My #1 tip to organize

I’ve spent a lot of time reorganizing myself lately. I think many of us do that at the beginning of a new calendar year. I mean, we’re all inundated with messages at the start of the new year about it. But how do you organize? How do you go about it? For me, my #1 tip to organize is simple, flexible, and even Ben Franklin approved.

You and I likely have different approaches to organizing. My system works for me, and it might work for you, or it might not. Since we live in a productivity-obsessed society, there are a lot of ideas about organizing. I hesitate to create yet another blog post with tips and tricks, but here’s why I am: none of the blogs that I’ve read helped me. Not really. 

Bullet journal? Nope.

Recently, I tried to create a bullet journal. I stopped within 15 minutes because I screwed up the page numbering, missed adding the index, realized I forgot the key, and I gave up. Lots of people I know love bullet journals. For many, it’s a great tool. But it did not work for me. 

Post-it notes? Not anymore.

Of course, the old standby for organizing is to-do lists. I love them, and I certainly get that dopamine rush of crossing something off my list. But mounds of paper or post-it notes were never very effective for me either, mostly because they were lost or buried amongst other things in my work space.

TimeBoxing? Sometimes.

I do like the idea of TimeBoxing as a tactic. It is one of the reasons why adding a calendar view is on our long-term roadmap for Cascadin. But it doesn’t work for me every day because, well, life happens and I’m human. 

My #1 tip: 10 minutes a day

So what do I do? I spend 10 minutes at the beginning of my day figuring out my priorities. I break those priorities down into manageable bits, adding or rearranging those Tasks, Projects, and To-dos in Cascadin, and then I go forward. Each day I check in Cascadin to make sure I’m on the right track. 

It’s simple and flexible, exactly how I like it. And Ben Franklin approved:

I’ll take that extra hours in the week anytime. 🥳