The entire workday has gone by, and you worked like a champ, but you still haven’t achieved everything you were supposed to. Your stress level is through the roof, and the work keeps piling up, so you’re at a point where you think you may burst into flames.
You wonder, ‘How can everybody else handle their work so effortlessly? Are my office buddies Jim and Dwight simply smarter than me?’ No, they’re not. The key to their success at work lies in good organization. 💡
You’re probably thinking, ‘I know that, but I just don’t have it in me.’ You do. Organization isn’t something you’re born with—you can develop it through practice.
In this article, we’ll offer 15 practical tips on being more organized at work and achieving more in less time.
How to Be More Organized at Work: Practical Tips and Tricks
- How is Being Unorganized at Work Impacting Your Team?
- Benefits of Being Organized at Work
- 15 Practical Techniques on How to Be More Organized at Work
- 1. Centralize your work with a document management platform
- 2. Divide your workload into tasks
- 3. Organize your days in a Kanban board
- 4. Refine your desk organization
- 5. Visualize workflows with mind maps
- 6. Enhance focus with Pomodoro
- 7. Use goal-tracking apps
- 8. Learn to prioritize
- 9. Don’t be afraid to delegate
- 10. Create to-do lists
- 11. Reduce distractions
- 12. Use a calendar to track your tasks
- 13. Take regular breaks
- 14. Try time blocking
- 15. Create a daily routine
- 3 Templates to Stay Organized at Work
Summarize this article for me pleaseHow is Being Unorganized at Work Impacting Your Team?
Poor organization at work decreases your productivity and increases your stress. At one point or another, you lose control over your workload, miss deadlines and growth opportunities, and experience burnout. This, of course, further skyrockets your stress levels, and you end up stuck in a never-ending circle.
Things get much worse when you’re working in a team. One member’s lack of organization can lead to poor communication, unfair or inefficient resource allocation, low morale, missed deadlines, client dissatisfaction, and even conflicts.
When you’re a part of a team, you’re a cog in the wheel—if one part’s broken, the wheel can’t move. By improving your organizational skills, you keep the team machine well-oiled and moving toward your goals. ⚙️
Summarize this article for me pleaseBenefits of Being Organized at Work
Top-notch organization leads to reduced stress, improved productivity and efficiency, and timely task completion. Over time, good organizational skills can land you promotions and growth opportunities and help you create a reputation as a dedicated staff member with excellent work habits.
If you’re a part of a team, your coworkers will recognize you as reliable and won’t dread working with you on projects. Plus, you’ll have no trouble communicating with peers and completing your work on time, ensuring the project doesn’t fall behind.
Summarize this article for me please15 Practical Techniques on How to Be More Organized at Work
We’ve compiled 15 organizational tips and strategies for boosting your skills to help you achieve work-related goals.
1. Centralize your work with a document management platform
Jumping between apps and platforms to find your needed information can be mentally draining and distracting. Up your organization skills by keeping your work centralized with ClickUp Docs.
This outstanding feature is a document management hub—it lets you create, manage, edit, and share work-related docs.
Employee handbooks, project information, technical documentation, contracts, payroll reports, invoices, or expense records—ensure they’re safe and secure in ClickUp Docs. Work with your team to polish the existing documents and create new ones with maximum customizability.
Keeping everything in one place can reduce stress and ensure you don’t waste time looking for important files.
2. Divide your workload into tasks
Say you’re a journalist and must deliver a huge article by the end of the week. Instead of panicking about the number of words you need to produce, break up your workload into tasks.
Let’s say you have 9,000 words to write in five days. The article has 30 subheadings, which means you could complete six each day. Or, you could set a daily target word count. Achieving those daily goals will help you stay on the right track and monitor your progress.
ClickUp Tasks can help you organize and manage your workload without feeling overwhelmed. The feature is suitable for those flying solo and in teams. Add assignees, set priorities, divide tasks into subtasks, track and manage time, add details with Custom Fields, and jump aboard the organization train. 🚂
3. Organize your days in a Kanban board
A Kanban board is an Agile project management tool, but what does it have to do with the organization? If you use it right, the board can help visualize workflows and improve your task management skills.
Divide your work into tasks and group them by their status or another criterion of choice. For example, you can create three categories:
- To-do
- In progress
- Complete
Sort your tasks in the corresponding category and move them around as you cross them off your list to maintain focus and keep track of your workload.
ClickUp Kanban boards offer a drag-and-drop interface and tons of customization options, so you can’t go wrong with them. Plus, they support team collaboration and are suitable for more complex projects.
