Being a creative professional is more complicated than most people think. Whether you’re a writer, actor, or producer, your productivity levels are directly proportional to your organizational skills.

Becoming an organized individual isn’t just about working in clean environments or managing time properly. It is also about organizing your thoughts, emotions, and actions in such a way that nothing and no one can stop you from reaching your objectives.

In today’s post, I’m sharing 20 ideas to help you stay organized and get more work done. As they say – work hard, but don’t forget to work smart!

1. Write Your Ideas and Thoughts on Paper

Don’t store your ideas in your head, as they will only slow you down. The best way to take advantage of every creative thought is to note it down in a notebook. Every day, week, or month, review your ideas.

2. Approach a Minimalistic Style

Take and use only what you need. Don’t buy irrelevant products, don’t work with irrelevant people, and don’t take more responsibilities than you can carry. Approach a minimalistic style!

3. Make Cleaning a Habit

Clean your room, clean your desk, and clean your schedule. If you want to stay organized, you need space. To have both physical and mental space, you must work in clean environments and follow clean schedules!

4. Leverage a Money Management App

If you’re not tracking your money, you’re basically giving away control over your budget. Regardless of your professional occupation, keeping track of your costs and revenues will help you with more aspects, especially with having more money at the end of each month.

5. Establish and Commit to Objectives

You should go with the flow, but keep in mind your objective. If you’re sailing on the sea without direction, you’ll probably get lost.

If you sail on a river that you know where it’s leading, you’ll eventually reach your desired destination.

6. Practice Introspection Daily

One key to staying organized is regular introspection. Sit, relax, and outline the thinking process. Think and reflect on your productivity, problems, needs, behavior, and so on. Note down what you want to fix and go for it.

7. Plan Your Days, Weeks, and Months

Brian Tracy said that one minute of planning saves ten minutes of action. Get used to planning everything. Start with monthly planning. After establishing objectives, create weekly goals based on the bigger (monthly) goals. Then, each day, establish a few “to-do’s” that lead you to greater objectives.

8. Develop Mini-Habits

A mini-habit is a habit that doesn’t take long. For example, drinking a glass of water right after you wake up. Or twenty pushups between your writing sessions. Think of useful habits and start creating them!

9. Cure Procrastination

Here’s how to cure procrastination: acknowledge that your brain automatically looks for pleasure while it automatically fights to avoid pain. Therefore, when you don’t “feel like starting,” remind yourself that you’re the one who’s leading, not your mind.

10. Learn to Delegate

You aren’t meant to do everything. If you’re a writer, then write. Delegate the other responsibilities like the creating of the book cover, the distribution, the marketing, and so on. Do what you do best and focus on that.

11. Learn to Say “NO”

“People are often the #1 cause of distraction. When somebody pretends something that interferes with your schedule or goals, simply say “NO”.

12. Use the Pomodoro Technique

One way to “cure” procrastination is to trick your mind. The Pomodoro technique is basically a time-management strategy that presumes working for 25 minutes straight – 5 minutes pause. If you are afraid of starting, simply start for 25 minutes!

13. Take Regular Breaks During the Day

You need to learn to disconnect. As they say – less is more. Get used to taking short breaks in order to take your mind off work. Exercise, meditate, or have a healthy meal in the meanwhile!

14. Establish and Respect Deadlines

If you want to be organized, you must learn to be punctual. Try to establish as many deadlines and make a habit of respecting them!

15. Start Early

Early risers get enough time to introspect, exercise, eat healthy, meditate, and plan their day in an efficient manner.

Here’s my suggestion: try to go sleep earlier and wake up earlier.

Have at least two hours before you go to work in order to organize your day!

16. Find Your Main Motivation

Why are you hustling every day? What is your motivation? If you haven’t found it, start seeking it. Your motivation is very connected to your organizational skills. If you have something to fight for, you’ll always perform better!

17. You Are More than Thoughts and Feelings

You are not your mind! You have a mind, but you are not it. Your thoughts and emotions come and go. If you don’t identify with them, they cannot drag you down!

18. Backup Everything

Back up your photos, papers, websites, videos, etc. Make a habit of creating backups, and you’ll never have to worry about losing your important work.

19. Give Yourself Enough Space

Space is both physical and mental. You need to work in a proper environment that isn’t all cluttered. Moreover, be conscious when it comes to your mind. Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed by life. Make space in your head daily by disconnecting from problems and perceiving them objectively.

20. Chop Up Problems into Smaller Pieces

If you have a problem, chop it up. Solve it by taking more steps. Plan those steps and ensure that you never stop until you come up with a solution.

Takeaways

The difference between highly successful people and mediocre people is always defined by mindset and habits. It doesn’t matter what opportunities, environment, or problems you have. If you know how to deal with everything in an organized way, your creative career will skyrocket. Take today’s ideas into close consideration and start shaping the way you think, feel, and act!

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