If you work in shifts, your routine can often change. Staying organized can seem like an impossible task when your hours are constantly changing. But being organized helps in many ways, not just with materialistic things, but also for better mental health, especially when you’re working in shifts.
Organized people aren’t born that way. They have used tips and tricks to build upon the common sense they possess to cultivate healthy habits that help them stay organized. Even seemingly disorganized people can learn to be highly organized.
Start by Mapping Out Your Life
The first tip is to remember to write everything down so you have a life map you can refer to. It is important to write things down so you can stay on task and work things off one by one.
Just writing everything on a calendar helps, whether it is on paper or using a smartphone app. Write down important dates, appointments, grocery lists, bucket lists, possible holiday gifts, birthdays, and deadlines along with a to-do list for each day.
Consider your short term and long-term goals and split them up into manageable steps you can do one by one. Don’t be afraid to ask for help to get this to-do list accomplished.
Priorities change, so return to your to-do lists frequently to reorder and rearrange them so that you can get the most done in the time you have.
Organize your Home and Work Areas
All material possessions must have a home. Put all like items together and in the same place so it is easy to go to that particular spot to retrieve them at a moment’s notice.
Properly storing things and adding labels can help achieve organization in the home and work areas. It can also help with cleanliness.
Make sure to declutter these areas regularly and clean everything to keep it all in a tip-top organized condition. Discard anything you do not need. Donate to thrift stores or local church groups or even have a yard sale or sell it online through websites like Facebook marketplace, eBay, OfferUp, and LetGo. Keep only the things that you need for daily living that you find useful.
Spending money should be what you need, not what you want. If you need it, buy it, but don’t buy something expecting to possibly use it in the future. Break it down into hours: how long will you have to work in order to pay for what you are considering buying? Is it worth it? Do you need it or just want it?
Getting Organized is a Lifestyle Choice
Work hard at organizing. Make it a daily activity. Don’t get sluggish or back off.
Keep all of your receipts together, for example. This will help if you need to return an item to a store or when tax season comes along.
Another example is to make sure all your hanging clothes in the closet are sorted by size so that you can reach easily in and quickly grab what you need. This will save time when you need to make it to work in a few minutes and are running behind.
Another organization tip is to have certain days that you do things. For instance, make Fridays the day you change the sheets and do laundry. Make Mondays the day you prepare the meals for the week. Make Wednesdays be the day you sweep, mop, and clean. If you do this, your daily life along with your material things will be organized and you will feel much better.
Being organized does not mean you have every dish, cup, sheet, etc. in place. It means you have space in your mind to think clearly. If you are bogged down with ‘where did I put this or that’ or ‘I know I had one of those somewhere’, then how can you expect to complete complex tasks that take months of planning and effort?
Your mind will be free if your life is organized. Making the initial transition to being an organized person is the hard part. Staying organized is much easier and worth it in the long run, especially when you are dealing with the unpredictable world of shift work.