Staying Organised To Help You Smile

Organisation and getting organised, it’s not easy, is it?

The ‘get more organised‘ is usually on the list of things we want to improve ourselves with, and rightly so. I know for a fact many of my friends have said it at New Year. With articles often suggesting organisation lowers stress and links to being unorganised can lead to depression, it’s no wonder we put to much pressure on ourselves to keep ourselves on track.

Whether that’s with our work life, personal, keeping up with our children or even our weight loss journey. For the billion tips out there, there are a billion more things we need to keep track of. It feels like it’ll never end—and I think I’m a very organised person. But, for as frustrating as life can be, there are some things I’ve found that have massively helped keep me to getting organised, especially as a writer.

Often, amid grand ideas, checking where a comma goes, and whether I’ve left a gaping hole, I know being organised is the only way I’m going to finish the first draft. Especially, when I’m a writer who does not write in chronological order.

It can mean that there are chapters I need to go back to, and without a clear plan—laid out in an orderly and organised way—I’ll forget that, and it’ll lead to a lot more work down the road.

When I dug deep into figuring out why being ‘organised’ was no fun, was because I wasn’t making it work for me. Getting organised comes down to several things, and it isn’t always the most expensive or flashy planner—although some of them are killer.

So, today, I thought I’d share, today, what some of those are and what items I class as essential that help me stay smiling and organised; because being organised isn’t fun if you’re not smiling.

Find Organised You

As I said above, being organised and staying on top of the things you need to do won’t work if you don’t make it work for you. As much as a calendar on the wall sounds like a good idea, if you’re not someone who will take it off the wall to fill it in, it won’t work.

It’s all about finding the ‘you‘ version of being organised.
Which seems obvious, and you’re likely thinking why am I even reading this post, but stay with me here.

Often, it’s about finding what fits into your life. For me, an online calendar doesn’t work, and paper or a physical copy is the only way I do not double book myself or take on too much. I’ve tried to be savvy with an online one, but it doesn’t do the things I need it too.

For so long I thought I had to adapt to meet the ‘expectation‘ of being organised when really, my often messy—post-it filled—version of organised keeps me on track and works fine. It’s all well and good admiring so-and-so’s colourful pin-board, but if you know it’ll take more time than you have to do it, it won’t work—as pretty as it is.

To find the right path for me, I began with colour. Pink, for me, is a colour that makes me happy, and it always has. I’ve never really been much of a pink person until I found a soft shade that I absolutely fell in love with. Finding a colour palette made things so much easier.

Why?

Well, I like things to match, for starters—and it brings me a lot of joy—and also because it makes me want to carry it around, or have it close to me. Which then means it is there when I need it.

Diary or No-Diary

The first thing I purchased for myself, which is the most expensive thing in this post was my pink Filofax. I’ve always had a reliable diary, but I wanted to try and be more reusable, so invested in a longer-lasting diary I can replace. The things I love about Filofax’s are you can buy the inserts you want, rather than scanning various journals for the bits you’ll use the most.

There are also—thankfully—a lot of cheaper options for inserts online, with even some bloggers creating their own. I have found ordering some dotted lines sheets (similar to Bullet Journal pages) handy, as I can create spreads I can use to keep track of plots a lot easier than general lined paper.

The best thing is customisation, which for me is hugely important in being organised, especially with a diary. There’s no use buying something I use half of, with Filofax—while expensive to begin with—is something that will grow with me and I can change. Disclaimer: This isn’t sponsored, I promise, but just a product I love and have loved for a while.

Get Post-it notes

They are an absolute lifesaver, and I do not understand why people sleep on them. So often I’ll ask someone for one, and they don’t have any, and I am not at all sure why not. They are amazing. They can be stuck in a book for reference, stuck in your diary to alert you to something you need to do, and they’re even there to stick to your monitor to remind you of something important.

I have two sizes of Post-it, as you can see from the picture. The larger ones I tend to use for to-do lists, lots of information I’ll need (telephone number, address) or email/blog requirements. The smaller ones I use to pinpoint myself to something later; other I stick to my monitor for information. I currently have four small ones attached to my monitor to remind me of words I’m struggling with as I learn a new language.

Stationary Essentials

Every desk also needs a small collection of utensils like paperclips, pins, and clips so you can collate some information together.

I found the four-piece collection (which comes with a lid for ease when travelling) for quite cheap above from Amazon, I’ll link below for you.

Another thing is a stapler and hole-punch. So often I’ll ask someone at my day-job for their stapler, and they don’t have one. I’m not even sure how you can survive without one, because sometimes a paperclip is fine, but sometimes you just need to staple. (Stapler is missing from this photo because ironically it is at my day-job and not at home).

Lastly, if you need to highlight particular information because you, like me, are very into colours, Sharpies can be your best friend. I say can be because, let’s face it, sometimes they bleed through paper. I tend to lean on the caution of pastel colours for my highlighting just for this reason, but I also try and choose thicker paper where possible. There are a bunch of other brands out there too.

I also own a thinner set of pens for BuJo’ing as well as Sharpies, which are linked below. (Mine actually came with stencils also).

(I use Affiliation links here for Amazon. You pay no more for using these links, but I do/can earn a small commission of these to help support this blog. Please go to the ‘Disclaimer‘ page for more information.

So there you have it, some of the things I have as essentials on my desk at home, most of these are being used daily, and often purchased in bulk.

You wouldn’t even believe the amount of Post-it’s I have stuck around.

What are some of your organisation essentials?