Prioritizing and keeping myself focused and on track used to be one of the most challenging things for me to do. I would get distracted by social media, television, blogs, music, and pretty much anything else. But sometime over the last two years, something in me changed. I began to organize my tasks and schedule better; I began to keep track of the most important dates and events. Instead of feeling like every little thing was attacking me at once, I began to feel like my life was in order. 
Obviously, in order for all of this to happen, I had to make some changes in my life and daily schedule. I started to implement activities and organization tactics to aid me in staying organized. Below, I am sharing some of the best ways that I have prioritized certain happenings in my life and stayed focused. What are some of the best ways that you keep your life in order?

Use A Calendar

While I am more into having a calendar that is easily accessible on all of my technology, I cannot deny the great pleasure of physical calendars. I used one while I was in Germany, and I recently purchased a new one from Five Below that I am super excited to use during the school year! But since I am only now getting into using a physical calendar, let me focus on what I am a pro at using: online and mobile calendars! One of the first ones that I have ever loved was Sunrise. It was easy to integrate my Google, iTunes, and any additional accounts into one, large calendar. All of my events, deadlines, and reminders were able to sync up. One of the main attractions to this calendar was the fact that I could sync this one calendar across my Windows laptop, iPad Mini, and Android smartphone. 
That attraction was, however, lost with my calendar update to SolCalendar, which is only available on android devices. Not all is lost, though! The newest calendar that I use allows me to use cute marks (from a plane to food to an A+ for school to a simple highlight) as well as color-coding for any and all events or to-dos. You can also invite others to your event as well as state whether you are available, maybe available, or not available for a certain time-frame. 
In my calendar, I plan blog posts, add important information (for example, flight itineraries), and make note of tests, assignments, and upcoming breaks. . I like to have a full calendar as it makes me feel as if I am organized and know what's happening in my life.
If you are more interested in a desktop calendar, then you should download **Rainlendar. It is perfect! I actually used this religiously before I downloaded Sunrise. I still do use it, but not as frequently because it's purely desktop and I prefer one that syncs across all of my electronics. It allows for customization of your calendar as well as color coding, icons, and to-do lists! 

Use a To-Do List

This is a recent addition to my organization schedule. I categorize items into Home, School, and Blog. That helps keep me more organized as everything is under their respective categories, so I know what needs to get done and for what. On those to-do lists, I add quite a bit at once (with their due dates scheduled and any additional notes), so that once I see the scratch of completion, I feel much more accomplished. (Yes! I wasn't such a lazy bum today! *fist pump*) 

Schedule Posts

If you are a blogger, then you most likely understand how much time and effort it takes to write a blog post. Not multiple blog posts - just one. Yeah; it is insane. But since I do love blogging, that is just one sacrifice I have to make. Nevertheless, I can still try to make my blog preparation more efficient and be time conscious. In order to do that, I use my spare time (usually during the weekend I have hours to kill) and knock out some posts. If I realize that I do not have "spare time," I then try my best to shuffle my schedule around and schedule in time for blog things. By scheduling posts for the upcoming week (and sometimes two), I feel more organized and like I have my life on a smooth road to success. A happy blog is a happy me, right? Right? *nudges with an awkward grin*

Do The Smaller Tasks First

This goes hand-and-hand with my to-do list. I like to complete the smaller, therefore easier, tasks first.  One, this allows me to quickly get them out of the way. And two, once I an finished with them, the scratch of completion motivates me to continue handling business. If I can get some of the minuscule tasks over and done with, then when it comes time to complete the larger tasks, my list will not make me feel as if I got absolutely nothing done that day.

Take Mini-Breaks

Although taking breaks every ten minutes will hardly allow you to complete tasks, a fifteen minute break every hour and a half is decent. (Or simply after you finish an entire task, if it doesn't take up that much time.) It allows you time to relax and to not stress out. I know that once I get into a task, project, or assignment, I do not want to quit until I am finished. Sometimes that is fine! Other times, it stresses me out so badly that I end up quitting for the rest of the day. What's the use of that? It does not allow progress to get done, which means I'll be stuck doing it again the next day. Nein danke. So, what I do is give myself tiny breaks to grab a snack, send a few text messages, check social media, or simply catch some brief zzzz's.   

Get Rid of Distractions

Distractions are the vice of pretty much everyone. They can keep you from doing what is really important. My distractions are social media, good music, and books/blogs. To keep from being distracted by these things, I (1) tell myself that I can check social media during a break or that it will be my reward when I am finished with the task, (2) put on music that does not have any lyrics to it, and (3) don't start reading any books, which is how I can easily fall into the procrastination trap of "only one more chapter!" Whatever your distractions are, try to minimize them whenever you can! Trust me, your productivity will thank you!