Being busy is often associated with a life filled with chaos and rushing, but this doesn’t have to be the case. It’s perfectly possible to be a busy person and stay relaxed and sail through life- the key is to be organized and find the right methods to suit your lifestyle. Here are some of the ways you can go about it.
Write to-do lists
To-do lists are extremely powerful ways to stay organized in life. Instead of trying to remember and leaving things up to chance, spending a few minutes writing everything down puts you in control. You can then schedule tasks around the rest of your day to ensure everything gets done, and you’re never inadvertently forgetting about things and remembering at the last minute. It could be in a notepad, on your phone, even just on a scrap of paper that you throw into your bag and check throughout the day. But it’s a great way to get organized when you’re a busy person.
Do what you can the night before
There are some things we can do each evening to set us up for success the next day. This allows us to have a smooth and breezy morning without any stress. First, lay out the clothes you’re going to wear, including underwear, clothing, shoes and any accessories. That way you can get up and get dressed, there’s no looking for missing items or ironing things at the last minute. Get a bath or shower the night before, wash your hair and prep your skin with some moisturizer. That way you can have a quick wash in the morning and save time, your makeup will apply smoothly and you won’t have to battle with greasy hair where you forgot it needed washing. If you have a work bag then put all of your documents and anything else into it, and make sure your keys are somewhere accessible. These small things can make a huge difference to the way your morning runs.
Utilize your calendar
Invest in a nice big calendar for your kitchen, and get into the habit of writing notes and appointments onto it. Each week you can see exactly what’s coming up in the days ahead, and you can put this onto your daily to-do list as and when it’s relevant. Include everything from doctors and dentist’s appointments to kids after school clubs, parties and other social events. You could invest in some different colored pens, and each household member is assigned a color that their appointments are written down in. It makes everything easy and simple to see, and can just make things run that bit more smoothly.
Meal prep
We all need to eat, and so staying organized with food makes sense. If you constantly find yourself getting to 5 pm, looking around the kitchen and realizing you have nothing in for dinner then something needs to change. Don’t rely on convenience food and unhealthy/ expensive takeaways, put in a bit of planning and you can eat tasty and homecooked meals every day. If you have a free day on a weekend, spend it batch cooking a number of different meals and then divide them into individual containers and freeze. That way you always have a backup of dinners to eat, and if you run out of fresh ingredients or find yourself too tired to cook then you can always have a meal you’ve prepared.
Another good idea is to utilize a slow cooker, simply throw in some meat, veg, herbs and spices in the morning and by the evening you could have a delicious meal ready to go. You can make everything from stews to curries, bourguignon, pulled pork- the list is endless! If you write a list of what you plan on making for the week ahead you can buy the ingredients you need and won’t end up getting caught short. It’s important to feed yourself and your family well, so be sure to get organized here- you’ll save yourself money and stress.
Find a flexible job
As women, we tend to be the primary caregivers to our children which often means putting our careers on hold- or finding ways to juggle kids and career. It’s never the easiest, however, this day in age there are more and more ways you can make this work for you. Finding a flexible job, particularly one you can do from home means you can earn in a way that suits you and your family. There are lots of remote positions available these days, or you could look into things like freelancing or blogging as a way to earn money. Another option is to start your own business, look into a business loan for women and use the money to get yourself established by buying things like stock, equipment, etc to get started. Working for yourself means you’re the boss, you can work it completely around your life.
Keep your home organized
Finally, maintaining a clean and tidy home gives you good foundations to run the rest of your life from. Spend just a few minutes each day giving things a clean and to ensure everything stays running. Every few weeks when you get time, having a deep clean and declutter will then keep you going again. Making sure everything has a place means tidying is easy and you always know where to find things which again keeps things running smoothly in the home.
