Get organized, productive, and mentally healthy with this short guide.
Getting organized can do wonders for your mental health.
Fact is, we crave function. We want to feel useful to others and ourselves. Feeling useless, or otherwise being poorly organized (lack of routine, etc.) directly and indirectly affects our mental and emotional well-being.
Knowing this association, you can’t ignore your daily habits, routines and structure if you want to be moderately happy and stable.
Consider this an inexhaustive guide to key productivity staples that facilitate mental well-being. I’ll include some favourite tools; there will be affiliate links throughout. If you end up buying something from Amazon, it’s a small (and free) way to support this blog.
A Morning Routine
Routines are essential to productivity and mental health. They clear up brain space and automate important parts of your day. In many ways, the things you do every day are the most important things you do.
Time multiplies our decisions.
A morning routine solidifies your circadian rhythm and gets you ready for the workday.
My brain knows that morning means work. As a result, my mornings have been absolutely slaying for the last year. Since my body knows when I’m waking up, I’m releasing my morning cortisol at the right time and I’m not falling asleep at my desk.
That’s important because your best work is done in the morning when your brain has most of its energy. This is especially true for creative work.
If you want to be more productive and improve your mental health, get up at the same time everyday (whenever works for you, though early is probably better) and make your morning effective. If that means you gotta make it “fun” with a coffee or tea, or make it “active” to get the juices flowing with an exercise routine, do it. Whatever it takes, make your mornings automatic.
Remember: structure and discipline are freedom. If you’re a creative person but you’re wasting mental energy on forcing yourself up out of bed, deciding whether or not to journal or drink something or whatever, you’re wasting valuable creative energy on menial tasks that should be automatic.
The best place to start is having a set wake-up time every day (every. day.) and making your bed every morning. Start with those two quick, automatic wins, and you’ve got a good start.
Eventually, you can build and optimize the routine.
The Right Tools
As you’ve probably figured out, I’m a productivity geek. I love my strategies and planning. I also love my tools, which are essential if you’re going to get the job done and stay healthy.
If you’re going to be conscientious about your work (and therefore your mental health), you’re going to need to be organized.
My sources have recommended 3 basic productivity tools. You’ll need a list, a calendar, and a place to store information.
Right now, my List/Task Manager is ToDoIst; my Calendar is Google Calendar; and my Info storage is Evernote (I’m still working on my physical filing system, but I use these to store key documents).
Let’s look at each of these productivity tools:
A Task Manager
Earlier I mentioned having a to-do list in your toolset. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a dedicated app or just writing things down on a piece of paper. The key is this: have a way of externalizing and recording the things you have to do in a place that you will review them.
I’ve been learning that keeping tasks managed and stored outside of my brain is key for focus and overall mental well-being.
Your brain is not the best place to record all of the things you need to do, especially if you want to have headspace to enjoy leisure time. If you can’t trust a system to hold on to your tasks/schedule, then you’re going to create anxiety and unnecessary mental stress.
Pro Tip: If something is doable within 2 minutes when you are tasked with it, just do it. You actually waste more time deferring something that only takes this long to do.
A Calendar
Any time there is a place you need to be (physical or virtual), make an event in whatever calendar format you use. Check it each morning (maybe at night) and, if you’re using an application, make sure alerts are on and appropriately timed. The automatic alert feature makes applications incredibly useful!
I have Google Calendar set up so that my phone, iPad or Macbook will alert me when events are upcoming. That way, no matter where I’m working (or resting), important events won’t get overlooked.
An Information Tool/Filing System
This is essentially your place to put information or reference files. I use a mix of Google Drive and Evernote for my digital info storage, and have a few folders to store important files.
A lot could be said here, but for now you just need a place to store important information or documentation.
Lots of apps have some free basic storage or monthly upload capacity. I recommend exploring if you’ve got the time, but feel free to default to Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive since they’re both robust and versatile.
An Ergonomic Workspace
Sitting for hours is bad enough. Standing still isn’t a whole lot better. Humans were made to move, so you’ll want to practice that every hour or so.
That said, it’s still essential to make your sitting and your standing as ergonomic as possible to reduce strain on your body and optimize posture. Believe it or not, your posture is tightly associated with your mental health.
