10 Ways to Improve Your Organization Skills

Stacey Marone
5 min readSep 7, 2016

Do you keep on misplacing your pen or glasses? Do you constantly miss school and work deadlines? Are you often running late for meetings and appointments? If your schedules, to do lists, and labels keep you from accomplishing your target, you might need to brush up on your organizational skills.

When faced with tasks, it is not enough that you can do the job. It matters more when you can do it well. Remember, the end goal of organization is increased productivity and efficiency. This is the very reason why we practice and try to master prioritizing, scheduling, and planning skills.

While having to do lists, storage drawers, and a labelling system may help you organize your workspace, your organizational skills should not be limited by that. A clutter-free desk may illustrate organization, but let’s break the clean-equals-organized myth right now. Lona Glenn, online essays scholaradvisor writer says: “Being organized means that you are able to find your documents quickly, manage your responsibilities well, and accomplish tasks right on time.”

So, how else can you organize your life aside from your lists, labels, and journals, you ask. Read on for ten ways to improve your organizational skills, at home, at work, and in school.

Tip #1: Review your current organizational system.

First off, you need to assess your present situation. What system was employed to organize things the way they are at the moment? Identify what needs to be improved, if the system in place needs to be reworked. Find other techniques and tools that can work for you, and organize things better.

Tip #2: Make organization a team effort.

Whether it’s at home or in the office, exert effort to include others in your action plans for organizing. After all, it would benefit everyone if everything around you is organized, and not just your personal space.

Talk to your colleagues about your plan, and determine if you can put up a common filing system for documents that you share with each other. At home, implement a system where each one would be responsible for a task for a scheduled period.

Look at the bigger picture, organization with everyone involved means increased productivity and efficiency for everyone.

AT HOME

Tip #3: Declutter before buying storage containers.

Organizing lifehacks would always suggest putting your stuff in labelled boxes.

In your attempt to duplicate your Pinned photos from Pinterest in your home, you excitedly buy a number of storage bins. The problem is, the shopping part comes first, and as a result, adds to the clutter you have at home.

Be wary of this decluttering trap. It is advisable to do the decluttering first, so you will have a better gauge of how many boxes and containers, and what specific types you will actually be using.

Tip #4: Throw one out when you bring another one in.

One reason for clutter is an excess of things.

For instance, having three or four pairs of sneakers when you only use a pair or two. Or ending up with a collection of bags in different colors, sizes, and types.

Before buying something, think whether it has a duplicate since this adds to the volume of your possessions. Figure out what you will do with your old tea set before taking home a new one.

The rule should be, for every new stuff you bring in, throw out one or two of the same kind.

Tip #5: Find a simple solution.

Piles and piles of clutter at home can make you feel overwhelmed. But don’t let that get to you. Pause for a while, and determine whether your clutter problem can be addressed by a simple solution.

Use a key ring to gather hair ties instead of boxing them up. Assign a color code for each family member so that they will only use their respective color coded stuff to prevent too many dirty plates and glasses in the sink.

IN SCHOOL

Tip #6: Take advantage of your biological prime time.

Our bodies have a natural peak time when we have the most energy; hence, a greater potential of being productive. This is what Sam Carpenter calls as biological prime time or BPT.

It varies per person; some may find that their BPT is during early morning, while others feel theirs is during evenings. Since is the time you feel you can work your best, you can configure your schedule so that you can tackle your priority tasks during your BPT.

Here’s how you can determine your biological prime time.

Tip #7: Manage your attention, not your time.

Instead of arranging a schedule of your daily activities based on how long it will take you to fulfill each task, work on a schedule that allows you to accomplish your tasks depending on the energy and focus you will expend in doing so.

For example, allot time for managing and replying to e-mails during lean times of your day. That way, you won’t be wasting your focus and attention on menial tasks. You can also opt to have somebody else do the small tasks for you, so you can give more of your attention on bigger tasks.

IN THE OFFICE

Tip #8: Categorize items in your work space.

One hindrance to achieving maximum productivity at work is the time we spend searching through files for a single document. If we know where exactly we can find each of our stuff, we will be saving time, energy, and focus for the tasks that truly matter.

Make it easier for you to find what you are looking for by categorizing the things on your desk. Create at least five categories to group similar items. For example, supplies category can include your pens, papers, binder clips, and the like; resources for reference materials you use at work; and projects for documents relevant to projects you work on.

Tip #9: Assign a storage space for each category.

Once you have narrowed down items on your workspace into a few categories, the next step would be locating a storage space for those.

You have to consider three points when looking for storage space: convenience of the location; frequency of use; and quantity or volume. For instance, if you think you’ll be making calls every now and then, place your phone where you easily reach for it. For files and reports that you won’t be using needing that much, you can stow them farther from your desk.

Tip #10: Practice a regularly scheduled clean-up.

Consistent effort in organizing can help you be more efficient. If it means allotting ten minutes a week to declutter your desk when the work is over, then do so. You won’t have to dread going to work on Monday with piles of uncategorized documents and tasks on your desk.

This practice can turn into a good habit that you can benefit from in the long run. It can also leave a good impression on you as an employee as you will give the impression of being reliable and can be trusted with keeping important stuff.

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