your top 5 priorities for the day ahead, meditating, and tidying up around the house. Some positive nighttime habits could be reading, meditating, drinking a glass of tea, journaling, or writing a gratitude list. Adapt your routines as you see fit, but stick with them to feel more prepared in the mornings and more unwound in the evenings.