8 Powerful & Practical Habits of Organized People

Habits of Organized People That Actually Help

O to the K! Let’s talk about some habits of organized people.

Organization may not seem like this life-changing concept, but I assure you it can be.

I relate organization to simplicity.

And we all know that life is not this simple thing we coast through.

So anytime I can inject a dose of simplicity into my life, you bet I’m all over it.

Being organized doesn’t mean that nothing is ever out of place. (That’s super unrealistic.)

It doesn’t mean that everything in our lives runs perfectly. (Also unrealistic.)

What organization can do is create a baseline of calmness. It gives us a good starting point and something to come back to when we need a reset.

Life will always have a component of messiness to it. Being organized just helps me manage all the moving parts of life a little better.

It can mellow the chaos.

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Here Are 8 Practical Habits of Organized People

1) Declutter

Decluttering is not a one-and-done thing.

It’s one of those things we have to do regularly.

But once we get past the initial decluttering phase, it gets much easier.

I’ve learned to be pickier about what I allow to take up space in my home and my life. Our surroundings matter, and they can either add stress or joy to our lives.

A combination of both is also a big probability.

I err on the side of minimalism, which streamlines so many tasks in my home.

The less stuff I have to manage, clean, organize, move around, and find a home for, the easier it is to keep my house reasonably organized.

2) Write Things Down

My favorite planning tool is lists. (A pretty notebook is a must here.)

Our brains cannot be expected to remember everything we have going on or everything we have to do.

At least my brain is not a fan of it.

Lists free up mental space. Writing things down is almost like decluttering my mind.

So often it feels as if I have an endless amount of things to do. Yet when I actually write these things down, I realize that many of them take very little effort or time.

It also makes me feel accomplished when I can cross those seemingly small but necessary tasks off a list.

Making lists helps me prioritize, too. Seeing everything in front of me reminds me that everything is not urgent.

Wall calendars or planners can also come in handy here. Simply knowing and keeping track of what is happening in your life can make things feel much more manageable.

I’m sure there are also apps you could use, but I’m still old school…for now.

3) Give Things a Dedicated Spot

This is huge.

If something has a space, putting it back where it belongs becomes much easier.

It also helps with actually being able to find things when you need them.

Let me add here that I almost always have things in my home that do not have a spot.

I regularly go through my house and can easily gather a basket of random stuff. But I can also sift through those random things and decide what needs a home and what simply needs to go.

I keep this basket on my stairs as a sort of catch-all. Everyone in my home is responsible for clearing it out every few days.

I am still shocked by the amount of random stuff that can accumulate in a house with children.

4) Acquire Less

I am a firm believer that less is more.

A few years ago, my family made a very big move. While packing up my home, I noticed we had so much unnecessary stuff.

Literally so much.

I donated boxes upon boxes of things. I donated a ridiculous amount of clothing. And you know what? I cannot remember what was in those boxes.

It’s actually insane when I think about it.

After that first big move, my family and I moved two more times. (We are now in Tennessee, and thankfully, no more moves.)

But I’m grateful my husband’s job required us to move because the experience completely changed my outlook on how much stuff I want to own.

The easiest stuff to organize is the stuff I never bring into my house in the first place.

5) Do Small Clean-Ups When Possible

I am the kind of person who likes to do small 10-20 minute clean-ups throughout the day.

Now, that is what works and is possible for me. That might not work – or be possible – for everyone.

There are certain things I don’t bother cleaning up immediately because I know they’re coming right back out. I’ve learned there is no prize for repeatedly cleaning the same mess all day and getting increasingly irritated about it.

But there are other tasks I try my best to keep up with throughout the day. A huge one is the dishes.

I know mine is not the only kitchen that can go from perfectly fine to what happened in here? in approximately nine minutes.

I can be a master procrastinator and then struggle to start a task once it feels overwhelming. Like those dang dishes sprawled out on the counter.

I’ve found it very helpful to set a timer (here’s a good one) and see what I can get done. I’m usually pleasantly surprised by how much I can accomplish in a short amount of time.

The timer also helps me stay focused on the task at hand instead of moving from thing to thing with no direction and somehow accomplishing very little.

6) Delegate

No one can do it all.

At least not very well for a prolonged period of time.

Sharing tasks – or outsourcing tasks if you can – is not something to be ashamed of. So often, being able to “do it all” is glamorized. People who seem to be doing everything receive endless praise.

But that’s not a standard I’m interested in trying to live up to anymore.

If you have someone to share the load with, then do just that. Share.

I used to think there was some glory in being a one-woman show in my home. Growing up, I saw women handling everything with a home and kids while also sometimes working outside the home.

So that felt like what I was supposed to do. News flash: I was wrong.

Doing it all wasn’t serving me well, and it wasn’t serving my family well either.

An organized home or life doesn’t have to mean that one person is responsible for keeping the entire thing running.

7) Develop Routines

We all have routines. Some serve us well, and some don’t necessarily serve us well.

I’m betting that most of us do not go through our lives with perfect routines in place at all times. We are human, after all.

But developing habits and routines that support what we want our lives to look and feel like can make a big difference.

Drinking a glass of water before coffee. Journaling or reading a book (like one of these) in the morning instead of immediately scrolling on your phone.

Taking a walk after dinner. Going to bed at a time that makes you feel good when you wake up. (This will differ depending on the season of life you are in.)

Putting away one basket of laundry while listening to a podcast or music. Dedicating 30 minutes every week to meal planning. Choosing a few key things you need to complete on any given day.

None of these things are groundbreaking.

But when we repeat little things that make our days run more smoothly, we don’t have to constantly decide what to do next.

It takes time for routines to become second nature. We have to be intentional, and I think slow and steady usually works better than trying to overhaul our entire lives on a random Monday morning.

8) Take Care of Yourself

Building and maintaining an organized life takes some effort.

And I’ve learned that everything feels harder when I’m running on empty.

Taking care of yourself doesn’t have to be another elaborate routine you’re trying to keep up with.

Eat foods that nourish you. Drink water. Move your body. Get outside if you can. Read something you enjoy.

Make space for things that help you feel like yourself.

Taking care of others is great. Being there for the people around us is a beautiful thing.

But we need to make room for ourselves, too.

For me, being organized isn’t about squeezing more productivity out of every day. It’s about making everyday life feel a little easier to manage so I have more room for the parts I actually want to enjoy.

Final Thoughts…

Organization is one of those areas of life that can have positive ripple effects on everything else.

I don’t organize my life because I think everything should run perfectly. It won’t.

I do it because having some systems, routines, and reasonably organized spaces gives me something to come back to when life inevitably gets messy.

And maybe that’s what I’ve come to appreciate most about organization.

It doesn’t eliminate chaos.

It just mellows it a little.

Which of these habits of organized people stood out to you?

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habits of organized people