After upping sticks and relocating to the other end of the country recently, we are looking forward to welcoming the first visitor to our new home in Cornwall. With our son's impending arrival I began thinking about the importance of being organised…

My son writes and illustrates, but simply cannot concentrate without a completely clear workplace. As somebody who has witnessed his teenaged room, this never fails to amuse me.

The fact is when you are in an organised environment you are more clear-headed and therefore more able to be productive.

Do you struggle to find your keys when you’re already running late? Is that file you need urgently not where you thought? Have you just accepted that you will never be one of ‘those’ organised people?

You are not alone, but the good news is, now is the perfect time to begin to change.

There is a simple fact that, nobody is born organised, they have learned and cultivated healthy habits, which help them to become, then stay organised.

So even the most chaotic of people can learn to be organised. From forward planning, making notes, to ditching the unnecessary. You will become an organised person as long as you’re willing to learn and practice.

Here are three of the essential habits to pick up in order to begin the journey to becoming one of ‘those’ organised people.

1. Write things down. Simply trying to remember things will not help you stay organised. Aiming to contain important dates and appointments in your head just complicates your life. Write it all down, shopping lists, birthdays, and appointments. This frees up your mind for the task at hand.
2. Make yourself a schedule, and stick to it! Keeping things organised goes hand-in-hand with staying productive. Make a schedule for the week, or if you have a particularly busy day break that down into task priorities. Make your deadlines and set goals.
3. Don’t put off the small tasks. If it’s only going to take a few minutes to do, do it now!  If you have to send a negative response to somebody, it may seem easier to put it off, but don’t. Do it straight away and you have one less thing on your mind.

These three basics are just to begin, remember the art of organisation is not to control, life happens and things go off course, your plans for life cannot be rigid.

However, being organised means removing some of the excuses for failure, and being able to think clearly makes for a less frustrating, more productive day.