I’m passionate about helping small business owners get organised and free up time to do more of what they love. But how do you get organised when you simply just don’t want to be organised, or in fact, when you just don’t want to do anything.  How do you actually stay on top of things, especially as a business owner, when you’re tired and you just want to close up shop for the day but know you have so many things on your list to finish up?

Tip #1: Hydrate

My first tip for you when you’re feeling this way to stand up, go and get a fresh glass of water, fill it up to the top, drink half of it, and walk back to your desk.  Just the simple act of taking a break, clearing your mind, resetting your body by drinking a little bit of water to cleanse your system, is going to help you to feel more awake, recharged, and focused.

Tip #2: Use a Timer

My second tip for you is to get some kind of timer to keep either on your computer or on your desk.  For myself, I use a Pomodoro timer – the tiny little tomato-shaped timer where you can turn the top of it to set the time.  I found one of those for my computer – it sits up in the dashbar.  Whenever I really want to focus on a task, I just set my Pomodoro timer for ten minutes.  I say, “Right.  Okay, I’ve got to get this done.  I know I’m feeling tired – I acknowledge it – but I just want to get it done in these ten minutes.  And I’m always amazed by the eighth minute when I actually can finish things sooner than I thought!

Tip #3: Do a Brain Dump

My third tip for you, when you’re feeling pretty tired and overwhelmed at the same time, is to just grab a fresh piece of paper and get out all of those things that are on your mind.  Don’t take a long time to do this, but definitely just write out all of your projects, those little to-dos that are on your mind, and anything out on paper.  I promise you that you’ll feel a lot more focused after you’re done.

Happily Organised was started in 2010 by Laurel Grey, an active member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and Australasian Association of Professional Organisers (AAPO). As a coach and organiser, she has a passion for helping small business owners do more of what they love. Laurel holds a business degree from Boston University and is a self-proclaimed computer geek. She has lived in South East Asia, mostly in Singapore, for the last seven years and has relocated to Sydney, Australia in June 2013.

Click Here to discover more about Laurel and her business Happily Organised