How To Organize Your Life Through Lists

The Secret To Keeping Yourself Organized

When I was a kid, I was a disorganized mess. In school, I would often find myself wondering how my friends were so perfect and organized all of the time.

I couldn’t fathom how they could stay focused for so long and still manage a social life. I surrounded myself with friends who were straight-A students and student body class officials. 

Of course, I wanted those things myself, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to get there. I chalked up a lot of their success to growing up in healthy, unbroken homes.

I felt that those things just simply weren’t in the cards for me. So I figured you were either born successful with an amazing support system, or you weren’t.

A few years after high school, I realized how flawed this line of thinking was. 

You are what you make of yourself:

• So what if I came from a broken home and life was a little messy?
• So what if I felt I had to work twice as hard as all of my peers?
• So what if things were never just handed to me? 

I decided I wouldn’t let these things become obstacles to my success and, ultimately, my happiness. 

I knew it wouldn’t be easy, especially with my short attention span, but I knew I had to develop a system to help me stay focused to reach my goals, and you know what?

I found it through list-making!

I know it sounds lame, but trust me. This discovery was life-changing for me, and it very well could be for you too.  

How Lists Will Help You Accomplish Your Goals

So why list-making? 

I found that through writing all of my tasks down over the week, I was better able to map out my goals and the steps it would take to reach them. 

Once I started creating a daily to-do list, I no longer forgot about things, and I was more on top of my goals.

Not only was I able to stay on track to reach my long-wished-for goals, but ticking off each task on my list filled me with a sense of accomplishment. 

Other benefits of list-making include:

• Staying organized
• Visualizing goals 
• Prioritizing tasks 
• Reducing stress and anxiety 
• Staying focused 
• No longer forgetting about important tasks

“Lists are a form of power.”

– A.S. Byatt 

How To Get Started List Making 

All you will need is a notebook and a decent pen. 

Your lists can be as basic or elaborate as you would like. It will take some time to find a list style that works for you, but don’t give up! 

For me, my lists are messy, and I have terrible handwriting, but they do the trick! 

I recommend starting your list by creating a To-Do list for each day of the week and strategically organizing the tasks across the days of the week so as not to overwhelm yourself. 

This is the best way to avoid burnout! 

I also like to create a section labeled “To Do This Week” before organizing all my tasks under each day of the week. 

This section helps me remember my goals for the week and stay on track to accomplish those goals. 

I like to create little squares beside each task to get that little burst of dopamine from checking off each task I have accomplished that day. 

It doesn’t matter how small the tasks are; I will put them on my list. Everything from showering to yard work. If it doesn’t get written down, it doesn’t happen. 

In short:

1. Label the top of your sheet of paper “To-Do” and date the week.
2. Under “To Do,” Write out Sunday-Monday, leaving plenty of space to write below each.
3. In the right upper corner, create a space and label the section “To Do This Week.”
4. Under “To Do This Week,” list all of the tasks you would like to accomplish for the week.
5. Take the “To Do This Week” tasks and distribute them under your Sunday- Monday “To-Do” Sections.
6. Check off each task as you accomplish it throughout your week.
7. Don’t be afraid to add tasks as you think of them throughout your week.
8. Repeat all steps the following week.

If you are finding the idea of making a list for the week overwhelming, start small. Then, try creating a daily list and see how it goes!

Also, if you are one of those who, like my husband, prefer everything digital, create a digital To-Do list!

But whatever you do, just write out your week! 

Other Lists You Can Make To Stay Organized

A weekly to-do list is a great place to start when it comes to list-making and getting one’s self-organized, but we can always take that organization one step further. 

If, like me, you find you also NEED a list to keep yourself organized and on track to reach your goals, then you should definitely consider creating these lists as well. 

Having specific lists from which to pull tasks to fill in my To-Do lists during the week helps me stay organized and on top of all of my projects. 

Some of the helpful lists I recommend creating are:

1. A Meal Plan/Shopping List

It is impressive how time-consuming feeding oneself and one’s family can be, and we have to be prepared to do so three-plus times a day. 

This is why I definitely recommend creating a weekly menu and never going shopping without a list.

Before each shopping trip, I make sure to write out the meals I plan to make over the next two weeks (I hate shopping so much that I only do it once every two weeks). 

I then create a shopping list at the bottom of the page, under which I list all the ingredients I will need for the meals I have planned for the next two weeks. 

This helps me stay within our grocery budget and keeps me on track to make nourishing meals for my family throughout the week. 

If you would like to learn more about how to meal plan effectively, be sure to check out my article How To Save Hours Of Time Through Meal Planning. 

2. A Monthly To-Do List 

This is an excellent list for those of you who have busy schedules and need to stick to a strict routine. 

I personally love my monthly to-do list because it helps me to remember the bigger picture. It’s easy to leave all the major tasks for the end of the month and to leave yourself scrambling the last week of that month. 

This is why having a monthly to-do list to reference as you create your daily to-do lists is vital to staying on top of your life. 

A monthly to-do list doesn’t need to be anything fancy. A simple list in the back of your notebook will work just fine! 

3. A Goal To-Do List 

A goal to-do list is often overlooked when it comes to list-making. We generally write down our goals once a year and call it good, but we really shouldn’t. 

Our goals for the year should be placed somewhere where we view them often and can reference them regularly. 

Long-term goals are reached through the small actionable steps we take each day to reach them. 

If you struggle with staying on top of your long-term goals, you should definitely check out my cute new Printable Goal Planner! It has helped me so much when it comes to tracking my goals, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have. 

4. House Work To-Do List 

I will say that I struggle the most with staying on top of this list. I’m not too fond of cleaning, but I can’t focus if my house is a mess. This is why I find this list to be quite valuable. 

Your housework list should include deep cleaning projects you have been meaning to get around to or things like repainting a bedroom, weeding, washing windows, or replanting a flower bed. 

It can be challenging to remember to get to specific house projects, and often when you do remember about them, you are already in the middle of something else. 

This is why it is imperative that if you think about a home task that needs to be done that you WRITE IT DOWN! 

7. A Career To-Do List 

As with every goal in life, we should also be setting goals for our careers. One of the best ways to advance one’s career is to stay on top of things. 

List-making in a professional setting is highly beneficial. It can mean the difference between remembering to send that one important email and securing a client before logging out for the day and losing potential business.

No matter the job, I always create a daily task list of things I wish to accomplish by the end of the day and help me stay focused throughout the day. 

8. A Self-Care To-Do List 

I would dare say that having a self-care to-do list is one of the most important lists you can have. But, unfortunately, self-care can be pretty tricky to squeeze into our busy lives, and like I always say, “if it doesn’t get written down, it doesn’t happen.”  

So schedule it in!

It really does help. Plus, let’s face it, you can’t pour from an empty cup. So to be on top of our goals, we need to feel refreshed. This is why I created my very own Printable Self-Care Planner. 

“List, list, O, list!”

– William Shakespeare, in Hamlet

CONCLUSION 

In close, there are many categories of lists that we can choose to create to better our lives. So, I challenge you to sit down and create a weekly to-do list and watch how your life will change. 

Try it out for a few weeks and see how you like it. 

Then be sure to add more of the comprehensive lists to better pull tasks from your week and see what happens. 

You won’t regret it!

If you would like to learn more about how you can achieve your dream life, be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our monthly newsletter and get a heads up on future articles.

Also, don’t forget to check out our cute printable SHOP for fun prints that will help you keep track of your goals and more!

Have a bright day!