Ways to Organize Your Life

As we all know, life can get hectic. You have so many things to do, and there are never enough hours in the day. When Carli and I were in school full time, we also worked full time. Many people applauded us for taking on such a busy schedule, but we never really thought twice about it. We really enjoyed our job, and the hours we worked (5:30am-2:00pm) made it possible to still have a life outside of work and school.

Over the course of those years of non-stop working and learning, we learned ways to make life easier. The key word is organization. I am an organizational FREAK. If I could organize closets for a living I would do just that. The Container Store makes me grin from ear to ear, if that puts it into perspective for you. So finding new ways to organize and simplify my life was a joyride for me. Here are just some ideas Carli and I have found to help us in our day-to-day lives.

1) THE WUNDERLIST APP

This app lets you create, send, and share lists. As many lists as you want! I create grocery lists, to-do lists, and even lists of blogs posts I would like to do (oh the irony). Also, Wunderlist incorporates a notepad feature into each item on your list. An example would be my “Twinspiration Blog Posts” list. I can write the title of my idea on the list, and elaborate on the notepad. That way my lists aren’t long and unmanageable. I also love how you can easily check off items. It comes in handy at the grocery store!

2) THE KEY RING APP

The Key Ring App allows you to store ALL of your loyalty and rewards card numbers in one place. It almost replaces the need for a wallet entirely! All of your rewards cards are easy to find and access. Most stores can just scan your phone! It’s so simple to use and incredibly efficient.

3) KEEP A LIST ON THE FRIDGE 

This idea may seam old fashioned, by hey it works. Most people go to the fridge AT LEAST three times a day. Therefore if you place a list of things you need on the fridge, you are more likely to see it and remember to get your bee-hind to the store!

4) CHECK YOUR MAIL DAILY 

By checking your mail daily you can ensure that you receive and pay your bills on time. It also helps you from sorting through piles and piles of mail that has accumulated over the past week. Its really a time-saver in the long run.

5) KEEP A NOTEPAD BY YOUR BED

This is one of my favorite ideas. I always seem to have so many thoughts run through my head right before it hits the pillow. By keeping a notepad and pen by my bed I can easily jot all my ideas down. It’s also good to have paper on hand if you get an important phone call and need to take some notes. I actually have three notebooks by my bed. One I use strictly for blog post ideas, one I use for random daily notes, and I actually haven’t figured out what the third one is for. It was just so cute, I had to have it….

6) ORGANIZE YOUR EMAILS INTO FOLDERS 

One of my pet peeves is when people DON’T organize their emails. Or delete old emails. Like it seriously makes me dizzy and confused. I have separate folders for all of the organizations I receive emails from. At the very least I think people should have folders for: Work, school, personal, and travel. I only say travel because sometimes you need to look up flight info fast, and it’s way easier to find in a folder marked travel, then to search through old emails.

7) MOBILE BANKING

I bank with Bank Of America. They have an amazing Mobile Banking App that lets me transfer money to other BOA customers, deposit check instantly, and transfer between my own accounts. I haven’t had to go to an actual bank in quite some time, which just makes life easier.

8) VENMO

Venmo is the best app since Uber. It allows you to send payments to your friends instantly. All you have to do is input your banking info (it’s actually a long process, but I think that just means its super safe), find your friends, and you’re ready to go! You literally click on your friends name, input the amount you want to pay them (with a description) and confirm the payment. It’s so simple and never again will you not get paid back for a movie/dinner/beer/all of the prior.

9) ORGANIZE YOUR APPS INTO CATEGORIES 

I know us iPhone users can get seriously addicted to downloading apps. I mean, there are SO MANY. I found it’s easier to separate “like” apps into folders on your desktop (is that what it’s called) to find them easier. I have a folder for all my photo editing apps (I have so many its ridic), all my apps related to food/drink (i.e. GrubHub, Untappd, etc.), finance related apps, and local deals apps (Living Social, Groupon, etc.).