Listen to this story being read by Leigh Campbell, here.
Hi, my name is Leigh Campbell and I get off on being organised.
I don't know why I’m like this. Part nature, part nurture, I suppose.
My mum was always supremely organised... I recall as a little kid wanting to eat a packet of biscuits I'd found in a bag in the corner of her bedroom but it turned out it was her stash of stuff she was packing for our holiday... which was in three weeks' time.
Watch: The cleaning hacks you need to learn to make your life easier. Post continues after video.
Growing up, my best friends called me 'Premmie' because I was so premature with getting my passport out for a trip, I'd have it in my hand in the cab on the way to the airport.
I know being like this is mostly a way to manage my anxiety, but the organised byproduct definitely has its upsides, too. I've figured out methods and systems to get a lot of stuff done in my days.
Without further ado, this is how I get sh*t done...
I use Trello for my lists
I LIVE for lists. I'd marry my lists if it were legal. I've tried many methods and apps and have settled on Trello. It's a project-organising tool that comes in both app and desktop form. You can share a 'board' with people, so I have one for my business shared with my business partner, then another board just for me that is broken down into columns of life admin, work, urgent work etc, etc. You can easily drag tasks around and delete them when completed. The nerdy satisfaction is real.
Shared iPhone 'notes' are your friend
My husband and I have a shared 'Note' in the iPhone Notes app - you get a notification when the other person updates it. That's where we keep our grocery list - when the person at the supermarket has bought all of some of the list they delete the item, so it's alway up to date. It also has other notes in there so we don't forget, like jobs that need doing around the house, balances on various gift certificates and our licence plate numbers (which I can never remember when I need to at a parking metre).
Location-based notifications change the game
I have a bunch of medication I take every night and it's really not ideal if I forget. I used to have a reminder in my diary that would ping at 8pm every night, but the problem was that sometimes I'd be out to dinner, or at a work function, and it would slip my mind by the time I got home. Now I use location-based reminders - my iPhone knows where home is and knows when I get there in the evening, so that's when it notifies me. So clever.
I try to 'Eat The Frog'
The good news is this is a metaphorical frog. The bad news is it's not a 10 cent Red Frog.
It's a term coined by Brian Tracy, an American-Canadian author and speaker, who wrote the book Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. Basically, it just means do the 'worst' thing on your to-do list that day first.
It might be timesheets, or filling out that Centrelink form - whatever it is you don't enjoy doing, get it done first thing. It means you're less likely to procrastinate on the rest of the stuff you need to do and your day will be so much more pleasant because you’re not dreading that yucky task you always leave until last.
I lean in to my 'energy'
Sounds woo woo, but it's not, I promise. I am a textbook morning person, even though for many years I tried to fake being a night owl because it sounded cooler.
Now I know my brain is firing faster in the A.M., I do all my work from 7am until around 2 or 3pm. After that my brain is pretty much mush, so I use those last few hours for menial admin or emails (and a little Net-A-Porter browsing if I'm honest).
Chores have set days
The worst part of being an adult is the endless chores. When it dawned on me that chores will need to be done continuously until the day I die I immediately regretted wanting to be an adult when I was seven. As much as I hate doing them, if I let them pile up I procrastinate even more and that brings on anxiety, so having set days for when certain tasks are done makes the whole process less emotional and more robotic. Beds are stripped and changed every Saturday morning. Towels are washed on Sundays (and so on). It also eliminates the "umm, when did I last change the sheets!?" freak out.
Listen to This Glorious Mess where Leigh and Tegan dedicate a whole episode to the hacks that make their lives just that bit easier. Post continues after podcast.
We divide to conquer
Speaking of chores, I'm married, so my husband does half. Sounds obvious, but I know far too many women who begrudgingly do most of the domestic load just because they have a vagina. That theory does not fly in my house, so my husband and I sat down and worked out who does what. I enjoy doing washing but detest putting it away, so he does that part. I cook for/feed the humans in the house; he keeps the cats alive. You get the drift.
I'm unashamed to outsource
Why do everything yourself when you can enlist other people to help? Yes, it is a privilege to be able to afford to outsource, and I acknowledge that. I am terrible with technology so I use a virtual assistant to organise my digital life (like funnelling all my many email addresses to one inbox, maintaining my website, etc). I also outsource at home with cleaning and having someone come to wash and vacuum the car. The reason I don't feel guilty for spending the money is because I'm helping another small business with their income while I'm freeing up time for myself, which makes me a nicer person to be around.
They're my main tips, and I hope they help! If you've got any to share, I'd love to hear. You can find me on Instagram at @leighacampbell.
Feature Image: Mamamia/Instagram @leighacampbell.
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