14 Tips for Getting Organized When You’re Busy

Too busy to worry about getting organized? You might be trying to trick yourself into thinking that you get more done when you rush and run around all the time. And in reality, you’re moving faster and hustling, so it’s easy to fall into the thinking that busy and productive are the same thing.

You’ve come to the right place when it comes to getting organized. I’m here to tell you that you are NOT too busy to be organized, my friend!

After reading this post, you’ll learn tips to organize your life a little better in a few specific areas by being intentional about taking a few extra minutes here and there which will allow you to set yourself up for success and organization.

So let’s get to it!

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The Dilemma When it Comes to Getting Organized

It almost seems easier to run around from thing to thing all willy nilly and unorganized because it’s like you simply don’t have the time to sit down and organize all the areas of your life- you’re just too busy, right?

Related reading: The 30 Ways to Relieve Stress that Actually Work 

Well, I’ll encourage you with this- being an organized person doesn’t mean you have to revamp and overhaul your entire life.

You can become organized a little bit at a time!

Picture a put-together girl that’s really got her life together. Maybe you picture a girl who uses her phone calendar every day to input all appointments and social outings. Or a gal who has a stellar matching outfit on as she makes her way from home to work or school (on time) remembering to bring everything she needs for the day. Maybe you’re envisioning someone with organized closets, cabinets, and nothing jammed under her bed (*totally used to me me- out of sight, out of mind*).

You, yes, YOU can be that girl.

Let me tell you this: it’s so worth a tiny bit of your time to take stock of where you’re at within your home, finances, health, and overall schedule and slowly implement the tips below to move in the direction of more organization.

I’ll say that again: Move in the DIRECTION of getting organized. Sure you might not be the poster child for organization overnight, but you’ll begin to feel more and more like the girl you pictured above, and less like the frazzled gal you may have been in the past (or still are).

The concept of moving in the right direction- the direction of what you want, what’s ideal- feels so much more doable than completely changing everything that you are at once.

All of this to say that you CAN get organized no matter how unorganized you are right now, because at the end of the day, it’s not easier to run around like a chicken without a head. It IS easier to be a bit organized as you move throughout your life and accomplish whatever it is you’re working toward!

(Take it from an overly organized girl myself.)

Related reading: 3 Significant Reasons to Establish Routines in Your Life

Tips to Stay Organized

We’ll touch on four main areas of life: home, life admin/schedule, finance, and health.

Here’s more on how to balance all these things better.

Home

1. Bins: get bins for everywhere in your home or room! Top and bottom of your closet, under the sinks, pantry, under the bed, in your drawers. Get all the bins, girl! They’re a lifesaver when it comes to keeping like things together and keeping things neat.

   I like closet organization bins like these and clear bins for in cabinets and under sinks.

   You can also try these drawer organizers and fridge organizers to keep things tidy.

   Lastly, these are great, versatile small bins for anything and everything!

2. Do your best to finish home tasks and chores all the way through. Don’t let that load of laundry sit. When you hear the buzzer go off, go change over that load. Fold it when it comes out of the dryer, go put it away, then bring the laundry basket right back to the laundry room so it’s ready for the next load. When things are completed and where you need them, you’ll feel SO organized.

   (Not an organization tip, but I hang a majority of my clothes to dry so they last longer. I use a drying rack like this one and love it!)

3. Have a spot for everything. EVERYTHING. Keep the spot the same, and take the 3 seconds to put it back when you’re done. The remote, the tape from the misc. drawer, your journal, jewelry, you name it.

   I swear by drawer organizers to keep things neat so everything has a spot.

   And here’s the organizer I use under my sink to give bathroom and kitchen items a home.

4. Have a 2-minute (or 5 if you’re feeling sassy) clean-up at the end of each evening. Before you go to bed, tidy up for literally 2 minutes. Put the pillows back nicely on the couch, any stray dishes in the dishwasher, and put away any random things that didn’t find their way back to their home throughout the day. You’ll feel so much better in the morning when your home or room is neat and organized from the get-go.

Related reading: Can I Help You With Your Messy House?

If you’re feeling motivated, take this spring cleaning challenge! It doesn’t have to be spring to make your way around the house and clean!

Life Admin/Schedule

The term “life admin” just means all the tasks and things that come along with being an adult like paying bills, making and going to appointments, and so on.

1. Use 1 main calendar and put everything in it. Again, everything. Going out with the girls next Tuesday? Put it in. Dentist next week? Put it in. You get the picture. Include the time and a reminder or alert if you’re using your phone calendar.

   Or try a calendar for your fridge! I love being able to see it everyday.

