How To Organize Your Life If You Have Anxiety + FREE Printable Lists

“How to organize your life if you are someone dealing with anxiety?”

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 lethargic and unorganized creates more anxiety on the top.

You want to advance in your life and be happier.

You want 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 might find yourself feeling 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… It is better to take 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 Prone To Anxiety

1. Start Slow

There’s no need to start organizing EVERYTHING suddenly.

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.

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

2. Declutter little by little

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 can breathe easier.

It will give you more energy to tackle other things too.

3. Create a master list of 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 (you can use my free template, too!).
2. Sort tasks into “Most Important,” “Important,” “Sometime Later,” and “If I Have Time.”

Task sorting is an easy method I learned when I started my planning practice.

I noticed that everything goes smoother with a plan.

It’s even better if the plan has some 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 necessary.

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, start advancing.

Try planning your week.

Create a simple monthly overview to add an appointment, event, or task whenever it comes up.

You can use apps on your phone for that as well.

Organize your surroundings a bit 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.

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 you some peace of 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

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 many organizational tasks and organize your life as much as 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:

They come in several shapes and designs, so you can easily adapt them to any list you need to make.

To grab yours, choose the best size for your planner, journal, or binder below:

Essential Free Printable Lists in paper size A4 by ShineSheets

Essential Free Printable Lists in paper size US LETTER by ShineSheets

*Personal use only!

How To Organize Your Life Despite Anxiety: Conclusion

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!

Amber & The Team

Co-authors at ShineSheets.com

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