How I Stay Organized With Daily Tasks

Staying organized is not something that comes naturally to me. I have to work really hard to stay organized and being self-employed definitely challenges that on a daily basis. Between working in the corporate world for awhile, and being self-employed now for a few years, I’ve learned quite a few tips on how to stay organized.

Organization is fueled a lot of times by motivation (at least for me), so if you haven’t already, make sure you read how I stay motivated here.

Jumpsuit: Urban Outfitters  |  Top: Urban Outfitters  |  Shoes: Similar  |  Bag: Stella McCartney (different shape available here)  |  Jacket: Old Navy c/o  |  Earrings: sold out – LOVE these  |  Necklace: Simple Little Things Co.

Use Google Calendar

First helpful tip is to put everything and anything into Google calendar. The second I make plans with someone, schedule a meeting, or get a project due date, I put it into my Google calendar. Because I’m a spaz, I’ll add an extra two reminders for each meeting, one the day of, and one the day before – just in case. I love Google Calendar because I can be really specific with each thing — I can put an address in and connect it to maps when I’m ready to leave, I can add notes on each meeting if I need to remember certain things, and I can color code each event so that it’s cleanly organized into categories.

Use A Handwritten Planner

And a double whammy — I use a handwritten planner as well. Everything I write in Google Calendar also goes in the planner. This may seem over-the-top to some of you, but I’ve found it makes a huge difference in me feeling like I know what’s ahead of me. When I write something down physically, I have a way better chance of remembering it than if I just type it. I also love having a planner because it’s a great way to keep an ongoing To-Do list.

[ Shop Planners ]

Have a To-Do and Tomorrow List

When I worked in the corporate world I had a spiral notebook at my desk at all times. I would write my To-Do list out first thing in the morning. As the day would go on, I’d check off my To-Do list. At the end of the day, whatever was left over would go onto the “Tomorrow list”. The next day, the Tomorrow list becomes my new To-Do list that I write in the morning. I still do this today in my planner. If there’s ever an extraordinarily long To-Do list, I’ll take time to rank it by priority of completion. Prioritizing has never been my strong-suit, so this helps quite a bit.

Google Keep App

Promise this post isn’t sponsored by Google but clearly it should be as I’m in love with Google – haha. I recently discovered the Google Keep App and I LOVE it for my To-Do lists. I’ll have my more urgent To-Do’s in my To-Do and Tomorrow lists in my planner, but the ones that are unrelated to work (think house stuff, errands, returns, etc.) I put in my Google Keep App. You can create categories for To-Do lists and color code them. I also write down YouTube video and blog post ideas in here as well. It’s a great space to keep everything in one spot, that I can easily access when I’m out and about and something pops into my head.

I would love to know how you guys stay organized. Let me know down below, and as always thanks for stopping by!

SHOP THE POST

Photos: Laurel Creative