How To Organize Your Life If You’re Anxious About Everything + FREE Printable Lists

An anxious girl’s guide to getting organized for good.

Researched, written by
Updated on December 16, 2022

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Try to take care of way too many things at once? Or stay in bed all day, watching Netflix and hiding from the fact that you need to change something? Which one are you today?

If you’re an anxious person like me, the idea of life organization may sound impossible.

“There are way too many things I need to organize and sort out…”

But at the same time, you feel that staying lazy and unorganized creates more anxiety on the top.

You want to advance in your life and be happier. You want to have an order in your home, a system in your life… But there are so many things already!

Where do you begin? How do you do it?

Most times you feel stuck and rather do nothing. 

Not the best situation to stay in.

Starting a life organization can be scary, but there are ways to organize your life without provoking anxiety spells. There are also ways to organize your life if you don’t even have a lot of time.

This article will show you how to do all of it – even if you’ve been unorganized your whole life!

The first secret is to take that first step. Even the smallest one… Better a teeny tiny step than no step at all.

Do you think you are a sensitive person who struggles to stay organized?

Then keep reading.

 

How To Organize Your Life If You’re Always Anxious, About Everything

 

1. Start Slow

 

There’s no need to suddenly start organizing EVERYTHING.

This will provoke your anxiety for sure.

Instead, try one simple thing that you can organize right away and get an immediate feeling of control. To me, the first & perfect thing to start absolutely anything is writing down a plan.

Again, you don’t want things going too fast. Start with the easiest thing you can plan right now and that would be your day. Writing your tasks in a daily planner will help you take control of your time.

It is the first thing you want to control if you want to become organized.

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You can use a simple sheet of paper, a store-bought notebook, or choose a printable daily planner that can be printed and used right away.

 

2. Declutter – a tiny bit

 

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Do not jump into a full decluttering mode and start organizing every single corner of your home.

I did that many times before and trust me, it leaves you really tired.

Instead, try to find a few things that create the most distress in your life and declutter them.

It can be your phone (do you really need that many apps?), your computer folders, your overflowing closet, or even something abstract like negative relationships.

If you find anything too big of a task, make sure to break it down into smaller steps.


I wrote about the way to tackle any big project in your life before, so do check it out before taking on anything big: How to finish anything you’ve been putting off

Once you declutter a few things in your life, you will be able to breathe easier. It will give you more energy to tackle other things too.

 

3. Create a master task list of sorted tasks

 

In a master task list, you write down all the tasks that are swirling in your head.

Too much information keeps your mind super busy for no useful purpose so write it down! You will feel less overwhelmed instantly.

Are there a lot of different tasks you need to do? Sort them by their importance.

Here’s an easy way to do that:

  1. Write down any task that is coming to your head on a sheet of paper.
  2. Sort tasks to “Most Important”, “Important”, “Sometime Later” and “If I Have Time”.

Task sorting is an easy method I learned when I started my planning journey. I noticed that everything goes smoother with a plan. It’s even better if the plan has some kind of system or structure and task sorting lists have both!

You decide on things you need to do and create an order.

If you’re a procrastinator (as most people are, just so you know!), task sorting is a must for you.

It creates an intention to do important things instead of choosing something that is not that important. Sometimes we do that to create a feeling of “being busy” when in reality, we’re just lazy!

4. How to organize your life even further

 

Once you’ve got your day under control, wrote down the things you need to do and decluttered a little bit, start advancing.

Try planning your week too.

Create a monthly overview so you can add an appointment, event, or task whenever it comes up.

Organize your surroundings even more (you can also check my ultimate decluttering guide here).

Remember – the more information you store in your head, the more anxiety you’ll have. Write it down, even on a piece of paper! Keep sorting your tasks.

Once you’ve tackled the most important ones, take care of “important” and so on.

Checkmark every task you’ve done! A checkmark is a little badge of your progress. Even if it’s small – it’s still progress.

Be proud of it.

 

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How To Organize Your Life If You Don’t Have a Lot Of Free Time

 

We’re all very busy, but even if you only have a few free evenings per week, you can still organize your life successfully. Try to declutter one thing after another, but make sure you space it out to manage your time and prevent anxiety.

Do not organize another thing if you haven’t finished with the first one – it will only create more clutter and you won’t have enough time to deal with them both.

For example, if you’ve been working on your digital clutter, don’t start your mudroom too.

One step at a time!

And most important – never forget to take care of yourself. List your self care as one of the most important tasks on your list.

I know you may feel excited and impatient but trust me, taking things slow and spending time on yourself will save some peace of your mind.

Plus, what’s a better way to rest after a productive day than a little bit of self-love?

Also read: A guide to Self Care basics – learn where to begin

50 easy self care activities to boost your overall wellbeing

 

How To Organize Your Life In One Day

 

Now, if you only have one full day you can spare to organize your life, there’s still a lot you can do! I’ve written a crazy popular guide on how to have a perfect “get your life together” day, which you can read here.

Having such a day can help you take care of a lot of organizational tasks and organize your life as much as it’s possible in one day.  The best part? You can still go through it without getting anxious or overwhelmed because it’s all about doing things with balance.

Read more about it here: How To Have a Perfect “Get Your Life Together” day

I always feel so much better after it! And even though I may feel a bit tired, my anxiety always goes down because I know I’ve done quite a few things to organize my life. I’ve done something good for myself. Try it out!

 

Free Printable Lists For Life Organization

 

I also wanted to share with you these beautiful minimalistic lists that can be used for any purpose:

Essential Lists Printable

They come in several shapes and designs, so you can easily adapt them to any list you need to make. To grab yours, simply choose the best size for your planner, journal or binder here:

Essential Free Printable Lists in A4 by ShineSheets

Essential Free Printable Lists in US LETTER by ShineSheets

*Personal use only!

I hope this article gave you helpful ideas on how to organize your life, even if you’re anxious about everything. It’s all about balance, patience, and taking care of yourself while you’re going through the whole organizing process. You’ve got this!

Co-authors at ShineSheets.com

"We love to research, examine, analyze, and present to you the best ideas that make life better. You can learn about our editorial standards here."

This article was proofread by Grammarly

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