It's a new year, and that means it's time to get organised, and start planning for the year ahead.

Did you know that January is the official “get organised month?”. Also known as “GO month”, it’s an annual initiative sponsored by the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals. This is actually a US based association, but the idea behind “get organised month” is beneficial to people worldwide.

It makes sense that the first month in the new year is about finding balance again. During the chaos of the Christmas break, every plan, routine and schedule fall apart and you enter into festive mode. Family all around you, time off work, staying up late, the list goes on. January is for getting back on track and organising your life. The calm after the storm, you could say.

Get Organised with our Top Tips

We’ve thought up some top tips for getting organised and staying on track not just for January, but all year!

Tip #1

Set realistic goals. It’s great to have a long-term vision or target. However, it’s important to manage your own expectations when it comes to these goals. If you set smaller goals more often, they’re easier to work towards. You’ll feel like you have achieved more because you’ll hit more targets. It can be really demotivating when you don’t succeed, which will pull you off track. Stay motivated with small (but mighty) goals!

Tip #2

To do lists. This one may sound like a no-brainer, but there is value in even a simple list of tasks, all written out in front of you. It can help to get all your tasks written down so they’re no longer whirling around in your head. This makes them feel more manageable, plus you could list them in order of priority. It helps me to know what’s next on my plan for the day. Some people have different to do lists for the day, weeks, months. If you find your weeks slipping away from you, this could be a good idea to help you stay on track.

Tip #3

Keep your environment tidy. A clean desk or workspace will allow you to focus more on your work, or task at hand. Have a declutter of your desk, and feel more comfortable in the space. It’s also good for office culture to maintain a tidy-ish desk if you share an office, as not everyone can focus with a cluttered desk.

Tip #4

Use calendars, planners and online spaces to organise tasks. We’ve taken to using an online workspace called Notion here at Totally Branded. It’s allowed us to share all our meeting notes, plan our social media posts together and plot out our marketing strategy for the entire year. Of course, this has worked for us, but you could even get a wall calendar or physical diary and plan your time that way. Some people function better having things in writing. We have some branded desk calendars which have proven popular with customers in the past. As well as that, we have a wide range of branded diaries, including pocket sized diaries and larger A4 daily diaries.

Tip #5

Take a break! Burn out is a real thing, and it can happen to anyone. If you don’t allow yourself time to decompress every day, things can easily pile on top of you and you’ll feel less motivated than you were when you started. It’s important to hit your targets, but nothing is as important as you. Look out for yourself first and everything else will fall into place.

So, there you have it! Our 5 top tips for staying on track this year! We’ll definitely be implementing some of these in the office, especially #3!