At some point or another in our lives, the vast majority of us will be in situations where we are completely disorganised, live completely chaotic lives, do not have any of our ducks in a row, and struggle immensely to envision a situation where things could actually, conceivably, be going the way we want them to.

No matter what stage of life you may be in, this state of being is deeply harmful and destructive. It robs us of our self-esteem, it smothers our potential and prevents it from being realised, and it yields all sorts of technical issues and uncertainties as well.

Sometimes, however, resolving this kind of issue is even more urgent than it might normally be. This may be the case, for example, if you’ve just become a parent, and have to think not only about your own well-being, but also that of a child.

Here are some tips for how to start getting your life organised in a hurry, whether you’re doing it for your overall well-being, to be more efficient at work, or for any other number of reasons.

Adopt a Planning and Organisational System ASAP

If your life is chaotic, the first thing you need to do is to come up with a system for differentiating the general chaos from those aspects of your life which are important and need your attention, but which you might currently only have a poor grasp of in your mind.

Adopting a professional planning and organisational system — such as David Allen’s famous “Getting Things Done” system — can make all the difference here, as you get all of the tasks you have to complete out of your head, and onto paper (or a digital alternative), and from there can form those tasks into projects and next actions.

Suddenly, you don’t just have a series of half-formed ideas to work with; you have an actual set of practical, clearly-defined tasks.

Various digital tools can be a major help here. Services that offer appointment reminders can prevent you from forgetting important events, and apps such as Microsoft To Do can make keeping on top of your tasks virtually effortless.

Tidy up Your Immediate Environment

When we’re living in a chaotic state in our lives, we almost always also find ourselves living in a chaotic environment, too. Your immediate environment has a strong impact on your mental state. For that reason, a messy home can exacerbate a messy mind. Take the time to tidy up your immediate environment, and you might be amazed by what a powerful impact it has on you.

Work on Identifying Keystone Habits and Systems to Begin Transforming Your Life

We are all creatures of habit, generally speaking, and as Charles Duhigg wrote in his popular book “The Power of Habit”, there are certain “keystone habits” which really determine our destinies. Keystone habits are habits that affect multiple areas of our lives — and other habits — at once. Waking up early, or attending the gym, can be good examples of keystone habits.

To get your life on track in a hurry, work on identifying and implementing your own keystone habits today.