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Wednesday 28 September 2016

Five tips for Organisation

I know, its been ages since I last wrote; I always seem to come unstuck with blogs. As soon as I become busy, its the first thing I strike off my to-do list. Which is exactly why today's blog is going to discuss organisation. I have done a similar blog before, at the start of the semester last April, and yes again I am starting over and again turning over a new so-called leaf. Well, what can I say, new beginnings are the best time to start being a new you, and they don't always work first time. You cannot merely decide to be better and become it. It takes time and effort to become who you want to be. Like the title of my blog, each and every one of us is a 'Work in Progress'. The aim after all is improvement; not perfection since at the end of the day, the very concept of perfection is such that it can never actually be reached. This said, I have five steps today that should help you down the path towards a better you. I have always maintained that organisation is the key to success so here are five simple ways that I use to become more organised.
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1. Timetable

This is literally THE best way to be an organised chica. Okay, so we're told this tip over and over again, but lets be honest- who actually does it? Yes it takes time to set up, and yes it doesn't always work first time, but honestly if there is one tip that I can most strongly advocate in this post, it is to timetable. I've had a fairly on and off relationship with timetabling, but I have to say my life is definitely the more coherent when we are on! Timetabling not only means you know what you're doing every second of every day (okay perhaps slightly restrictive), but it means that you don't waste any of that time. For me I think the best thing I find about timetabling is that I know I have enough time to get everything done. Rather than having a list of 54 things I have to do and rushing around trying to do them all in time, I have already allocated time spaces that will allow me to do it. This way I can focus on one thing at a time and not worry that I should be researching that paper due tomorrow or tackling the ever-growing pile of laundry in my room, because those tasks have already been assigned time to be taken care of. And yes, for me, perhaps I am a bit extreme, but I will also timetable in rest-periods and time to go out and  have fun. Therefore I am able to fully concentrate when I need to be working but simultaneously look forward to the breaks I know I deserve.

2. Wake up early

Again, another well-known golden tip for self-improvement, and perhaps one that's harder to implement that the first! I'm with you- I hate getting up early; at Uni, my bed has literally become my favourite place. In fact this is the third 7am (or 7.15 at least) I've managed in a row and I have to say, I am incredibly proud of myself. It is 100% worth it. Waking up early means you can get loads of things out of the way before everyone else is even awake. You get to 11am feeling incredibly accomplished and knowing that once the evening comes you will have done your tasks for the day and can relax- rather than slaving away like everyone else until the early hours of the morning because they hit the snooze button one too many times. So roll out from under those covers, grab a coffee and yes get to bed early at night as well (under no circumstances should anyone EVER forfeit sleep, for anything..)

3. Exercise

Okay, so I know, I'm not exactly saying much that is revolutionary but exercise is essential, not only for your physical health, but your mental health too. My sport of choice is running and I know I have already done a post on Why I love running away from all my problems so I won't go into that just now. However, exercise- we all know how important it is so just do it!

4. Vary your tasks

I think this is such an important tip and one that perhaps many people don't think of. Everyone obviously has different styles of working and tackling things, but I have found that the best way to stay motivated is to switch up your tasks. Don't spend seven hours studying French conjugations and then seven more hours studying French complements of prepositions- you'll get bored- trust me! Equally don't chop and change what you are doing every five minutes. Personally I would say one or two hours is the perfect amount of time to spend on an individual task. It doesn't matter if you haven't finished it in that time- you can always come back to it later in the day; but take a break- use your time wisely and take your weekly trip to Lidl then. This way you have adequate breaks, but still don't waste your time.

5. Have a rest

My last and perhaps slightly contradictory point is that this isn't going to work every day. Sometimes you are going to feel overwhelmed and you're going to disrupt the timetable (that I hope you've made!) and just sit and stare into space for half an hour (I'm not the only one who does that right????). That's okay- we can't work full-steam ahead 24/7, we need to have time-out even if that is outside of our scheduled breaks! If you do wind up feeling like this- don't be hard on yourself, have the break you deserve and pick it back up again the following day. It is progress after all, not perfection.

So, there we go, my tips on how to be more organised. I can't say I've achieved them all because I most definitely haven't, but so far they are working for me and I know that as long as I keep persevering I will get there in the end.



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