For those
To be productive as a disorganised person is essential. Disorganisation should not affect your productivity. Some of the people I see are most organised. When I see myself, I just feel so unorganised. But it doesn’t mean that I am not productive. Which proves that you can be an unorganised as well as a productive person. It takes a bit of courage to become productive and organise at the same time. ( at least for me)
Now we have theories which prove that unorganised people are not lazy or unproductive, rather they flow with the current or entropy. Entropy is the chaos and disorderliness towards which the universe moves.
My kitchen shelf is always full of all the utensils and canisters. If I will try to organise them every-time, then I will not have any time for other things to do.
For me to be productive, I have to remain unorganised. What a beautiful excuse for saving myself from organising. Whenever I organise my desk, I could not find my stuff. Because I just place them somewhere and then forget. Then I will spend a good chunk of time finding those things.
Now I find that being disorganised is better than organising things and then spending time in finding the stuff. But this is me and it only helps in my desk work.
I may be wrong but this is how I am. If I am working on some stuff, I could not even feel the unwanted stuff lying around me. My daughter who is a toddler scatters all her toys and other stuff around the house and it becomes difficult for me to always tidy my house. So I keep it in disorderly and unorganised form. And I love it.
I always tidy things in the evening when my husband comes home. He notices all the mess at first sight which I cannot even feel the whole day.
But I always take some actions to make myself productive and save myself from the label of unproductive as well as unorganised. Here are some of my favourite tips.
Related
- How S.M.A.R.T goals can help beat procrastination
- How to beat procrastination and laziness to be productive
- Time management strategies to beat procrastination
1. Start your day with a plan
Planning helps in letting you do what you want. Write a few tasks every day to accomplish. Don’t overload your task list with tasks. Again you will be overwhelmed with a big list. This will make your work disorganised because you will run from one task to another to accomplish them all together.
When you change from one task to another, it takes our brain energy to shift things. Also, our brain takes some time to adjust new task and in doing so, wastes time.
2. Don’t multitask
If you are already a disorganised person, multitasking will make things worse for you. It is not always that you are disorganised and unproductive but being organised will give a bit of peace of mind. Multitasking means you will have your attention divided into many distractions.
Research shows that multitasking decreases productivity and you will be unable to work efficiently. It decreases your productivity because your brain takes some time to adjust to the new activity. The time which your brain takes to adjust to new activity is the time wasted. It is best to start one activity and finish it before starting another.
3. Change plans if the need arises
Check your to-do list midday because it will help you in making an audit on your performance. Analyse everything and make any necessary changes in your working schedule, if you need. It will save you from thinking that you haven’t accomplished a lot.
There always a million things you want to do and after midday, you start feeling like you haven’t done enough. Have a look at your to-do list and round off the activities you have accomplished. Prioritise the remaining activities and arrange them according to the availability of time.
4. Rest is you want to be productive as a disorganised person
Take rest because taking rest will help you in becoming more productive. After taking rest, your disorganised thoughts will become organised because you will be able to think constructively. Finding solutions to problems become easy after having rest.
Even taking a walk outside will help you in organising your thoughts for better. Sometimes you feel so lost in never-ending thoughts of to-do lists, that all of your energy required to be productive goes out.
5. Write it down at one specific place
Write down your tasks in one place. Either you can keep a note pad or some software to organise your work. When you write down your tasks, you feel obliged to work on those tasks. Keep strictly one place to write. I know when you are not an organised person, you will be disorganised in everything. I can say this from experience.
Don’t write down everything everywhere. keep things at a specific place. I am writing this, particularly because from my personal experience, disorganised people have a tendency to write everything wherever they feel like. Save yourself some time by making a specific place to write your plans.
6. Block time for your tasks
Blocking time will help you in being more productive because you will feel obliged to complete the given task in the given time. There may be a little bit of swaying from your working schedule but not much. And you will be able to accomplish more in less time.
When you know you have to accomplish a certain task in that given time, it becomes really easy for you to concentrate that particular time.
7. Resolve small tasks immediately
Small tasks take a lot of your brain space. Write them on paper and resolve them as you get time. Don’t put them for another time. Things done will always give you a sense of accomplishment, how small they may be. Unresolved small tasks will always surface your thoughts whenever you will sit for doing something.
As explained in Zeigarnic effect, unaccomplished tasks remain in your mind and you remember those tasks. This means that your brain will be filled with those tasks. This becomes important to resolve small tasks immediately.
8. Keep things in your reach
If you have to go finding everything every time, you will waste time. But if you will keep things easily accessible, it will help you in finding things easily which is ultimately an easy thing to save some time. Time saved in doing any task will help you in becoming more productive.
Being disorganised means you will have everything everywhere. Keep things at designated places. It will help you in becoming productive if you are a disorganised person.
9. Minimise your distractions
We live in a world of distractions. Social media and all other activities distract us from our most important tasks and goals. Keep them away for some time. Nowadays, everything is just a click away.
With a few clicks on mobile, we can find world news. These are really big distractions which you need to tame. Keep distractions to a minimum, otherwise, it will be difficult to concentrate on your tasks.
Whenever you feel like you are getting distracted from your main task, stop take a deep breath, collect your thoughts and bring your attention to the task in hand. It will help you in creating a focused environment for your mind.
10. Stop small things becoming bigger
All problems and issues arise as small problems. Same is with the problem of unproductive and organised. If you see that your small task or small problem is becoming big, stop and try to resolve immediately. It is really important to resolve all the small issues.
Unfinished tasks and problems will eventually become big and hinder your productivity. Organise your small tasks first and become more productive.
11. Take breaks and recharge your self
Taking breaks helps you relax and recharge. When your mind is relaxed, you can think constructively and pay attention to those tasks that are really important for your main goal. You will be more in charge of your small tasks that can hinder your productivity.
Taking breaks and see whatever you have accomplished. Have a coffee break or some muffin break/ nut break ( healthy option)/ water break to recharge and reward yourself on your accomplishments.
These are all my thoughts to become productive as a disorganised person. Please tell me in comments if you have some more ideas for becoming more organised and productive.
