Oh, I got it!
I got it!
Ohhh... ok, it’s not like I tried to film this 10 times already.
Just saying...
By the way, this video is sponsored by Notion.
Alright, let's try again.
Oh, there you go Ron.
Oh...
Sometimes life and trying to stay organized feels like a juggling act.
And just as you start to find your rhythm—swiftly moving to catch one ball after the next—say
that's finances, family commitments, and hobbies that keep you active or sane.
Unfortunately, at some points, some balls are bound to hit the ground.
Maybe that’s failing to prioritize sleep.
Buying fast food instead of meal prepping.
Neglecting your friends and other relationships in your life.
And oh yea, it’s likely procrastinating is popularizing its presence in your life.
So instead of throwing life’s tasks in the air in hopes that you’ll somehow catch them
all.
I’d like to help you take a different approach.
So in this conversation, we’ll cover 10 principles to flat-out organize your life
and keep it that way.
And the first one on the list is to plan ahead.
Life is very unpredictable, and it is filled with twists and turns that we don’t always
see coming.
But I’ve learned that a little planning always goes a long way.
A task manager and a calendar are really the only tools you need to do this effectively.
For me, I have all of my major events and meetings scheduled on my Google calendar.
I also have calendars within my calendar—and they’re all color-coded, so I’m always
aware of what’s going on and when it’s supposed to happen.
Additionally, I have a daily to-do list that I’ve built custom to my needs using Notion.
Now a to-do list doesn’t have to be complicated by any means, but this system allows me to
quickly add new tasks whenever they come to mind.
And then filter them by "DO" date and priority so every morning I’m not overwhelmed by
a long list of to-dos.
I can see exactly what I have planned to do today, tomorrow, next week, or for the entire
month, depending on what my specific goals are or projects I’m trying to complete.
Now before I get too far into the weeds on this.
Let me quickly explain what Notion is if you’re not familiar.
Notion is an all-in-one workspace for teams and individuals.
That truly gives you the freedom to build a workspace that helps you focus on what matters.
You can start from scratch or with any of the pre-built templates they offer.
You can access your Notion workspace on both the desktop and mobile app—which is available
on both iOS, Mac, Android, and Windows, by the way.
Or you can access your workspace directly on the web by simply signing into your account.
And that's not even the best part.
It’s 100% free for personal use.
Not a free trial—it’s free.
Now, if you choose to upgrade, you’ll unlock some additional features that are amazing
for both individuals and team environments.
Such as collaborative workspaces and advanced permissions, especially if you're looking
to share your workspace with team members you work with or family.
There are also some pretty cool perks if you're a student.
You can check out those details in comparison right here on the screen.
So if Notion looks interesting to you and you want to try it out then you can sign up
by using the link in the description below.
Alright, number two is to develop habits and build a routine.
Our habits shape our lives more than we realize, and our routines determine our actions without
conscious thought.
So my tip to help you organize your life and keep it that way would be to step back and
observe the habits you have in your life.
What’s working?
What needs to go?
And what new habits can you build to help you reach your goals?
See, good habits set us up for success, and they make us feel good.
Bad habits rob us of our time, money, health, and happiness.
Now building good habits isn’t easy.
So it’s important that you have a strong reason behind why do you want to develop certain
habits.
That way, you're more likely to consume your life with good habits instead of bad ones.
Number three is embracing your natural inclinations.
Organizing your life across calendars and to-do lists and thoughtfully crafting habits
that shape the life you want to live can be self-defeating when living with an aspirational
view on life.
A very common example of this is the night owl versus the early riser.
See, most people perceive the early riser as being better than the night owl.
So we aspire to wake up at 5am every morning because we believe that’s what we’re supposed
to do.
But I want to challenge you to instead embrace your natural inclinations.
If you’re a night owl who does their best work at 12 AM or if you love waking up before
the sun rises, then embrace that and be realistic about yourself.
The best thing you can do is opt for habits that fit within your natural inclinations.
It’s the only what you’ll truly feel organized and in control of your life.
Number four is to declutter and simplify.
As someone who practices minimalism and believes in the minimalist lifestyle, it wouldn’t
be right if I didn’t mention this as a key principle to flat-out organize your life.
So always be on the lookout for opportunities to simplify your space physically, digitally,
emotionally, and mentally.
