Little Ways I Stay Organized!

It's the beginning of a new year! Whether you are starting a new semester or just trying to stay organized in your life, these items are a must! When I started my freshman year of college at Ohio University I felt like I was hit by a bus. I of course had multiple notebooks labelled for each class, my Lilly Pulitzer planner I get every year, post-its, and an assortment of colored pens. Although I had some of the tools it takes to be organized, I realized I had never been an extremely organized person. Yes my room is always clean with the occasional blowup in my closet from indecisiveness but I never had to organize my life, my days, my time like I needed to in college. Since then, I have found my niche on how to stay organized so that I don't show up late to work, forget a meeting or homework assignment, etc. I'm always looking for new ways to stay organized or try something new that might make things easier on me. Hopefully this can help anyone who needs a little guidance or if you want to go back to the basics of organization, here it is!

First is my planner! I have the large agenda from Lilly Pulitzer. It runs from August for a whole year through to December. It always feels like I waste four months because I get a new one every August but honestly having those extra four months is so nice because I'm already able to look ahead and start planning. I don't ever miss something in October that I found out about in June because my planner has the space there for me to fill out and transfer over when I get a new one. Anyways, I write everything in my planner, no lie. I have my class written for the first few weeks of the semester then I stop once I have it down pat so I can write my assignments due that day in it's place. Then I also have my work schedule, sorority events/meetings, my TV shows, and typically what my sorority house chef is making for lunch/dinner. This helps me know when I need to be where and whether I want to make it home for dinner or plan to eat dinner on my own. Lilly Pulitzer is currently sold out of agendas as I'm writing this but when they go back in-stock just searching agenda on the website will lead you straight to many options of sizes and prints!

My second thing is the post-it notes I have for each week. If it's a slower week I will only have one. Typically I have two because I like to have different subjects of lists on each one. On busier weeks I can have three to four though. I always have a to-do list of things I need to do personally. This can be food I need to buy, clean, pack to go home, text someone about something, or even showering honestly. If it's not in my planner, by the time I plop down in the evening I'm probably going to be tired and forget I need to do it. A different post-it note always has the assignments for school I need done with the days they need to be finished. I said earlier that I also have them writing on the days they are due but I like keeping that looking neat so I cross them out on the post-it once I've finished them.

The third factor to keeping my planner and life organized is the color coding pens I use. My favorite pens are the Sharpie Fine Point Pens. I have them in black and blue then an assortment of colors. Click here to buy the pens I use from Staples! For me personally I coordinate them as the following: orange = work, green = school (assignments)/Schey, red = paydays (I say which job for the day), purple = travel, dark blue = dinner/laundry day, pink = AGD sorority, black = TV show, class schedule, misc., and light blue = birthday, important weekends, or events. This helps me a bit since it's easier than looking at everything in black ink, not to mention it's pretty with all the colors.

Some other little things I do is I keep a mini notebook in my purse or backpack depending on what I'm carrying. The mini notebook has easy access information for example the information of the classes I've taken or am currently in. I write down things I need to remember there. I even keep some of my passwords in my planner that I need to remember. In my backpack I permanently keep another mini notebook for work where I have the passwords for work and any notes I need to remember or meeting minutes. I also have check lists of things I need to do over time that don't exactly need to be put on a post-it in my planner for the week. I have the Mini Notebook from Lilly Pulitzer where I will link here but you can just use any little notebook that is cheap or fits your style (it went with my planner so I was trying to coordinate them)! In my planner I also write down the information about the classes I'm taking and keep my grades updated in it so it's easy to check. In the Lilly agenda there is a notes section which is amazing. It's where I write my Christmas lists for the people I need to shop for, the new foods I'm trying this year as my resolution, or anything I want.

My final way of staying organized is somewhat new! I used to keep track of my paychecks then what I was spending by writing it down in one of my notebooks but I never kept up with it which lead to me overspending as always! The other week Dylan made an Excel sheet for his finances and I said how that was such a good idea because I'm always on my laptop and it's much easier because it will do the math for you. So Dylan sent me a format to me to use! I of course had to tweak it and add a bit of color in because I enjoy color coordinating. So far I have kept up with it and even been spending less money because I'm constantly seeing how much I've spent vs. how much I've made and the difference.

Those are just a few ways I try to stay organized. I went from utterly confused my freshman year of college to decently organized so far! I'm already thinking about the labelled containers I'll have in my kitchen next year! I hope that reading about how I stay organized can influence you or guide you if you're struggling to find the right way to stay organized like I did. I definitely still have things that need organized better (my closet at home!!) but that is for another day and maybe even another blog post!

xx Tay

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