I remember, a very dear friend of mine who was very enthusiastic girl, full of life, always flooded with great ideas. She many a times used to promise many people at a same time for doing any particular thing and when that actual time used to come for fulfilment of her promise, she used to fumble and the result – no one ever trusted her... People always thought like 'She' has promised you, hope she turns up or hope she fulfills the same.
Poor girl, she was, as she could not ever manage to please a single person and besides she was ever so willing that she never stopped promising and also breaking promises.
What she lacked was "being organised." She tried it hard to manage her tasks more efficiently, but failed. Finally on her 25th Birthday she made a resolution that from this point of time she will become organised person and she will give no chance to anyone to complain about her past habits. And to everyones surprised, she actually became "organised." When asked her what she did, she gave me following pointers:
Accept the fact that you are not "Organised." You will win half your battle to become organised.
Prioritize. Prioritization is the key to being "Organised." What is important stuff, how much time is required for the same. Make A, B, C lists for all your tasks. 'A' being topmost important, 'B' being moderate and 'C' are the ones which one should be able to cut down / avoid or in other words, you shall manage to say No to the 'C' tasks. Getting organized is all about priorities, and it never hurts to get your ducks in a row.
To Do Lists. It is probably the most sensible thing that a busy person should do. Make a to do list for your day. Your daily or immediate list should never be more than 5 items long. Make a to do list for the week and draw from this list to make your daily to-do list.
Follow through. There's no point in making a to-do list if you don't discipline yourself to complete the tasks you've assigned yourself. There are many ways to stick to your to do list, remove or ignore distractions, and hop to it.
Keep a Calendar. Get a calendar and put it in a place where you see it every day, preferably in the morning. It could be on the refrigerator, on the desk, or on the desktop. Wherever you put it, you have to make it part of your routine to refer to it every day.
Do one thing at a time. Combine similar activities like making all your phone calls at one time. Pay all your bills at the same time. Do all shopping in one trip.
Have a fixed timetable. It may seem kind of mechanical but it would be wonderful if you could have a fixed time for everything and try to stick religiously to the time table. It really helps because in that way you will have time for everything and everything can be done in the time for it.
Write a Diary. It will help you memorise the things said or promised. Once Writing is twice memorising. Anything and everything you need to remember should be written down. Record phone numbers, appointments, birthdays, shopping lists, and things to do, and record them where you can easily find and refer to them when you need them.
Take a Break. Dont forget to keep time for fun. Enjoy yourself. That will be a good break for you and which will also motivate you to go back to be more Organised.
Create a Routine that becomes a Habit. It is said somewhere, if you do the same thing for 21 days without break, it becomes your habit. Try this for wonderful results.