And across this channel, I have a ton of content to help you do exactly that.
The best place to start would be my New to minimalism?
Start here playlist.
This is packed full of tips to help you regardless if you’re new to minimalism or not.
I’ll leave a link to this playlist below, as well as my Clutter to Clarity Quick-Guide,
where I give you the 6 decisions you must make to start regaining control of your life
and money.
Number five is measuring your progress.
Whether your goals are big or small, short-term or long-term, there is a ton of benefits to
measuring your progress.
Not only will this give you the power of knowing what’s working and what’s not working
to help you accomplish your goals.
But it will also help you allocate more time and energy to the activities that are actually
helping you rather than hurting you.
The way I do this personally depends on the goal or project I’m currently working on.
In most cases, I try to attach some sort of metric to my goal.
Tracking your progress with numbers is the easiest.
But not every goal of mine works this way, so I also do a lot of journaling and self-reflecting.
This allows me to judge my efforts and use an educated guess in regards to how much progress
I think I’m making.
There’s also a really interesting way that you can do this in Notion with progress bars.
It requires you to create a formula similar to how you would in a traditional spreadsheet
system.
But essentially, every time you complete a task you can mark your progress with a number
out of 100 for example, and that will reflect as a percentage along your progress bar towards
completing your project.
Number six is consistent progress over perfection.
Having an all-or-nothing, things have to be perfect attitude can be a dangerous road to
travel down.
It can cause us to set unrealistic expectations for ourselves, and if we don’t meet those
expectations, more likely we throw in the towel and give up on our goals altogether.
So instead of trying to be perfect with everything you do, seek incremental progress.
This means being realistic with your goals and believing in the power of compounding
effort.
In other words, consistency will always outperform perfection in the short term and over the
long term.
Number seven is to find balance.
Although this idea of hustling and working around the clock may help you make progress
and move the needle in the short term.
The long-term effects of this, such as stress and burnout, will eventually rear their ugly
heads.
I talk about this in detail in this video here so consider checking that out if you
haven't seen it.
See, the goal here is to prioritize long-term sustainability with balance and self-care.
A few strategies to consider are:
Avoid overextending yourself and spending too much time on work.
Prioritizing your health and fitness—are you working out?
Are you getting enough sleep?
Are you being mindful of the things you eat?
Journaling and meditation are great as well.
And scheduling time to spend with family and friends is a must.
Having a social life is extremely important.
Number eight is to prioritize appropriately.
Prioritization is key to maintaining an organized life.
It is impossible to do everything all at once.
So we have to learn how to say no not yet to certain things so we can give out undivided
attention to what matters most at various times throughout our day, week and month.
To show you an example of how this works and why it’s important, let’s go back to my
to-do list that I talked about you at the beginning of this video.
So in Notion, I created a daily to-do list that’s custom to my needs.
And every time I enter a new task I also assign a priority.
First, second, third, fourth, or is it an errand I need to run or something that I can
get done relatively quickly.
This helps me know my most important task for each day so I can prioritize my time,
energy, and attention.
And therefore get things done and make progress.
Number nine is automation.
Technology is an amazing thing that is growing at a rapid rate.
And if used intentionally it can help you organize your life in some very significant
ways.
If you own a business you can automate your emails.
The way in which people can schedule appointments with you.
Proposals you send out to potential clients.
Posting on social media and so on.
And in your personal life, you can automate finances.
Paying bills, saving every month, and investing every month.
See automation is a great way to make sure important things are still getting done without
you having to manually do it yourself.
This means you can allocate your time to other parts of your life that truly require your
attention.
Number ten is to try new things.
The processes and routines we follow in our life to help us stay organized will eventually
run their course and start to become stale.
Maybe that process is outdated now or we’ve outgrown a particular habit or routine that
once served us well.
And that’s ok.
It just means we have to give ourselves permission to be a bit spontaneous—to experiment and
try new things.
Because only through trying many things will we find that one thing that works to help
us stay organized at this stage in our life.
I hope you found this video helpful and if you did comment below and let me know which
principle resonated the most with you.
Also if you’re curious to know more about how are used Notion in my life.
Then check out this video here to see how I manage this YouTube channel in Notion.
Or this video here to learn how my wife and I track our finances and budget using Notion.
Keep growing, keep learning and always stay true to you.
I’ll see you in the next one.
Peace!