1) Have a calendar or schedule and plan out your days/weeks.
Making a list or plotting out the things you need to accomplish will help you stay on task. Checking them off of your list will also make you feel more productive after you've completed them (tangible gratification?). I personally have a desk calendar, a calendar app, and a planner that I use to keep my days in order. I don't recommend taking it day by day, because there's nothing wrong with getting into the habit of planning for the future, but I would advise taking an hour out of your Sunday and planning out your week. As new things come up, you can add or remove things from the list.
{Secret: Planning out tasks and marking them off as you accomplish them actually makes you feel productive and in control. = Less Stress}
2) Clean out your phone / social media.
Nothing is more annoying than the notification saying your iPhone cannot be backed up or has run out of storage. Delete text messages from people you haven't talked to in months, videos you don't remember taking, songs you are now embarrassed you ever listened to, and those 49 selfies it took to get the one you posted on Instagram. I recommend prioritizing your contact list. Pick the top 5 or even top 10 people you talk to on a regular basis and give them some recognizing feature, like capitalizing their name, assigning them an emoji/contact picture, or both. Also, cleaning out your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram will not only make things easier to find, but it will make you seem more put together for future networks or employers who reach out to you. Remember: A person's phone/appearance online says a lot about them, whether you realize it or not.
{Secret: If you're really ambitious, clean out your Pinterest. It takes me about 2 weeks to clean out my whopping 13k pins, but I've found taking it one board at a time to be the best approach. I've also found that having more boards with less things in them is better than less boards with more stuff. More stuff = more clutter you'll never be able to find again. I know we all get bored and find ourselves on "pinning-sprees", but you should be pinning things for a reason. For example: I cut down my original fashion board to only 300 pins. I went through everything and asked "Would I actually wear this? Is it comfortable? Is it somewhat modest? Would this set a good example?" and deleted pins I did not deem worthy of my new board.}
3) Organize your living space.
No one can function in a messy, disorganized area and be completely stress free. Whether your goal is to clean out your closet, remodel your bathroom, or deep clean your entire house, take it one area at a time. If you're going all out, make a budget/layout list first to keep yourself from going overboard. Keep daily tasks separate. Put all electronics on your media shelves, all school supplies on your desk, or all beauty products in the same cabinet. This makes things easier to find and work with. Come up with some sort of filing system that makes sense to you. Organize clothes by color, style, or season. Order CD's and DVD's by genre or series. Don't hesitate to get rid of things you don't use anymore. Throw it out, donate it, or sell it, anything to reduce clutter.
{Secret: When cleaning out your bathroom or closet, ask yourself "Has it been 6 months since I wore/used this? Am I keeping this for sentimental reasons? Am I saving this for a just-in-case item?" If you answer yes to any of those questions, its time to get rid of it.}
I wish you all the best of luck de-cluttering and de-stressing your life. Here's a picture of my newly cleaned and organized desk. My room is still a work in progress, but then again, so is life.
x Madds
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