8 Tips to Become More Organized

1. Start with the Most Important Task

It's easy to choose the quick, simple tasks first when facing a long to-do list. However, that larger, more challenging task might linger in the back of your mind, draining your energy. By tackling the tough task first, you activate your brain’s reward system, giving you a significant energy boost.

2. Prioritize Practically in Pairs

Prioritizing is one of the brain’s most energy-intensive processes, which is why we often unconsciously resist doing it. Get help from a colleague or supervisor and find a work method where you help each other rank tasks and set a priority order for what needs to be done.

3. Follow Your Energy Curve

It's well known that everyone is different; some are morning people, while others work much better later in the day. Pay attention to when you’re most alert and clear-headed, and schedule your most demanding tasks or important meetings during those periods. Save the easier tasks for when you’re usually more tired—don’t waste your peak energy on checking emails and clearing spam!

4. Take Smart Breaks

Mini-breaks with mindless browsing or checking emails in the middle of a task won’t refresh your brain; they might just prolong the task. The most effective breaks give your brain a rest from processing new information. Moving your body boosts blood flow, delivering fresh oxygen to your brain. Take a short walk, stretch, or meditate briefly for a more effective break than 10 minutes of scrolling through social media, and return to your task with renewed energy.

5. Reward Your Brain

Your brain’s reward system is triggered when you learn something new, take on a challenge, or check off a task. Ensure your to-do lists engage your reward system rather than your stress system. By breaking down large tasks into smaller milestones or creating your own challenges and rewards for completing tasks, you’ll feel more motivated.

6. Full Focus

Every time you shift focus, it drains energy from your brain, and neuroscientists suggest it takes up to 25 minutes to regain full focus on a task after being interrupted. Therefore, find a work environment where you can concentrate fully. Turn off push notifications on your email and phone, and perhaps use earplugs or focus music if that works for you.

7. Ditch Multitasking

For the same reason as above, stop glorifying multitasking. Research is clear that switching focus between tasks consumes a lot of energy. Studies have also shown that those who claim to be multitasking experts are often the ones who are worst at it.

8. Save Brainpower with Notes

The fewer things you need to remember, the more brainpower you can free up for quality thinking. Make to-do lists and take notes during meetings. Research also shows that taking notes by hand improves our learning and memory because the brain actively processes the information we take in through our eyes and ears.