Routines to Help You Stay Organized & Simplify Your Life

When it comes to routines, we generally think about having a solid morning routine or a consistent evening routine. We might even think of a bedtime routine or a weekly cleaning routine. While these routines are important, do you have routines to help you stay organized in life?

If you answered no you’re not alone here. But I want to help you change that!

Why Routines Help You Stay Organized

First, can we just acknowledge that staying organized takes work? There are so many things we need to juggle in our daily life. This makes it ridiculously easy to drop a few balls if we don’t have systems in place for staying organized.

But, and this is the important part, with the right routines in place, staying organized can be a whole lot easier. Not only do the right routines help you stay organized, but I’m also gonna go so far as to say routines are necessary if you want to stay organized!

In fact, when you have the right routines in place, you’ll hit the pillow each night feeling accomplished. This is true even if a few items remain on your to-do list.

How To Stay Organized With These 8 Routines

Okay, so now that we know the importance of having routines, the question becomes, what are the right routines to help you stay organized?

Put simply, they are those routines that automate the must do’s and remove the stress of remembering every single thing every single day.

Let’s look at 8 specific routines to help you stay organized, they involve:

Regular Planning Sessions
Weekly Meal Planning
Routines for Your Home
Regular Budget Reviews
Batching Tasks
Making good use of waiting time
Scheduling Self-Care
Having a Sleeping Schedule

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1. Stay Organized With Weekly Planning Sessions

Having regular planning sessions is not optional if you want to stay organized. If you’re only going to follow one of these routines, this is the must-have routine to help you stay organized.

In fact, I am rather ritualistic about my planning routine. This is because I’ve learned that if I don’t have a plan going into my week chaos ensues. Okay, I may be being a little dramatic, but my weekly planning is non-negotiable. It happens every Sunday.

During this time I pull out my favorite planner and review all the events I have going on that week. I make a list of the three most important things I want to focus on for the week and plan them out in the calendar.

Also, my regular budget is in my planner and I can easily see what bills need to be paid that week. Basically, my calendar has everything I need to know for the week.

This allows me to think ahead and be intentional with my time and resources, by eliminating anything that’s not necessary.

If you’re more comfortable with a digital calendar that works as well. I actually use both a paper planner and Trello. Because I have the Trello app on my phone I can access it at any time. Plus an added benefit of Trello is I can share any portion of my calendar with anyone I choose. You can learn more about how to use Trello to organize your life here.

The point is to come up with a tool that you will regularly use. Routines are all about consistency.

Having a weekly planning session every Sunday is a great way to start the week off right. You’ll know exactly what’s coming up and avoid last-minute decisions that weren’t the best decisions you could have made.

An added benefit is that it’s easy to prepare anything you need for the next day, the night before. This makes busy mornings so much simpler. You’ll start your day much more relaxed and everyone will feel calmer.

2. Make a Meal Plan For The Week

Coming home to a hungry family with no idea of what to feed them is the definition of stress. Most of us have to figure out what to make for meals 3 times a day. This makes feeding our family possibly the biggest job we have.

Menu planning is an essential routine to stay organized when it comes to mealtimes. Personally, I plan out my meals as part of my Sunday weekly planning session. You can also set a routine for planning out your meals when the grocery store ads come out each week. The important thing is to pick a time that will work best for you and stick with it.

By setting up a routine of planning out your meals each week, not only will you stay organized but you’ll also save money. You avoid unnecessary eating out or picking up fast food. Also, by planning meals around grocery store sales, you reduce your grocery bill.

When you know you have a busy week approaching, by meal planning you’re able to double up on a recipe or two and place the second meal in the freezer.

Once you get into the habit of meal planning, it only takes a few minutes each week. Here are some ways I’ve simplified weekly meal planning that may be helpful for you!

I promise you, having a set routine for planning out your meals each week is the best way to keep mealtime organized!

3. Declutter Your Home Regularly

No matter how much you have, or have not decluttered in the past, clutter has a way of creeping back in. Including decluttering as part of a regular routine will help you stay organized.

The easiest way to get into the routine of decluttering is to set up a decluttering basket in each room of your home. When you come across something you no longer need, you can immediately place the item in the convenient declutter basket.

A “decluttering basket” is nothing more than a container used to house all that stuff you no longer need. Whether you use a cardboard box, an old laundry basket, a plastic bag, or a decorative basket, having a specific receptacle handy to immediately place any items you no longer need is so helpful.

I keep one bag in each closet and a decorative basket in my living room. When they start getting full, I place the contents in my car and drop the bags off next time I’m running errands.

4. Have a Set Schedule For Budget Reviews

If you’re not on top of your budget, it’s easy to drop balls and forget to pay bills. You’re also more likely to overspend. Having a regular routine of reviewing your budget and upcoming expenses will help you stay organized.

Again, this doesn’t have to take a lot of time, it’s something that can be easily incorporated into a weekly planning session.

To start, develop the habit of writing down the due date for each bill payment in your planner. This will help you get those bills paid on time each month. Paying on time means avoiding unnecessary late fees and interest costs.

Not only does having the due dates listed in your planner help you pay on time, but it also helps you plan out your fun activities. When you can easily see which bills are due, you know how much extra funds you have for planning those fun family outings.

I guarantee you that keeping your finances organized is an instant way to simplify your life and make everything feel lighter!

5. Perform Similar Tasks Together

Developing the habit of performing similar tasks together will serve you well. This is known as batch tasking and basically, it’s about grouping similar tasks to be performed in a set block of time.

So you would read and respond to emails at the same time. You would perform all desk/paperwork at the same time, or run all errands on the same day. These routines help you stay organized because you’re less likely to forget something that’s similar to the task you are working on.

To make this easy have specific days set aside for similar tasks. For example, you schedule all errands and appointments for Wednesdays. On Thursdays, you have your desk day, this is when you would focus on paying bills, filing papers, balancing the checkbook.

This not only helps you know what you’re doing each day, but it saves time and increases mental focus.

So when looking at routines to help you stay organized, start batching similar tasks together!

6. Use Waiting-Time to Accomplish Quick Tasks

We all have times of being stuck waiting. Whether it’s waiting for your kids to finish school, practice, or waiting at a doctor’s office, do something useful! You can use this time to check your e-mails or catch up on some reading.

Using this time to do something productive will help you stay organized with tasks you need finished. Get into the routine of always caring a book or paperwork with you to make the most of your time.

7. Reserve Daily Time For Yourself

Self-care is so important, and you need to make time for it.

Even though it feels like non-productive time, it’s essential for reducing stress and staying organized. Without time for yourself, staying organized is nearly impossible.

This doesn’t need to be anything extravagant. A quiet moment with your favorite drink. 10 minutes of relaxing with your favorite music. A phone call to the person that always lifts your spirits. Whatever it is that refreshes you.

Get in the routine of scheduling a regular time to do something just for you.

8. Get 8 Hours of Sleep Each Day

As a whole, we are a sleep-deprived nation. But it’s not a good habit to pursue. Being over-stressed and tired all day will not help you accomplish anything. In fact, the only thing it will accomplish is to make it more difficult to stick to your routines. When this happens you’ll be far more likely to drop all those balls you’ve been trying to juggle.

Go to bed each night at a time that will allow you to get a good 8 hours of sleep. Get into the routine of going to bed at that same time each night. Remind yourself that sleep recharges and refreshes you and will ensure you’ll stay consistent in applying those routines that will help you stay organized.

If you follow these tips, I know that you will see the difference. You’ll keep life organized and reduce overwhelm in your life. But most importantly, you will find time to do the things that matter most to you!