4. Refine your desk organization
Research shows that clutter can cause stress, leading to poor organization, procrastination, and chaos. What’s more, a messy desk can be a red flag to your coworkers—they may perceive you as disorganized and uncaring.
Clearing out your desk won’t fix the root of the problem. But it’s certainly the first step toward getting back on track. Many people report that they feel more productive when they clean up their desks. This doesn’t come as a surprise—when you have a tidy work environment, you can navigate easily, have fewer distractions, and feel less overwhelmed. This also extends to your digital devices. Remove digital clutter on your desktop and mobile apps to make space for high-value information.
Purge unnecessary paperwork, organize your docs in drawers with labels, use storage containers, and turn yourself into a productivity machine. 🤖
5. Visualize workflows with mind maps
If you’re the visual type, try boosting organization skills with mind maps—diagrams that outline your ideas, thoughts, and workflows.
You can put your plan on paper or use an advanced option like ClickUp Mind Maps. Besides letting you visually map your processes, this feature enables you to connect tasks, create dependencies, and invite team members to contribute. This ensures you’re always on top of your current and future assignments!
If you don’t want or don’t know how to build mind maps from scratch, use one of ClickUp’s mind map templates.
6. Enhance focus with Pomodoro
Pomodoro is a time management technique that typically involves working for 25 minutes and taking a five-minute break, with a longer break (usually 15 minutes) after four work intervals.
This technique can help reduce distractions, sharpen focus, maintain motivation, and decrease mental fatigue and exhaustion.
Depending on your line of work and level of focus, you can adjust the length of your intervals. For example, you can work for 30 minutes and take a seven-minute break if you find this works better for you.
While Pomodoro has proven useful for many people, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. If it’s not working for you, don’t force it—there are plenty of other options for boosting organization.
7. Use goal-tracking apps
Achieving goals is satisfying and motivating. If you have trouble with organization, you may benefit from goal-tracking apps. They let you break your workday into smaller goals and cross them off your list as you go.
Features like reminders and time trackers keep you from wandering off your path. Use apps with progress charts to stay accountable and see how you’ve improved over time.
The good thing about these apps, as opposed to writing your goals on a piece of paper, is their flexibility. You can quickly change your milestones as you make progress and strive for continuous improvement.
8. Learn to prioritize
The root of your organizational issues could be lying in poor prioritization. The truth is, not everything you do is of equal importance. Trying to juggle it all simultaneously leads to a lack of focus and a waste of energy and time on tasks you don’t have to complete immediately.
ClickUp and its 15+ views can help you prioritize the right tasks. You start by putting together a list of all your tasks. Then, you:
- Compare them against each other
- Determine priority using Custom Fields
- Rank your tasks using colors, tags, or scales
- Sort them based on urgency
You can set deadlines, determine the effort necessary for completing the tasks, or add another criterion to help you prioritize efficiently. Go back to your lists once in a while and reorganize if necessary.
9. Don’t be afraid to delegate
Trying to achieve everything on your own and turning down help from coworkers shows dedication, but it can quickly wear you down. If you work in a team, don’t be afraid to delegate tasks to your coworkers—dividing the workload will help with the work-life balance and ensure you have enough time to organize your days without feeling overwhelmed or stressed.
Delegating work can be more challenging if you’re working remotely. Luckily, tools like ClickUp allow you and your team to work as one and communicate clearly even if you’re not in the same location.
10. Create to-do lists
To-do lists are the pillars of good organization. Whether you’re making a shopping list or summarizing your work schedule, putting together a to-do list can get you through the day without hiccups.
You can go down the traditional lane—grab a pen and a piece of paper and jot down your tasks to stay focused and organized. Or, you can grab a ClickUp template with premade sections to manage your workflows. Whatever you choose, it’s wise to prioritize tasks and set a time frame for their completion to prevent procrastination.
11. Reduce distractions
Distractions are your worst enemy—your phone, TV, cluttered environment, and social media keep drawing you away from your work.
If you want to stay focused, you must say goodbye to distractions. Of course, this doesn’t mean throwing your devices away. Instead, put your phone on DND (do not disturb), turn off your TV, and pause social media notifications. Declutter your desk and the space around you to ensure nothing cracks your focus.
12. Use a calendar to track your tasks
If you want to improve your organization, you need to start thinking in advance and writing things down in a calendar can be your road to success. Do you have a big meeting in two weeks? Jot it down so that you don’t forget about it. Write down everything, from smaller tasks to huge projects and events.
You can also add personal items and assign tasks on the calendar. That way, you’ll prevent overlaps and confusion and create a clear idea of your availability and workload.
