To be ever more efficient. That’s the goal of many of us today. But stress is out of the question! You don’t want to feel like you’re overwhelmed with work or constantly running out of time. Fortunately, there are a multitude of personal organization tools at our disposal. They’re there to help you concentrate, prioritize tasks and manage your time better.

So, which one should you choose to achieve which goal? And why is it so essential to know how to manage your diary? Find out in this article.

Personal organization: why is it so important?

Good organizational skills are essential to your day-to-day well-being. In fact, you’ll be able to bring order to your workspace and your living environment in general. The various personal organization tools can help you optimize your efficiency, whether at work or at home. What’s more, excellent skills in this respect will be reflected in the fulfillment of all your responsibilities.

It also confers a sense of control that helps boost productivity every day. Not only will this boost your self-confidence, it will also save you a considerable amount of time. By staying organized, you’ll actually save time looking for things, and you’ll find it much easier to concentrate on the important tasks. No more forgetting! By using the right personal organization tools, you also acquire better time management skills. In the office, you’ll have no trouble meeting deadlines. Better still, you’ll strengthen your credibility with the people around you.

Tips for developing this skill

Adopting an effective organizational system doesn’t happen overnight. And, at the risk of disappointing you, it’s not something easy to put in place either. In fact, you’d have to do some real work on yourself. However, it’s entirely possible, especially with the help of various personal organization tools. But did you know that a small change in the way you work can also be enough?

Manage your priorities. We’d all like to be an eight-handed superhero, able to take on different tasks at once. But that’s just not possible. So learn to concentrate your efforts on the important and/or urgent things.
Allocate your time intelligently. Take into account deadlines, deadlines, but above all your availability.
Avoid multitasking. It’s the best way to lose concentration. In the end, you’ll never get anything done. Some personal organization tools can help you prioritize the work you need to do.
Beware of work overload. Define your limits and don’t do more than you really can.
Leave some free time in your diary. Schedule at least 40% of inactivity into your schedule to deal with unforeseen events or to better cope with lapses in concentration.
Don’t procrastinate. The longer you procrastinate, the harder it will be to get it done. It’s just one more thing you’ll have to fit into your schedule for the next day. And so on.

Personal organization tools: which ones to choose?

Thinking about getting better organized is one thing. Achieving it is quite another. What does that mean anyway? Well, it mainly means knowing where everything you need is, being able to meet deadlines and, more generally, being prepared for any eventuality. In other words, you have control over your day. Sometimes, however, it’s hard to get started on your own. So consider these personal organization methods to get you started.

Personal organization tools to promote concentration

When it comes to organization, it’s hard not to mention the importance of concentration. Concentration is the gateway to all thinking. It plays a part in :

Learning;
The memorization process;
Reasoning and criticism;
Problem solving;
Decision-making.

Without good concentration, you won’t be as effective in your work. That’s why it’s so important to promote your ability to stay focused. To do so, you can choose between two personal organization tools.

MIND MAPPING
One of the most popular methods is Mind Mapping. Quite simply, it’s a memory technique based on mental representation. Its aim is to structure information so that it can be better analyzed, understood and synthesized. By doing so, you stimulate your memory and find it much easier to generate new ideas. In any case, its main advantage lies in its ease of use. That’s probably why it remains one of the world’s most widely used personal organization tools.

So, what does a mind map look like? It includes :

A central theme, placed at the center of an imaginary blank page;
Associations that flow from the main topic (when associations are created, connections are made in your brain);
Key words that summarize the information.

The Pomodoro technique
The Pomodoro technique is also an excellent solution for promoting concentration. Rather than struggling to complete a task all at once, it encourages you to break it down into smaller segments. It has earned its place among personal organization tools because of its accessibility, adaptability and the scientific basis of its success.

In fact, a person’s capacity for concentration would not exceed 25 minutes if they concentrated on a single activity. Well, the Pomodoro technique encourages you to take this theory into account. Using a timer, work for 25 minutes. Take a five-minute break. Each of these 25-minute periods is called a “Pomodoro” (Italian for tomato). Then, after 4 Pomodoros, take a longer break (about 20 minutes).

