Top Tips for Staying Organised

Start the New Year with some structure!

Let’s face it; January is one long, dreary Monday morning. It’s enough of a challenge just to struggle through weeks of post-holiday blues and bank balance bareness with your game face still intact. If you haven’t eaten your body weight in kale or resemble Rosie Huntington-Whitely just yet – don’t panic.

Thankfully, Chinese New Year offers us a second chance saloon to put those New Year’s resolutions into practice and take our targets from paper to present. Whether you’re planning on getting into tip-top shape, bagging your dream job or ticking off that bucket list, it is super important to be consistent and persistent with your organisational skills.

Here are five easy and achievable steps to stay organised and start seeing results.

1. Keep It Clean

Training your thoughts to be clear and focused will be that much easier in a peaceful and tidy environment. It’s so much more difficult to connect to abstract goals when standing in the midst of a floordrobe or manically sifting through copies of old Vogues to find what you’re searching for. Start off simply by routinely making the bed every morning, tidying away your gym kit and clearing away the food prep debris. You’ll be surprised how much physically clearing up can make room for positive and productive thoughts. Taking 10 minutes to de-clutter your space before bed is invaluable and doesn’t eat into much of your quality time in the evenings – thank goodness for tiny Hong Kong apartments!

2. Live by the List

Making lists is a huge part of visualising your tasks and hopes for the week or month ahead. Jotting down all of your expectations and obligations is a relief in itself and stops us from feeling too overwhelmed by our demanding schedules. Each Monday, create a new “master list” to fill that time with individual assignments and errands. This will help to combat the chaos, plus, there is nothing more satisfying than virtuously crossing off those to-do lists. It’s also the perfect excuse to treat yourself to that fabulous kikki.K or Moleskin diary you’ve been lusting after. Any excuse…

3. Get Your Priorities Straight

When making your lists, do so mindfully and in order of what’s most important and urgent at the time. Trying to squeeze everything into one day is unrealistic and will only make you feel like a failure. Not cute. Be kind to yourself and ease the pressure by creating reasonable and practical objectives. So, if you’re aiming to get fitter, rank that gym session as number one on the agenda. In red. Bolded. Although, there’s nothing wrong with adding Channing Tatum and a villa in The Maldives into the mix. A girl can have life goals.

4. Routine

Depending on various personal and professional demands, this one can be tricky and not everyone is bound by a traditional 9-5 schedule. However, whether you’re a night owl or an early bird, setting a simple structure in place for your day – that works for you – will keep you centred and concentrated. Little things like sticking to a consistent weekday alarm or designating specific email time will preserve productivity and allow you to clearly see when and where you can reward yourself for your new found Monica Gellar lifestyle!

5. Take It Techy

While I’m an old-fashioned gal at heart and love my “Granny Diary” – as my friends have lovingly christened it – maintaining an updated electronic schedule is totally practical. A cancelled or rescheduled appointment is just one click away and is the most fuss-free method of staying on top of our ever-changing plans. Sync your paper journal to your iPhone cal for maximum “Queen of the Co-ordinated” status. Sharing your online calendar with your partner or bestie is the perfect way to ensure that you never miss out on bubbles in Boujis or date night again. And don’t forget to see our Top Apps for 2016 for more tech-savvy solutions to those New Year resolutions!

Here’s to a more organised 2016!