How to Get Organized

Being organized was not something I thought I struggled with…until the other night. After losing track of the days and suddenly remembering that my car payment was due, I took inventory of other things I may have forgotten (or almost forgotten!) to manage. Good thing I did, because soon after I went rummaging through a stack of papers, I found two unopened and yes, unpaid bills! How I managed to forget about them – who knows! Clearly, I am not putting my organizational skills to good use in 2015. I guess my tried-and-true tactic of writing due dates on calendars (you remember those old things, right?) could use an update.

So, in an effort to remedy the organizational mess I have created for myself, I am going to implement a few tactics.

1. Put all bills in a central spot. I tend to lose track of where I put important papers, hence how I found two unopened bills in the last possible spot one would ever think to look. Moving forward, my bills will have a designated place that I check weekly.

2. Use my iPhone calendar and set reminders. I do use the calendar feature, but rarely pay attention to reminders. I’m going to start putting due dates in and set the reminder for one week prior to the day before it is due. This should help me — I hope!

3. Take advantage of automatic payments. I always believed that making the payments myself kept me on track. Obviously, I was mistaken.

4. Utilize Evernote and Wunderlist (and other organizational apps). I downloaded Evernote and I love that it syncs across all of my Apple devices. I just came across Wunderlist, and like Evernote, it’s a great way to make to-do lists and stay on track.

Since 2015 is my year of self-imposed self-improvement (sugar detox=check!, going to the gym/yoga= check!, waking-up earlier=…check minus?) why not make my life easier and get a good organizational system in place?

I’d love to hear how you keep on top of everything. What organizational system works for you?

I am grateful to Kristin of Not Intent on Arriving for featuring me as part of her Writer Wednesday series. Head over to her blog to read my thoughts on writing, travel and where I draw inspiration from!