Organise and Simplify Your Life in Just 10 mins a Day

The 10min a Day Plan

Monday 

Clear the Busy Zones – spend 10mins clearing the space you use most before the week starts. For your workplace, this could be your desk or even your email inbox. For parents, it could be the kitchen bench where notes and clutter have accumulated over the weekend. Doing this will set you up for a more effective start to the week by not working over the top of things. Plus, research has shown we will be more focused and efficient working in an orderly and clear space.

Tuesday 

Clever Closet Organising – The wardrobe is the one area that needs constant attention to help us leave the house on time each day.

Today spend 10min organising your clothes. Grouping them into simple categories that work for you. For example, you may put all your workwear in one section or sort by type short sleeve shirts, long sleeve and sleeveless shirts. Categorise by how you use items, not only by what they are. Each week using the 10-minute rule, eventually the whole wardrobe will get organised, and by decluttering at least one item per week you have simplified too.

If you already have an organised wardrobe (well done to you), spend the 10min planning what you’ll be wearing for the week.

Check out the blog “How to Organise Your Wardrobe” for lots more ideas. By the way, don’t think you are doing this for all the family; get them in on the 10min a day challenge too.

Wednesday 

Simplify the To Do List – by mid-week, our enthusiasm for getting things done starts to wain. Monday and Tuesday are the most productive days of the week. Help keep that productivity rolling through the week by doing a 10-minute check-in with your project list and to-do list for the remainder of the week. Weigh up your time and tasks to see if you are on track. Then assign appointment times in your calendar for the most important tasks. Be realistic and move items to next week if they just can’t be completed.

Simplifying your to-do list will give you more focus. Secondly, re-prioritize things on your project list so you reach your long-term targets. If you want more help with getting things done, you may like your own “To Do Lists That Gets Done”.

Thursday 

Throw it or File it – Spend 10 minutes on the least favourite task in your home or office. Promising yourself to spend just 10 minutes a week on this task. It will relieve you from the stress and boredom of filing in large clumps. Just remember that if you can spend 10 minutes in the dentist’s chair, you can spend 10 minutes sorting and filing.

When you give horrible tasks a short time limit, it’s more motivating to get these ugly things done.

If you want more help with your paperwork organising, reach out and ask me. It’s been a focus for much of my Professional Organising life and now I share the best ways to organise as your coach. 

In the meantime, you might like to take a look at a recent blog “Home Office Organising” 

Friday 

Living Room Rumble – After a busy week, the living areas of our homes can get a little out of control.

So it’s time to spend 10 minutes putting away books, toys and other pastime items. Throw out old newspapers, magazines and flyers that made their way to the coffee table.

Each week you could move to a different area of the living room to cull items from bookshelves and T.V cabinets. Organise and simplify your life by creating the feeling of serenity and calm in this space before the weekend hits.

Saturday

Clever Kitchen Clean-Up – I know I don’t have to tell you this. You already know that the busiest room in the house is a nightmare without consistent organising. Today and each Saturday, spend 10 minutes organising and purging one shelf of your fridge or pantry.

It’s unbelievable how quickly it can get out of control. I find organising your kitchen areas by zones of what you use is more efficient than organising by type. For example, have a baking zone instead of having all the dry ingredients together. Some ingredients are only used for baking, so separate these from the ingredients you use for cooking dinner.

Sunday 

Planning the Week Ahead – Too little importance is placed on planning for the week ahead.

Today and each Sunday, take 10 minutes to plan your week ahead, reconcile calendars with the rest of the family and discuss the coming commitments.

It is well documented by the greatest productivity and success coaches of our time that planning on paper for the week and day ahead saves you hours of your time.

A favourite of mine is Brian Tracy; you can read more here. 

Planning ahead is one of the obstacles to executive functioning for ADHD. Building a way to plan that matches your processing styles and personality will give you the most significant success in this area. 

I’ve developed several tools based on my ADHD client’s needs that you can purchase online for yourself. Take a peep at the Daily Planner, The Ideal Week Planner and The Areas of Life Coaching worksheet to get started. To get a better understanding of what makes planning easier, the eBook “The Truth About Habits, Routines and Schedules” has what you need. 

Congratulations!

You’ve just completed 1hr and 10min organising and simplifying your life 10 minutes at a time.

Keeping it going in the next month, you will have completed nearly 5hrs of organising! Over a year, that’s 57hrs! Imagine what your home and life will look like a year from now.

Doing a little and often can accumulate into something hugely significant. Taking the 10 minute a day challenge to organise and simplify your life is such an easy way to get started. Even the busiest of people can find 10 minutes each day.

I know everyone would love to hear how you go and tell us what else you do to help keep on top of things when busy.

Join me for the next Group Coaching Program to finally find what works for you to stay organised and clutter-free.

Looking forward to hearing how you go.