7 habits of highly organized people

1. Highly organized people have a place for everything We live in a world that is determined to distract us. Bombarded with endless information, excessive obligations, buzzing cellphones, and incessant texts and emails, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed on a daily basis. As a result, being organized has become more important than ever. It is the most effective way to survive and thrive in a society that offers little respite, and yet personal organization remains a tremendous challenge for many people. Studying and emulating the habits of highly organized people is a good way to start to bring organization – and, by extension, greater relaxation and happiness – into one’s own life. Here are some habits commonly practiced by highly organized individuals: If you put your keys and wallet in the same place every single day, then it’s much harder for those things to get lost. By designating specific locations for specific items, you can save a lot of time spent searching for those items and reduce your stress in the process. Highly organized people also tend to file, not pile when faced with incoming documents. Again, it’s about having that pre-established system. Know where bills, letters, school papers, newspapers and magazines go and take a minute to sort them immediately, instead of relegating them to a generic, confusing pile.

2. Highly organized people know how and when to delegate tasks Most understand their personal ability to perform tasks and don’t try to overstretch it. Some even have a symbolic monetary value attached to their time. If a particular task is going to take longer than the time it’s worth, highly successful people know it’s better to delegate than do it themselves. They also know when to ask for help. Highly successful people have a ‘do-it-now’ attitude for certain kinds of tasks. Daniel Levitin, author of The Organized Mind, advocates dealing with tough, uncomfortable tasks first thing in the morning, so they don’t hang over you all day long. He also suggests doing immediately anything that takes less than 5 minutes, rather than putting it off.

3. Highly organized people are unitaskers No matter what you might think about your ability to ‘multitask,’ there is no such thing. Your brain might fool you into thinking it’s multitasking, but in reality it’s just switching rapidly back and forth between tasks, while costing you depth of focus and quality of output. Highly organized people, by contrast, are not easily distracted. The most effective check their email at regular times each day, keep unnecessary notifications turned off, and know when to silence distractions in order to get a job done.

4. Highly organized people have a plan Plans can take many forms. Whether it’s a menu plan for the week, an ongoing grocery list, a cleaning checklist, a family calendar, or a personal planner, a highly organized person always knows what’s going on. He or she takes the time to think in advance about the next day’s obligations and to plan them out mentally, i.e. knowing roughly how much time they will need to fulfill each of the necessary tasks. They are also goal-oriented, aware that putting in minimal organizational time in advance will ultimately save time down the road. Take the 10-minute evening cleanup, advocated by many organizational experts. By taking only 10 minutes to tidy a room every weeknight, you could save yourself having to do a giant multi-hour housecleaning on the weekend.

5. Highly organized people are effective decision makers They have trained themselves to know how much time they should spend thinking about certain things, based on cost and consequences. This can be really hard for some people, who struggle and waver for extended periods of time over decisions that are hardly worth their time. It’s necessary to let go of perfectionism. Levitin uses the verb “to satisfice,” a blend of “to satisfy” and “to suffice,” to describe knowing when things are good enough and not worth any extra mental energy.

6. Highly organized people have set morning and evening routines They rarely deviate from these routines, which usually include the same wake-up time each day and a relaxing wind-down routine in the evening. Often they incorporate regular exercise into their day, which is excellent for both body and mind. A big part of personal success is knowing when to disconnect from the work world and take time off to recharge. An exotic vacation is fun once in a while, but more important are the small, daily ‘me’ moments, such as a leisurely hot bath at night, a cup of tea early in the morning, or a quick walk around the block mid-day. Taking care of oneself is crucial for personal success.

7. Highly successful people are not always open to new ideas This is an intriguing point, and one that Levitin drives home in The Organized Mind. It’s important to weigh seriously the advantages and disadvantages of adopting new technologies, rather than jumping automatically on the bandwagon, as most people do in our consumer-driven society. A highly successful person questions objectively whether something is truly going to improve their current system and/or lifestyle, or whether it’s just a glittery new distraction that will ultimately detract attention and time from what really matters.