Life As an Organized and Productive Individual

Disclaimer: Everything I share with you here is based on personal experiences and things I have read. These tips and tricks might not work for everybody, and they are absolutely not the only ones that work.

Where It All Starts

What's the one thing we all struggle with in life?

That's Right! Staying organized and productive! Whether it's in your life, your bedroom, your closet, your eating habits, or even your phone apps! Organization brings contentment and peace of mind to your life and with this, you will begin to feel your days becoming more and more productive.

Morning Routines

What is the first thing you do when you wake up? It is social media? Do you roll over and snooze your alarm? Do you grab breakfast and bring it back to bed? All of those are horrible ways to start your day. Don't @ me. THEY ARE.

Try these 8 steps to create an effective morning routine :)

1. Create a plan/schedule for the day

When you know you've got a hectic day ahead, a little planning can go a long way. Integrate your goals and your list of to-do's, so you have a plan of action.

2. Read something that feeds your mind

Reading for just 10 minutes has the power to bring you immense joy. If you read a page a minute, your 10 minutes a day = 3,650 pages read by the end of the year or 12,300-page books.

3. Express gratitude

Benefits from expressing gratitude; improved relationships physical and emotional health, sleep, mental stamina, energy, and overall happiness. Choose 3 or more things to be grateful for each morning.

4. Hug your kid, spouse, or pet

Hugs boost your oxytocin levels (the love hormone), increase serotonin (elevates mood and create happiness), strengthen the immune system, boost self-esteem, lower blood pressure, balance the nervous system, and release tension.

5. Get moving

We all know the benefits of exercise. This might be a run, hike, trip to the gym, yoga, stretching, or finding your own short workout. Remember, what works for one person will not work for everyone.

6. Eat a good breakfast

What does that mean for you? A protein smoothie? Great. Avocado toast? Awesome. Oatmeal? Fantastic. Eat a healthy, 'real-food' breakfast to get you going.

7. Meditation

Just 10 minutes in the morning is sufficient. It will set the tone for the day, give you more energy, build your focus, and give you a sense of overall well-being.

8. Be in nature

Find a place you can sit or walk and just be. Notice the colours of the trees and the sky, the smells in the air. Take a walk in nature, and you've got physical and spiritual needs covered all in one go!

Night Routines

Some people like to sit on their phone until 1am, others like to read until they fall asleep, maybe you like to watch anime until the sun comes up and then freak out when you start hearing birds chirping. If you want to live a life as an organized and productive person there are some things you have to sacrifice.

1. Put your phone away

You're gonna have a hard time falling asleep if you're on your phone before you go to sleep. Set a time for your phone to go on Do Not Disturb mode and put it somewhere far away from your bed.

2. Take a warm shower

Get off all that dirt and grease that has collected in your hair and on your skin throughout the day.

3. Put on some slow jazz to calm the mood

You don't want to listen to anything upbeat, catchy, and that has lyrics. The songs will get stuck in your head and you won't be able to fall asleep.

4. Hydrate

Put on comfortable clothes to sleep in and sit with a glass of water until you drink it all.

5. Yoga

This optional, but what helps me fall asleep easily is a quick 5-10 minutes of yoga/stretching. It relaxes my body and clears my mind.

10 habits of happy people

The first thing I would do is just write a list of all the good habits and bad habits you can think of. A column for the good and one for the bad.

1. Kind to others, 2. Optimistic, 3. Forward-looking, 4. Forgiving, 5. Humble and grateful, 6. Good manners, 7. Work that brings joy and purpose, 8. Mindful and aware, 9. Physically and mentally fit, 10. Spend quality time with loved ones.

How To Wake Up Early

1. Have a strong "Why"

If you don't come up with a good way to spend your mornings, you will automatically choose to sleep in. Changing this habit is hard, I know, and if you want to endure the difficulty, you will need a good reason for it. My reason was because I wanted more time in the day. I felt like i couldn't do enough in one day, or sometimes i felt like there was nothing to do. Be really clear about what you want to get out of the extra morning time.

2. Plan your mornings with excruciating detail

The more specific you are with your morning routine, the easier it's going to be to execute it. I'm talking about the really small details. Where do you put your alarm? Do you get dressed before going to the bathroom? Do you shave first or brush your teeth first? Do you take a shower in the morning or the evening?

3. Don't make drastic changes

Start slowly, by waking up just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.

4. Put your alarm clock far from your bed

If it's right next to your bed, you'll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. If it's far from your bed, you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you're up. Now you just have to stay up.

5. Make waking up early a reward

Yes, it might seem at first that you're forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early. Find something that's pleasurable for you, and allow yourself to do it as part of your morning routine

6. take a cold shower

One tip that can help you wake up is to give yourself a bst of cold water for 30 seconds, switching from extremely hot for another 30 seconds before going back to cold. Some people even forgo the hot water completely and do a cold shower instead. Either way, if you inject cold into the shower routine, you're going to wake yourself up very effectively.

7. go to bed earlier

If you hope to wake up early and have a productive day, you'll need to get plenty of sleep. That means going to bed early, even if you're typically a night owl. Avoid electronic devices in the evening hours and gradually move your bedtime up until you're getting the recommended eight hours of sleep. A good rule of thumb is, "Regulate the amount of sleep by adjusting the bedtime, not wake up time."

8. Challenge yourself for 21 days

Waking up early for 1 or 2 days is easy...Being consistent about it and turning this into a habit is much harder.

The brain gets used to a new habit within 21 days. To shift your mindset and attitude for waking up early, make a commitment for the next 3 weeks. Create a challenge that will help you build your consistency.

BONUS TIP. Connecting with like-minded people and creating a challenge together will boost your chances to develop long-lasting habits