Enhancing The Good

Yesterday, I shared on social media the three free tools you can use to help you organize your life a little better. If you didn’t get a chance to catch that, no worries, because we’re going to be talking about them here!

These tools have saved me SO many times! Not only have they helped me become more organized, but they have brought my stress levels WAY down as I’ve no longer had to worry about forgetting to do something or falling behind in my responsibilities and aspirations. I hope you find as much use out of them as I have and that you can use each of these tools to their full potential! I’m still learning how to better use them, so I’m sure there are many ways we can all continue to benefit.

1. Calendar

Whether you prefer using a paper calendar or the one on your favorite device, either will work as long as you’re looking at it on a regular basis! Paper calendars aren’t free, I’m aware, but I know you can usually buy them for pretty cheap (or there are also many companies that give out free ones). You can also create your own!

Google Calendar is by far my favorite tool. Not only does it have cute little clip arts that pop up when I enter in certain events, but it has a task feature on it that allows me to put in my to-dos and gives me a box to check when I have completed it (yeah, pretty heavenly if you ask me). Not only does it do this, but if there is a day I’ve missed to complete a task, the task carries on to the next day, then the next, then the next, if I still haven’t completed it. If you’re anything like me, this eventually drives you crazy and you will do all you can to get that box finally checked so it disappears. Progress!

I don’t know about you, but isn’t it so satisfying to have everything you have/need to do written down in a calendar so you can admire the beauty of it as you either scroll through the pages of the upcoming weeks or walk by that color-coded and decorated agenda on your wall? Maybe not if you’re not as obsessed with organization as I am, but I feel like it can be satisfactory to anyone, to a certain point.

Like I mentioned before, if you dedicate to organizing your tasks and events onto a calendar, think of all the stress you’ll be free of, not having to worry about remembering to go grocery shopping on your way home from the Dentist or that you need to pick up so and so from school on Thursday. Chaos gone!

The best part? You use your calendar how YOU like it! Decorate it, only put the things you think you might forget on it, use it in your family to make sure you’re all on the same page, etc.! Whatever works for you and your life!

2. Alarms

Alarms is another one of those tools that has saved me more times than I can count. Sure calendars can tell you where you need to be when you need to be there or when you need to do this or that, but they can’t always necessarily notify you when that time is here. How many times have we gotten into doing something and what we were supposed to do completely slipped our mind because we were lost in some kind of zone? It’s on the calendar and in the back of your head, but not calling our attention to it when it’s time.

This tool can be super useful if you commit to stop whatever you’re doing at the time it goes off, and do what the alarm tells you to do. Otherwise, you can turn that alarm off as quick as possible, then just as quick, forget what you were supposed to do.

I usually save my more high-priority tasks for alarms while the others stick to my calendar. Tasks that have to do with work or meeting with clients (when people are waiting on me).

What tasks in your life do you feel like are sensitive enough to put an alarm on?

3. Sticky Notes

Sticky notes are so fun and also such a mess, which is why they’re so useful! As we’re trying to organize our lives some more, a lot of the time, that comes with staying on top of messes and tidying things up (at least, that’s what I use to help me).

Clutter can drive me insane! So, when I know I HAVE to get something done, and I maybe don’t want to rely on or be distracted by my phone, I gather all the sticky notes and write down what it is that I have to do. Then, I put them where I know I’m going to see them and where I know I’ll be bothered enough to want to throw them away (but I can’t until the task is completed). A lot of the time, I use this method of organization for work. I don’t want to be bothered, or bother anyone else for that matter, with the sounds of my phone and the many other distractions that should be put away while I’m fulfilling my role as employee, so I’ll put the sticky notes all over my desk or computer and only get rid of them once I’ve done what I need to.

Another great place to use these is the car! If you’re out running errands (and want to be a good example to your passengers by not using your phone), write down all the places you need to stop on sticky notes and stick them on your dashboard. One by one, as you visit each of the places and get things done, you can get rid of the stickies. SO satisfying when you’re actually in the process of doing it! It’s like check-marking boxes!

~

Which one of these tools are you most excited about using? Are you planning on using two or all three?

Another thing to remember is to use these tools to your advantage! You know yourself; what works and what doesn’t for you. As I demonstrated, messes are an annoyance of mine, so I use them to my strength. Some people are absolutely irritated by the sound of alarms, so if that’s you, don’t turn it off until you’ve started to do what it’s telling you to do. If you have a great imagination and the ability to create, make a calendar that fits your style and will draw your eyes towards it every time you pass a certain wall in your home! Use your strengths and weaknesses to your benefit!