TIME BLOCKING
There are many tools for personal organization, but time blocking is one of the most popular. As well as being an excellent time management method, it also helps you get rid of distractions that can disrupt your concentration. The principle is simple: break down defined time potions for each task. For example, you’ll devote 5 minutes a day to reading your e-mails, 30 minutes to hanging out on social networks and so on. This is what will enable you to get your work done without interruptions or gaps.

Personal organization tools to create an action list

Do you often forget to do important things? Do you feel like you’re running out of time? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of you? Well, the time has certainly come for you to learn how to better manage your diary. There are plenty of options here. If you’re struggling to cope on your own, consider the following examples.

THE TO-DO LIST
Making a to-do list is certainly one of the most effective and straightforward solutions when it comes to personal organization tools. The concept is to write down on a sheet of paper the things you need to do in a day. It’s that easy! Of course, you also have the option of using your phone or downloading a dedicated mobile application for added convenience. To make it all the more effective, take care to :

Precision;
The order of priority;
Time required for each task.

THE EISENHOWER MATRIX
The Eisenhower matrix also remains an excellent alternative for prioritizing your tasks. It is also very popular among personal organization tools. It enables you to distinguish between urgent, important and ancillary activities. This will enable you to choose which tasks you will do yourself and which you will postpone, delegate or eliminate. Eisenhower suggests segmenting them as follows.

Urgent and important => To do.
Urgent but not important => Delegate.
Not urgent, but important => Plan.
Neither urgent nor important => Eliminate.

The GTD method
Getting Things Done is one of the most popular personal organization tools. In fact, Davis Allen has compiled his top tips in a book entitled “Getting Organized for Success”. In any case, it’s an effective system for working from a blank page. Once again, the aim is to draw up a list of activities to be done and prioritize them so that you can concentrate only on the most important ones. This will enable you to give your best and achieve much more than usual! So, how does it work? Simply follow these 5 steps:

Collect;
Analyze;
Organize;
Review;
Execute.

Personal organization tools for time management

Time management is another skill you need to develop if you want to be more efficient in your day-to-day work. In fact, there are several solutions available to you in this case. You can use a timer, as recommended by the Pomodoro technique, but you can also use your smartphone to make the task easier. Online tools or lifestyle habits, here are the 2 best alternatives available to you.

THE BULLET JOURNAL
This technique is based on a note-taking system. In fact, the Bullet Journal is one of today’s most effective personal organization tools. How does it help you manage your time? Well, its main advantage is that it’s completely customizable. In other words, you can use it to keep track of appointments, mark important events, make a to-do list…

The principle is a bit like a traditional diary, but the Bullet Journal is more organized. Instead of writing a task on a pre-printed date (at the risk of forgetting it), Ryder Carroll (its precursor) teaches you to put them in a separate category. This is probably one of the most original personal organization tools in the way that the Bullet Journal depends on deadlines. It will help you manage your time better.

In your notebook, for example, you can create a yearly, monthly, weekly or even daily calendar to help you keep track. So you can organize your day.

ONLINE TOOLS
At a time when technological advances are at their peak, it would be a shame not to take advantage of them to keep control of the way our days unfold. Monday.com, Toggl Track, Harvest, Time Doctor, Timely… time tracking software and personal organization tools are a dime a dozen. They enable you to eliminate unnecessary tasks, idle time and distractions from your agenda, which can delay the success of your project. It’s up to you to choose the tool that suits you best.

By the way, did you know that establishing a “morning routine” can also help you boost your productivity? At least, that’s what Hal Elrod recommends in his book Miracle Morning. The concept is based on the importance of getting up early (before 6 a.m.). Use this time to take advantage of the “Life Savers” (S.A.V.E.R.S for silence, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading, scribing).

Personal organization tools: what to remember?

Having an effective personal organization system has many advantages. Not only do you have more control over your time, but you’re also better able to situate yourself in time and space. By eliminating unnecessary tasks and distractions from your schedule, you also gain in efficiency. And there are plenty of tools to help you do just that.

Think of Mind Mapping, the Pomodoro technique or the time blocking method to improve your concentration. These are among the best tools for personal organization.
You can also create a list of actions using the traditional to-do list, the Eisenhower matrix or the GTD method.
Finally, optimize time management with the Bullet Journal or time tracking software.

It’s up to you…