The 3 Adulting Hacks That Taught Me How To Organize My Life

Need ways to organize your life?  We know exactly how you feel!

Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed with everyday life? (Who isn’t, right?) Is “organize my life” the number one item on your to-do list that never gets crossed out?

Let me tell you a secret: I know exactly how you feel.

For real, guys. I’m chronically disorganized and always have been. I used to struggle like crazy to organize my life and get a handle on the chaos, but it felt like an impossible task. I felt like I was constantly playing catchup, barely preventing certain disaster, and always trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.

Like, we’re talking piles and piles of dirty laundry, stacks and stacks of dirty dishes, running late for absolutely everything…that was me in a nutshell. And I felt like I’d never be able to catch up.

Then one day it hit me: I needed to make “adulting” a habit. I needed to break out of my chaotic patterns and establish new ones to help me become more successful instead of spinning my wheels. Here’s the deal though—it doesn’t happen overnight. There’s not a magic solution or an instant “organize my life hack” you can set and forget.

The good news is there are a few easy (like totally actually doable) home management and cleaning routines you can establish that WILL help you organize your life. It’s all about learning how to set yourself up for success.

Go from Hot Mess to Home Success: It’s the Adulting 101 Course You Need

Back in my “hot-mess days,” as I like to call them, I was constantly looking for the secret sauce to becoming a for real grownup. I looked at social media. I signed up for life skills courses. I printed worksheets. I pinned…I pinned like Pinterest was going to solve all my problems.

But here’s the deal: pinning great ideas, signing up for classes, and learning cleaning routines won’t fix the problem. All the printable weekly cleaning schedules in the world won’t do your dishes for you. You need to build your life skills.

I tried to find the perfect course online (believe me I took them ALL) but there wasn’t anything comprehensive, yet simple enough to both follow and stick with. There wasn’t an Adulting 101 online life skills course out there.

So, I made one. Welcome to Hot Mess to Home Success, my easy plan for the chronically disorganized.

Because as a recovering hot mess, I know how hard it is to get a handle on this stuff. I know it’s hard to think about washing your windows when you can’t even find clean underwear!

If you need SERIOUS home management help, get ready, because this course is going to change your life. Enrollment is limited! Get in there now so you don’t miss this opportunity.

Yes! Sign Me Up for the Hot Mess to Home Success Waiting List.

In the meantime, I know you’re thinking, “But I need help NOW!” Well, never fear! There are plenty of little changes to implement today. Here are the top three adulting hacks I used to organize my life. If you’re ready to get your chaos under control, I want you to start with these three simple tips.

1.      Write Down Your Schedule

True confession time: I’m a planner addict! Something about writing my schedule out and dumping the contents of my brain onto a page really helps me stay organized.

Using a handwritten paper planner beats using an electronic calendar, especially if you struggle with managing your schedule. Several studies show people who are wired like us (a.k.a. the chronically disorganized) do better with a paper planner. The process of writing ideas down works with the way our brains manage tasks. I’ve learned that our personality type has a better chance of succeeding if we use tangible planners.

Besides, if your Google Calendar was working, you wouldn’t be struggling to stay organized, would you?

You don’t need to go out and spend a fortune on the best planner out there (which is the Living Well Planner, in my opinion, if you’re curious…and it doesn’t cost a fortune). But before you buy, I highly recommend using a DIY paper planner first. I did this for years and it was totally customizable, easy to navigate, and cost me less than $5 to print and bind. Of course, if you feel investing in a great planner will give you more motivation, go for it!

Keep your planner on the kitchen counter, on your desk, on your nightstand—or somewhere where you will see it ALL THE TIME. The idea is to keep it with you as much as possible. Start writing down the really important stuff you need to remember. Block out times on your schedule for appointments, meetings, deadlines, and anything you can’t afford to mess up.

For now, I want you to set aside a time once a week (like Sunday afternoons) to update your planner. During your set time, write down any schedule changes and check out what you’ve got going on in the next week. Plan for any trips to the store, purchases you need to make, gifts you need to mail, and so on. When I learned to organize my life, keeping a paper planner was the biggest game-changer.

2.      Set Up a Weekly Routine

You only have 24 hours in a day, why spend them figuring out what to tackle, gathering supplies, researching the task and so on? Instead, set up a weekly routine for the major jobs you need to get done.

Along with setting up a routine comes automation. I set up automation for many tasks: grocery delivery, replenishing cleaning supplies, even buying dog food! Automating tasks makes life much easier, but first you need to establish your regular daily and weekly routine.

The keys to establishing an awesome routine is to first write it on your calendar/schedule/planner (the one you established in organizing hack #1). The second is to stick to the task like it’s written in stone! Now, I know that part is tough, and honestly, once your routine is established you can become more flexible. But for the first month or two, I want you to keep the appointments you schedule with yourself.

What items can you add to your weekly routine? Cleaning routines, basic home management, checking your budget, planning your meals, going to the gym, even your commute. Think of the basic home management tasks you need to achieve every week. Set a time to get them accomplished and keep the time similar each day (or each week).

Look for an easy printable weekly cleaning schedule, like my 15-minute speed cleaning checklist. Print it out and schedule a small block of time each day to run through the checklist. Schedule a longer block on the weekends to tackle the bigger jobs. You don’t need to get it all done at once, which is overwhelming. Instead, establish a rhythm in easy, bite-sized regular tasks.

3.      Focus on ONE Doable Task at a Time

When you begin to feel overwhelmed, remind yourself you are only capable of completing one task at a time. It’s so tempting for us chronically disorganized people to want to fix the whole hot mess at once. But here’s the deal—the way you’re attempting to juggle everything now? It’s not working. That’s why you feel stressed out, burned out and overwhelmed.

Taking on too much is a recipe for failure. I’ve broken down each piece of Hot Mess to Home Success into manageable, simple pieces. When you set your bar too high and aim for a Pinterest-perfect life, you end up with a Pinterest-fail life.

Instead, focus on establishing ONE new routine a week. If you start keeping a calendar this week, it’s enough to get your momentum going. Next week, schedule in a couple trips to the gym. The week after that, start adding in cleaning routines, then move to meal planning or budgeting.

We all want to find a quick fix, especially when life feels chaotic and stressful, but taking on too much isn’t setting yourself up for success. In one week, you could start a strong routine. Once the first routine becomes habit, build on it and move to the next. These baby steps will move you toward succeeding at your bigger goals. You’ll build confidence and start to realize you can get the life you want.

If you’re ready to get started, I suggest you begin by taking the 3-Day Home Rescue Challenge. This mini-course will fast-track your life skills and help you prepare for the Hot Mess to Home Success course, which is now open.

This is the first step toward getting your chaos under control. Take it from one reformed hot mess—it can happen. If I learned how to organize my life, you can too. Get the life you long for. I will walk you through the life skills you need to make it happen!

Take the 3 Day Home Rescue Challenge

I’m ready for the Hot Mess to Home Success Waiting List!