There’s been evidence, for example, that performing stretches that open up the chest area and pull the shoulders back can improve confidence. Give it a try next time you’ve got a speaking engagement or something that’s going to challenge your nerves. Focus on stretches that open the front of your body up (i.e. put you in a vulnerable – but confident – position).
So what tools should you have to keep your workspace tight?
A standing desk option. A lot of Amazon options still seem a bit pricey. I still use the Oristand that cost me $25 bucks, but sadly they’ve gone out of business. Amazon has some solid options if you don’t mind paying a few hundred bucks, and there are some DIY options available. YouTube is your friend!
Suffice it to say, your body is well worth spending money and effort on, particularly if you work at a desk every day. Whether you buy a dedicated desk or not, you want to alternate standing and sitting in order to keep the body from staying in the same position all day.
On that note, try taking some active breaks every hour where you actually get up and move around.
An ergonomic keyboard and mouse. Microsoft has a killer set that still seems to be one of the best economic options. Whatever you get, you’ll want your wrists straight and fingers relaxed rather than pulled back. A curved or split keyboard can help you here, as in the following picture.
Notice that most keyboards don’t help you here; they tend to lift the top keys upward so that you have to extend your wrists and fingers. Flat or arched keyboard surfaces are better for this reason. This split keyboard is a bit much, but it works well for some:
Image via nytimes.com
You’ll also want something to prop your monitor or laptop at a good height. Ideally, your eyes should be level with the top of the screen. I really recommend this device which doubles as a laptop stand and bookstand.
For reference, here’s a good sitting ergonomic posture.
Image via ErgonomicTrends.com
A good pair of noise cancelling headphones may prove essential for focus depending on your environment. My Sony XM3’s have been key for staying productive working from home where my roommates’ toddler has been screaming her head off.
I use Klearlook’s headphone holder to avoid unnecessary clutter. I also have their tablet stand, which is great for ergonomically reading e-book devices.
The Right Workflow System
Now that you have your tools in place, you can develop your process. This isn’t something I can just tell you how to do, and is beyond the scope of this post. But here are some recommendations.
A workflow system or process will only be effective if you review it regularly. Daily, at least, and probably a weekly review/preview as well (more on this below). This means a look at your Task Manager and Calendar so that you know what’s coming up.
A daily check-in should be part of your morning routine. I like to take a quick look at my task manager and calendar as I start my day, then write down my top 3 priorities or a plan/reflection, all in my journal.
Whenever a new task comes in, put it in your “inbox.” If you’re using a to-do list app, there’s probably an inbox list. Regularly empty said inbox, either by doing the tasks, delegating them, or deferring them by putting them into more specialized project lists (like “Personal” or “Work”). Your call how often ‘regularly’ is.
If you want to look at the classic system of productivity, I recommend David Allen’s Getting Things Done. If you’re a Christian, I recommend Tim Challies’ Do More Better, which essentially adapts and simplifies Allen’s system from a Christian worldview.
A Weekly Preview
Along with a daily rhythm/checkup, a weekly preview will be helpful for planning and staying on top of things. This has become a super valuable process for me. I got it from Michael Hyatt and his book Free to Focus.
Here’s what I do.
- List out 3-5 major “wins” for the week. I handed in that assignment, read a chunk of that book, and enjoyed a visit with my parents. Cool. Celebrate these things!
- Reflect on Big 3 for last week. Remember my ‘Rule of 3’? Essentially, that’s a daily version of the Big 3 that I have for each week. If I’ve made good progress on these 3 major priorities, the week is a success. They’re a good way to keep priorities straight. Later, you’ll establish the Big 3 for the next week.
- Review: What worked, what didn’t, what should I change? Maybe you’re realizing that reading in the morning and doing creative writing in the afternoon isn’t working. How about switching it up? This section is where you optimize your process. If it’s intimidating, try sticking to ONE tweak for the week. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
- List tasks. Here, you’ll brainstorm the things you need to take care of this week, and look to make sure you aren’t delaying anything important from the previous week.
- Schedule tasks as needed: Once I’ve looked at my tasks, I decide when I’m going to do what.Remember to keep things CLEAR. “Write paper” is not clear. Think: what’s the next action I need to do? Maybe it’s “Plan paper” which means breaking up “write paper” into actionable tasks like “find key sources; compile information; write intro & thesis; write body, conclusion; send to friend for editing… etc” For now, schedule the NEXT action (or more, if you know what they are).
