How I Stay Organized

I swear, organizing your day-to-day life used to be so much easier when you were in school and had an agenda. That’s just now adulthood works though. I can’t carry my overpriced Lily Pulitzer or Victoria's Secret’s PINK agenda anymore. I have to have access to my calendars and to-do list instantly.

Between my full-time job, my side jobs, my blog, my personal business, being a dog mom, and my personal life—I’m busy! I’m super Type-A too so I hate having things on my to-do list. The best way I can keep my mind in check is by using the notes app on my phone. I have multiple lists on there including a never-ending to-do list. Once I think of something (no matter how small) I always just jot it down. If I'm planning a party, thinking of a blog post idea, or need to pick up my dog’s new prescription, I write it down.

That’s where everything goes at first. Then it gets transferred over to Google. Google Suites is amazing. I’m still new at fully utilizing it, but it’s just the one place I know where I can access and easily maneuver everything.

Google Calendar is the #1 tool that I use. I have it organized so that it makes sense to me, so you have to make sure that you make it make sense to you when starting a digital calendar.

When I have “to-do” tasks I use the “task” feature on Google Cal. Again, depending on what it is (pick up something, call this person, or just a reminder to finish a task) I add it as a task on the day I want it to get done. And I don’t put in the time because this is a task that just needs to get done no matter what time. Then when I complete it I mark it as done. What I love though is that if I don’t get that task done it will move to the next day, and the next day, and the next. It never goes away until I mark it as “completed.”

“Reminders” work similarly to “tasks” on Google Cal where they won’t go away until it’s marked as “completed.” But I use “reminders” as alerts when something NEEDS or IS going to happen that day. Examples include when it’s time to change my Invisalign, start a new job, go to yard sales or have lunch with my grandma. Things like that. Where they are going to happen that day and they’re not “to-do’s” in my book.

Then I utilize the colors that Google Cal has to offer. For example, I use navy for birthdays, light purple for vacations, red for bills, gray for office hours, light green for paydays, pink for events, yellow for appointments, blue for meetings, dark green for holidays, and so on. Having a color coordinate calendar not only is aesthetically pleasing to me, but I'm able to quickly see what my day will look like based on the colors that are used that day.

That’s my Google Cal situation. You have to find what works for you, but this is how I stay on top of my schedule on a day-to-day basis. Then when I am in the middle of work, I will use the “stickies” app on my Mac computer to create a to-do list or reminders that I need to get something done for work. Or a physical pen and paper to-do list. I’m always making a to-do list throughout the day and crossing off one task at a time is so satisfying 😅.

This is how I stay organized, how do YOU stay organized?