2. Have a binder for important documents. This was the beeeeeeest thing I ever did. I got a pretty purple binder, rainbow plastic dividers, and sheet protectors. I gathered all my important documents and organized them by topic.

   You can make any type of sections you want that are relevant to your life. I have sections for: home, car, personal docs like social security card, passport, birth and marriage certificates, medical documents, bills, insurance documents.

3. Open your mail right away, and sort it accordingly. Take care of what you can, and have one spot for the mail that needs attention at a later time.

   Try a wall-mounted mail organizer by the front door with hooks so you always know where your keys are, too!

4. Lists lists lists. Make lists, my friend. When you have something in your head, write it down in the notes app of your phone juuuust in case you need to reference it later. Whether it’s a quick to-do list of your must-get-done tasks for the day (try to keep these short- 3 items at most), a shopping list, an errand list for the week, or whatever… write it down!

Finance

1. Use a budgeting app. I love the Every Dollar app and use it literally every day. It’s so helpful for understanding exactly what’s coming in and what’s going out.

   When you know how much money you can afford to spend in certain categories like grocery, gas, eating out, and entertainment, you feel so much more organized when the end of the month comes and you didn’t run out of money before you run out of month.

2. Keep all your bills organized in the same place. It’s super helpful to use a binder like I mentioned above. You can try folders or whatever works for you.

   Pay them when they come in or as they’re due. It’s helpful to mark due dates on your calendar in your phone and to use a budgeting app to make sure you’re able to pay what you need to pay.

   (See how when you’re organized in one area, it’s easier to be organized in others. The organization seeps into all areas, hooray!)

Health

1. Meal prep. If you’ve read my blog before, you probably know I looooove me some meal prep. It’s truly the best way to organize your meals and make eating healthier much easier. Read here for my tips and here for what I eat in a day. 

   I like using different-sized containers to store all my prepped food!

2. Keep medical bills organized in a binder.
3. Stick to some sort of workout or movement schedule. If you like to get up and stretch, stick to a minimum certain number of days.

   Or if you like to lift weights, stick to a schedule that works for you to go to the gym. Do your best to be consistently moving your body a handful of days a week.

   Consistency in improving your health brings a level of organization and intentionality to your wellbeing. 

4. Make shopping lists before heading to the grocery store. Look up a few recipes for the week and include the needed ingredients in your shopping list. This way, when you go to the store, you know exactly what to get and you’re less tempted by prepackaged, unhealthy items. (More on that here.) 

Related reading: 15 Unique Healthy Snack Ideas that are Guilt-Free & Minimal Prep

Getting Organized: How to Implement These Tips

I have two super bite-sized ways to implement the tips above, because if you’re looking at that list of tips, it’s a lot! Way too much to try all at once.

It’s a recipe for disaster when you try to implement more than one change at a time.

My whole philosophy is about tiny steps forward in the direction you want to go. So let’s apply that here.

First:

Take just a few minutes each day (or maybe a few times each day) to set yourself up for success.

This could look like:

• An evening (2-3 minute ) tidy up session
• Entering that thing you just planned right into your phone calendar right after you plan it
• Making a super quick list in your phone
• Logging that gelato you just dropped 6 bucks on
• A five minute stretch to get some movement in

All of those tasks can be done in 5 minutes or less! If you do tiny things like this each day, you’ll feel a heck of a lot more organized day to day.

Related reading: The 4 Tips You Need to Know to Intentionally Set and Achieve Your Goals

Click below for a free self-care calendar that will help you do one small thing for YOURSELF every day!

Self-Care Calendar

Second:

Start with only one area of your life that you want to try to whip into shape organization-wise.

Pick either your home, life admin/scheduling, finances, or health.

Say it in your head.

Go ahead.

I’ll wait for ya!

Now pick ONE TIP from that category to start implementing. And work on that one tip until you know it like the back of your hand. Until it’s ingrained into you and becomes a part of your lifestyle. It should be totally natural for you to implement that tip in your life before you pick a new one to add in.

This super slow implementation is how you go from running around all crazy to that organized girl you aspire to be!

Let’s Bring it Home

If you were feeling like life is too busy for you to gain a little bit of organization, I hope you see how setting aside a few measly minutes here and there to set future you up for organization and success AND picking just one area of life and one organization tip at a time can help you get organized.

You’ve totally got this, girl! Let me know in the comments which tip you’re going to commit to trying out moving forward.

Related Reading

Can I Help You With Your Messy House? 

The 6 Best April Spring Cleaning Challenges + Free Printables and Checklists

3 Significant Reasons to Establish Routines in Your Life 

6 Must-Have Tips to Find Balance in Your Life and Manage All Your