Have you ever wanted to get really organized? I’m sharing my process for how I get my work life together and why you need to get everything in its order and together. I’ve had my fair share of missed assignments, worksheets and deliverables at work (yikes!).
A free worksheet for you!
If you subscribe to KandidlyKait’s emails, you’ve received a get organized checklist– if you’re not download it here!
Getting your planner together
Digital or paper it doesn’t matter. A planner is such a powerful tool to get all of your tasks, assignments, deliverables and meetings in one place. One of the most powerful things is to be able to look at your day or week and know exactly what’s coming your way.
The first place I’d start with any planner is filling out the calendar portion (if its not already numbered with dates for you). I like to think of my tasks / projects at work as “big picture”, “medium picture” and “snapshot” or “small picture” then color code those tasks accordingly.
- Big Picture: These are projects and tasks that tie to overarching themes of my work, for example— branding. I want to make sure that I’m presenting my brand in the best way through social content and blog posts that speak to my niche. These projects are pretty big and will take weeks or even months to complete. Think about 2 or 3 big picture projects in your life that take longer than five days to complete.
- Medium Picture: These tasks are normally related to your big picture tasks. They’re some of the action items required to complete my big picture tasks. Medium picture tasks are my recurring tasks, for example– planning content. It takes me about 3 days to plan a month of content for KandidlyKait. This is partially because I have a process in place but from ideation to scheduling, it takes about 3 days. For your day it might be something like planning meals for your household or if you’re in college, doing your required reading (that you really should be doing).
- Snapshot / Small Picture: Snapshots are quick things that don’t require too much thought or time upfront. Things like responding and reading emails or marking things as complete in a project management tool like Asana.
Give each bucket a color (digital with an online color or cute pens like these for a physical) so you can plan out your week or your day with a mix of tasks. Some snapshot things you’ll more than likely do a few times a week or even daily. The last thing you want to do is have 2 big picture items in one day because chances are– its going to feel impossible.
Here are some of my favorite printed planners, but if you’re more high tech check out these apps!
Organizing your Gmail
Everyone’s least favorite thing is email. If you let it pile up too long it’s like real mail and you end up selecting everything and throwing it in the trash. Where to start to get organized with emails is using the categorizing or bucket tool in your email settings. Here’s a visual on how to create “filters” in your Gmail!
Taking effective notes (that’ll save your butt later)
Y’all, I take so many notes. For my boss, for myself and for my blog.
When I think about it, no one ever really taught me how to take effective notes, I just developed a system that worked for me and my needs and carried it into my working life.
The biggest tip I can give you is to think like a funnel. What I mean by that is, go big and end up small. If your meeting has an agenda, write down that outline of discussion points / agenda and write down things said, action items requested (your boss and team will thank you later) and questions asked. If you’re still in school look at your class syllabus and see what the lecture will be on that day. If your professor corresponds chapters from the textbooks to
Tackling Google Drive
Your google drive will make or break you when it comes to starting to get organized.
Create a system that works for you, for me its using folders to house all my projects/work themes and then dropping everything related to that inside of it!
I hope this helped you answer the question “Where do I start to get organized?” May you never miss a deadline, project or appointment again with your new system! If you’re looking to get inspired for this year, checkout my 2022 blog post!
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