6 Ways to Increase Productivity and Organizational Skills

 

Marie Kondo is a well-known Japanese organization consultant and author. In the year 2015, Time Magazine incorporated her name amongst the world’s 100 most prominent people.

Although she has authored four books on organization, her recent publication, ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing’ is a global rage and has been published in about 30 nations.

Her system of organizing is termed as the KonMari Method. The highlight of this methodology is conducting the exercise of decluttering. Through retaining only those items that truly “spark joy” within your soul. (This term is referred to as Tokimeki in Japanese, which signifies adjectives like “flutter, throb, palpitate”).

Look around your house and you would realize that there is so much stuff that has been lying unused for more than a year, clothes, books, shoes, gadgets, and a lot more. We keep this stuff thinking we would use it someday, now chances are if you have not been able to use it in over a year, you won’t use it at all, because even if you would want to, by then it would either become unusable or you won’t be able to locate it, then why not contributeit to someone who would value it more today and get rid of the clutter around you in the process.

See, your clutter speaks to you on a personal, emotional and psychological level. If you want to be organized and productive, start decluttering today. In your life, whether you are a teenager, a young adult, a professional, or a parent there is a very organized way of being a little disorganized here and there. 

It's like an overwhelming feeling of everything just falling on you from all corners or you being pulled in different directions all at the same time. The entire idea behind this blog is to helps you feel better in control of your life.

Whether you are a student or a professional, we have enough problem-solving exercises that occupy us the entire day, and having to organize our lives should not be another one. 

So, my effort here is that when you enter your rooms or look at your schedules or your levels of preparation for an exam,event or a meeting, all you should experience is a sigh of relief rather than grrr of frustration.

And after reading this through the end, one thing that you will realize is that, organization is no rocket science.

 

 

 

 

Successful people always have their desks empty. It starts with the daily habit of decluttering. It’s just as simple as following a simple dictum- “Leave a place better than it was when you entered.” I always love using this analogy in my Leadership sessions, and participants say it works like magic. Think of it like this, if a room/space talks about your presence in your absence, why not let it say positive things about you. Whether it is the washroom, study room, playroom, dining room or any space at all. Why create spaces and let them backbite and complain about you just because you were careless.

THESE SPACES ARE IMPORTANT:

1. CLEAR THAT CLUTTER FIRST: I always tell Teenagers and Young adults who take the Zenith 5Q Leadership Intelligence Training with me, that if you randomly open your cupboard, and you feel everything seems to be falling on you, it’s a reflection of how your life is going on at the moment. If anything in your life is giving you that feeling of being pressurized, be it your study table, or your piling home assignments/projects, if you tend to feel cluttered in certain tasks or spaces in your life, chances are that your life is cluttered too. That being said, it is important to remember this:Life doesn't flourish in clutter. Clear that clutter first. Make sure to start with your cupboard and then clear every single space that you use spending just 15 minutes every day.
2. MAKE YOUR BED, FIRST THING IN THE MORNING: When you wake up, ensure to make your bed in the first 5 minutes of waking up. This is one rule that the most successful, organized and productive people in this world follow. Making your bed is one activity that gives you a sense of control, even before you begin with your day. It’s like an accomplishment in the first 5 minutes of your day. This might be a small habit but one that goes a long way.
3. LOOK BACK: Always look back when you are about to leave a place to check if everything is as it was when you entered, if not better. This not just helps you organize things better but also prevents clutter from accumulating and also eradicates the careless forgetfulness of things.

Einstein once said, “If I had 1 hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first 55 minutes to plan and organize my thoughts to identify the right solution and once I knew what to do, all I would take is 5 minutes to implement the solution.” That is the importance of planning and organization.

People talk about the ‘To do lists’ and ‘Checklists’ but hardly ever do we follow it.

So, instill in yourself the habit of creating checklists. I remember, I inculcated this habit very early on in my daughter. I explained the importance of checklists to her only when she was 10. At her age, it turns out she used to be the only one in her school maintaining checklists. And funny as it may sound but she made it a point to show her checklists off,brag to her classmates about this habit of hers and impress her teachers, with how she makes one checklist every day. 

 

CHECKLISTS ARE AWESOME:

1. Checklists take away the anxiety of 'What if I miss?'
2. A to-do list helps keep a track of things that otherwise would be difficult to manage.
3. Why create unnecessary stress of remembering when you could just write and refer to it?Imagine how unkind it is to depend on your memory to recall and produce all that information of completing assignments, projects, family dinner, important phone calls, wishing on birthdays, house chores, maintain relations and so much more, when the simple solution all along was just to write it down in a checklist and then make sure to follow it. Why should we burden our brain with all of that and then feel frustrated when we miss recalling an important deadline or an event? 

Therefore, the first step is to dedicate a small notebook to just list all that needs to be done. Checklists don’t just help us organize better and make us efficient, checklists also play the role of a psychological “feel-good” factor especially when something is checked off that list; thereby encouraging behavior directed towards completing specific tasks. 

Make sure that when you complete a task before time, always reward yourself with something that brings a smile on your face. 

Create a system: Whether you are a student or a professional, make sure to establish a routine, a specific study time, a designated area where you perform all the work-related activities. 

When you work in a specific space at a specific time everyday, your brain helps you become more productive. We develop a rhythm with our environment. You energize that space and ideas start flowing easily. Your brain understands that you will get up only once you tick off certain tasks off that list.

 Relationships are important.The most crucial ones, however that we also tend to overlook and inevitably take for granted are the relationships that we share with our family. So here is what I recommend, have a family calendar that hangs in a location that is always visible to everyone. Because this is one way for the entire family to be on the same track. 

This calendar really helps;

1. This Syncs the family and reminds everyone of each other's schedules and commitments.
2. Everyone contributes to this calendar. It shouldn’t just be in the parents’ control; everyone gets to fill in the tasks that are important to them.
3. Demarcate the important family time we promise to each other on this calendar. If you don't have fixed family time, start having it from today. For example, my family has a fixed board game hour that involves the youngest to the oldest member of the family just involved in the game. It’s hard to express how a simple board game can help everyone bond together.
4. Once the family calendar is synced, sudden things won't throw you off your schedules and help you inculcate better understanding, commitment and a sense of responsibility towards each other.

 A new day doesn’t start on the morning of but the night before, just like when you sleep early, you wake up early. Thereby, spending 15 minutes every evening in organizing the next day goes much beyond just organizing the day after. It instils the habit of planning and goal setting, enhancing your productivity in the long run.

 Studies show that positive reinforcement goes a long way in maintaining positive behaviors in the long run. If you see some member of your family really working towards being more organized, productive and result oriented, appreciation is a must.

And if you notice a young person inculcating this habit, make sure to show appreciation. You don’t have to always praise a big accomplishment or miss a little action. Let them know that you notice even the smallest feats that they accomplish. 

If you notice yourself being more organized than before, remember this: You are an example and it is from people like you that others get inspiration. Pat your back and keep up the good work.

 To sum it up. Organization skills don’t come with setting ideal standards. Everyone has a different and maybe, an equally efficient way of organizing themselves– the more you let them do it themselves, the better they learn. Just remember: “Being organized is a habit that is inculcated only with practice.” Once you experience the pleasure of being organized you never let go of it.

Organization and Planning is a significant part of any young person's success in life, so inculcate it before its late.Trust yourself, observe your growth in every little step you take, but most importantly, be proud of how far you have come!

Reach out to me:

1. If you are a Teenager or a Young adult or a parent to one.And if you want to master the new-age skills and aspire to discover your best version and live an extraordinary life, join me in the Zenith 5Q Intelligence Model of Leadership.
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