Or, if you’re finding this intimidating, just schedule the times when you have to ACTUALLY be somewhere – meetings, etc. Then, in your unscheduled times, make that your “get stuff done” time, where you tackle whatever you can in the time that you have.
Remember to try to be realistic with your allotments. Better to overestimate! - Write out the Big 3 for NEXT WEEK. Now that you see your tasks out before you, you can pick your top 3 priorities. They’re not necessarily tasks; they can be more big-picture. For example, the deadline you’ve got next week. That’s not a “todo” – it’s probably a bunch of tasks.
For a while, I made my evening/morning routines one of my Big 3 since I was trying to establish proper, foundational habits. These were nowhere on my task manager, but they were still essential priorities each day. - Finally, plan a refreshing weekend. I make this fun. How will I spend my time off or reward myself? You might consider this the “self-care” part of the Weekly Preview.
A weekly preview, even if it’s a trimmed-down version of mine, is a way of reviewing your system and making sure you’re planning ahead sufficiently. I’ve found it quite helpful for staying productive and in good mental shape.
A Nice Journal
Journaling has been a helpful part of my day for years. I recommend a quality one with ribbon and band like Leuchturm or Moleskine. They’re good for planning, reflecting, and writing out my Weekly Preview.
Writing is better for retention than typing, so that’s one reason I like using journals. It’s also nice to keep screen time to a minimum, and if I need to refer back to my Top 3 or my Weekly Preview at any given time, I can do it without having to take out my phone to look at a notes app or whatever.
I’m a stationery nerd in general, so I like to use a good pen. I like these budget fountain pens from Lamy and Pilot both but also have a Pilot G2 for everyday use and travel. Some habits are more easily developed if you make them fun.
A good habit is worth a few extra bucks, in my opinion.
An Evening Routine
They say a good morning routine begins the evening before. It’s true.
Have a set process each night, and get consistent with timing. Set a bed-time alarm if you have to, then use that as your cue to finish the book chapter, brush your teeth, stretch and go to bed. This helps you get to sleep faster, since your body knows what’s coming.
I recommend putting your phone on its charger, maybe even in another room, 2 hours before bedtime. Even with night shift modes, I don’t trust any screens this late.
If there’s something you want to have set for your mornings, do it here. Some recommend having your outfit decided for the morning so you don’t have to think about it.
Active Breaks & Hydration
As we used to say in my Undergrad Kinesiology program, “you can’t out-exercise a bad diet.” A bad diet may be eating junk food, but it could just as easily be not getting enough of what you need, like water or electrolytes.
When I started a lower-carb diet, I had to begin taking electrolytes. I recommend LMNT (try them out here), which give lots of salt (you need more than you think when you stop eating restaurant/store bought foods and carbs generally) and some potassium and magnesium for good measure. They’re also pretty tasty. I like LMNT’s Chocolate Salt better than most hot chocolate.
These are also great on the go if you’re doing sports tournaments or an active day outing since they come in little packets you can dump in a water bottle.
Staying hydrated will keep your brain functioning properly and improve your focus. I recommend starting the day with some water, maybe even with electrolytes to refresh the body’s supply.
Next up you’ll want to stay active during the day. Each hour, take a movement break, maybe a walk, some jumping jacks, push-ups or active stretching. Don’t be afraid of taking a solid 10-15 minutes. If you want a good upper body release Yoga routine you can do from your desk, I recommend this 15 minute video.
These hourly bouts of activity are great, but they won’t replace a devoted workout. That’s another post, but for now, I suggest working your way up to 3x a week doing something active that you think you can learn to enjoy. Again, start small: even if it’s just a 10-minute run or a slightly longer walk.
Relationships
As productive as you may be, if you don’t have good relationships, you’re done.
Call your spouse or that friend. Have lunch with a coworker. I’m living with housemates now, but even with friends around me all day, I need to be intentional to connect.
This may mean picking the relationships you invest in – nothing wrong with that. Pick them and grow them, one day at a time.
I hope this list has been helpful for you. Again, you can’t expect to have mental stability if you don’t have your life together, and life is built up by the things we do everyday.
How’d you like the list? Comment below or message me with your own favourite daily essentials, tools or hacks!
