11 Must-Have Habits To Be Super Organized
Keeping your work organized and productive helps you stay on task and get things done on time.
When you are organized and productive, you can put your work in order of importance and do your best, which helps you move up in your career and succeed.
Depending on how you work, there are different ways to organize your responsibilities and tasks.
Think about the following ways to keep things in order at work:
1. Set goals
Having goals that you can reach can help you stay focused and get things done.
When you make clear goals with steps and a deadline, you can break up your work into tasks that are easier to handle.
Set both long-term and short-term goals and mark your calendar with milestones to make sure you stay on track.
Further Reading: 23 Goal Setting Tips and Tricks To Boost Your Productivity
2. Check on progress
Track your progress to make sure you reach your goals in the time you give yourself.
Tracking your progress can also help you figure out when you’re doing the most work.
You might find that you get more done at the beginning of the week or in the morning.
You can decide when to work on your most important tasks based on this information.
Some ways to keep track of your progress are to write down the time you worked, add up the hours you spent on a project, or block out times during the day when you do tasks.
3. Use an agenda
An agenda is a great way to figure out how organized and productive you are at work.
Write down specific events and details about them in a planner.
Do this for days, weeks, and months.
This strategy helps you keep track of what meetings and deadlines are coming up. So, you’re more likely to reach your goals and remember certain things.
There are many different kinds of plans. Some agendas have a place for every day, while others are weekly or monthly.
Think about what kind of planner you and your work would like best. If you use your computer a lot, you might want to use a digital plan to add things to certain dates.
4. Create to-do lists
To-do lists are easy to make and very useful for staying productive throughout the day. Use “to-do” lists to keep track of important things you need to do.
Try to set up your work based on how important it is.
For instance, you can put the things you need to do by the end of the day at the top of your list and the things you can do tomorrow at the bottom.
You could write your lists of things to do on a post-it note or in a notebook.
When you use this method, you should think of ways to organize your list of things to do.
Use different colored pens to tell things apart, like a blue pen for a team meeting and a red pen for tasks that need to be done right away.
Further Reading: How To Write a To-Do List For Maximum Productivity
5. Take responsibility.
When you hold yourself accountable, you think about your to-do list, look at how well you’re doing on your goals, and figure out how you can do better.
Check-in with yourself often to see how you’re doing and find things you can be proud of. You and your coworkers can also set up a system of accountability by checking in with each other often.
6. Limit distractions
It is much easier to work for long periods of time in a well-organized space. When you limit distractions, you maintain your focus on your current task.
Keep your space organized and simple to cut down on distractions.
Keep things that are likely to distract you, like your phone, on your desk or in another room.
Further Reading: How To Eliminate Distractions And Boost Your Productivity
7. Incorporate a timer
Keep track of how much time you spend on each task so you can see where your time could be better spent. Start and stop the timer when you start and finish a task.
Consider using apps that keep track of time to see how long you spend on each task.
At the end of the week, think about how you spent your time and try to do more with it.
For example, if you don’t have much time to do other important tasks, you could try limiting the amount of time you spend checking your email.
8. Keep the place clean.
When your office is well-organized, it’s easy to find supplies and materials, which makes your work more consistent.
To keep your space clean, you can put things back where they belong, use cleaning wipes to clean your desk, and open your windows to let in the fresh air. A clean place is a comfortable place, which makes it easier to work.
Cleaning up and organizing your workspace means getting rid of things that don’t belong there.
Take a look at your workspace once a week or once a month and get rid of things you don’t use every day. Get rid of old lists of things to do and put away work that is done.
9. Use labels
Labels are a useful way to keep your files organized. Label each file clearly and put them in an order that makes sense to you. You could, for example, organize your files by letter or by year.
You can also use this method for digital files. Files and folders on your computer that are clearly labeled are much easier to find without having to look for a long time.
10. Sort your email
Many professionals talk to each other through email, so you might have a lot of emails in your inbox. Sorting your emails keeps your inbox from getting cluttered and speeds up the time it takes to find important emails.
You can sort out your email messages by creating digital folders.
With folders, you can put your emails in the right place. Putting a label on an email will remind you to answer it and keep all the important emails in one place.
11. Take breaks
Taking breaks is an important way to stay on task and get things done. Breaks keep you going because they keep you from working too hard in a short amount of time.
Because of this, you can usually work longer. Go for a short walk or get a snack during your break. Make sure you take your break away from your workspace so that you can clear your mind and get back to work.
