4 Organization Habits to Follow and Be More Productive All Year

This post was sponsored by Fellowes as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own. #WorkBetterWithFellowes

Do you struggle to keep your home organized? Here are 4 Organization Habits to Follow and Be More Productive All Year!

If you’ve been following along, you know that I started a 30-day room by room cleaning challenge. I already posted challenges to help clean and organize the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. But what good are cleaning and organizing these areas if there aren’t organization habits put in place to keep these areas tidy, right? So today, I’m sharing a few organization habits from productivity pro, Laura Stack, to help keep our homes organized so we can spend less time dealing with the mess and more time doing the things we love!

4 Organization Habits to Be More Productive All Year

1. Get Into the FIRST habit – Get Rid of Paper!

One of the best ways to get organized is to get rid of paper clutter. Since I don’t have a dedicated office, the end of a kitchen counter was our mail catch-all. It’s wasn’t very pretty and was overflowing, so I decided to follow Laura Stack’s number one rule – Get Rid of Paper!

• Shred it! – Don’t let paper pile up. Get into the habit of tossing out receipts, school slips, and junk mail right away. Then shred documents with confidential information on it using a cross-cut shredder like a Fellowes’ 12Cs shredder. To do this, I used my new Fellowes’ 12Cs shredder that I picked up at Walmart to shred all confidential documents I no longer needed, junk mail, and other miscellaneous papers. I love that I can quickly shred up to 12 sheets of paper and credit cards, which makes clearing paper clutter super easy. The Fellowes’ 12Cs shredder also has a large paper bin with clear window so I can see when the bin is full. In addition, it has SafeSense® technology to make it safe to use around children and pets.

 

2. File it! 

Use a some type of box that can hold folder files to make organizing paper documents easy. I picked up decorative files and labelled them according to my needs. The key here is to organize your documents so that it makes it easy to file and find items quickly.

• Create paper files and label – label files/folders by subject. For example, medical documents, insurance, mortgage, car, etc… You can also label folders by month to make finding monthly bills easier too. Use subfiles to divide large categories into smaller groups (see electronic files).
• Electronic files – If you have electronic documents, create and label folders for the documents. For example, create a folder for electric bills or mortgage documents. You can also use subfolders to divide large categories into smaller groups. For example, create a large folder for medical bills and subfolders for type of medical bills (eye, doctor, dentist). You can go even further to break this down to each family member too.

 

3. Set Routines

We’ve all heard how planning ahead saves time, right? Well, it’s true! Think about all the time we waste thinking about what we’re going to make for dinner each night or what we’re going to wear in the morning to work – it’s a lot of time wasted. Instead, set a routine and take time to set a routine and plan ahead.

• Plan ahead – Less energy is wasted on small tasks if we establish routines and plan ahead. This could be as simple as laying out your clothes for the next day, making your home lunch the night before, or meal planning for the week. When we’re not focused on the small day to day tasks, we have more time to left for bigger things.

 

 

4. Schedule Time for Tasks

• Use a timer – Have a tedious task to tackle?  Estimate how long it will take to get the task done and schedule time on your calendar to get it done. Use a timer to help your stay focused on the task at hand and work until the end of the timer. If you need more time, schedule another ‘appointment’ to get the task done in your calendar.

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Now that you’re equipped with the 4 Organization Habits, give it try! You will have more time to enjoy the things you love and gain a boost your productivity all year long! 

What other tips do you use to be more productive & organized?