ClickUp Calendar view can help you plan and manage timelines and schedules, color-code entries for easier navigation, and set priorities.
13. Take regular breaks
You’re not a machine and can’t work non-stop—regular breaks are a huge part of a healthy workday. During breaks, you have time to decompress, refocus, and rest your mind. Plus, you can stretch and get some fresh air.
When you don’t take breaks, your focus is bound to drop at some point. You’ll feel overwhelmed and exhausted, so your performance will decrease. Your tasks will snowball, and you’ll lose track of your priorities and workload, leading to disorganization.
Breaks may seem like a waste of time, but they actually boost your productivity. Schedule them wisely and ace your workdays.
14. Try time blocking
Does creating a detailed schedule keep you accountable and organized? You may want to try time blocking—a productivity technique that relies on dividing your day into time slots dedicated to different tasks. This to-do list-calendar hybrid can minimize time wastage and keep you focused on your goals.
Build your schedules from scratch or use one of ClickUp’s time-blocking templates. Outline every work-related and personal task, add time ranges, and enjoy the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel when you adhere to your schedule.
15. Create a daily routine
Flexible hours and remote work give you the freedom to work when you feel the most productive. This doesn’t mean hanging around and postponing work until the very last moment.
Many people find creating routines helpful. Research shows that behavior can become habitual when it’s performed consistently. This means that if you start working at 9 a.m. every day, it will eventually become a habit as long as you stick to the schedule.
Create a routine that doesn’t exclusively focus on work. Take a walk before starting your workday, schedule breaks, and reward yourself for sticking to your plans by watching a new episode of that TV show that’s been sitting on your list! 📺
Summarize this article for me please3 Templates to Stay Organized at Work
Templates with premade sections can help you stay organized, plan your days, and maintain focus. Check out these three ClickUp templates that will turn you into an organizational wizard! 🧙
1. ClickUp Simple Work Plan Template
Need to visualize your tasks and timelines? The ClickUp Simple Work Plan Template provides the foundation for creating detailed schedules, organizing your workload, and collaborating with your team.
The template offers two views—Project Plan and Project Gantt.
The Project Plan view is where you’ll list all your tasks and provide information about them using Custom Fields. By default, you get Assignee, Start and Due Date, Priority, Project Phase, Project Progress, and Comments. You can be as detailed as possible and keep everyone in the loop.
The Project Gantt view visualizes the task from the previous view in a Gantt chart. It helps you understand timelines and prevent overlaps, thus boosting organization across the board.
2. ClickUp Simple To-Dos Template
Organizing and managing workflows isn’t complicated when you’re using the right tools. The ClickUp Simple To-Dos Template is the perfect option for anyone who wants to create easy-to-follow summaries of tasks.
With this template, you get two List views and one Board view. The first, more general view is All Tasks, where you’ll enter your and your team’s duties. You can add:
- Assignees
- Due dates
- Status
- Priority
- Comments
The view automatically categorizes the tasks by status (To-Do, In Progress, Blocked, or Complete) for easier navigation.
In order to further sort the assignments, the Prioritized Tasks view filters out the urgent tasks you marked as high priority. It helps you clear out the noise and focus on tasks that require your immediate attention.
The Status Board view is a Kanban board that turns your tasks into cards grouped by their status. Use ClickUp’s drag-and-drop interface to move the cards around and organize your work.
3. ClickUp Daily Planner Template
One of the most productive things you can do to boost your organizational skills is to create a detailed plan of your tasks. That way, you’ll stay accountable, have maximum control over your day, and minimize the risk of anything falling through the net. The ClickUp Daily Planner Template is a no-frills solution for your organizational troubles.
By default, the template focuses on your personal goals. The All Tasks view shows tasks grouped into two categories—Habit Tracker and Personal Tasks. But, as ClickUp templates are known for their customizability, you can change this to capture overdue tasks as well.
Use Custom Fields (like Status, Assignee, Due Date, and Priority) to provide details about your tasks and manage workflows with confidence.
The Board view visualizes your tasks on a Kanban board, while the Calendar view helps you plan timelines and schedules.
Summarize this article for me pleaseKeep Your Work Organized with ClickUp
Poor organization can prevent you from shining like the star that you are. ⭐
Whatever the cause of your lack of organization, ClickUp can help. Its templates, integrations with 1,000+ apps, 15+ views, process mapping options, and time management tools can help you stay on the right track and become an organizational expert.
Try ClickUp’s free version and find out why the world has gone wild over this user-friendly platform!
Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.