I wouldn't consider myself the most organized of people back in the day, but it's safe to say I've come a long way from those past times.
No, I don't exactly color code every single note I have, nor do I have labels, sections, and places for everything I own, but organization never has to come to this extreme.
From my experience, organization is all about convenience. What can you do to make your life a little less hectic, and a little more manageable?
I found myself delving into the concept of keeping a planner. Sure, it seemed to get the job done, but only when I really remembered to fill it out. The tightly made boxes and concrete lines didn't really fit with how I wanted to organize my things. Thus, I turned to a bullet journal.
I purchase a bullet journal with dotted versus plain pages, just so I'd have a tiny bit of guidance in creating my spreads. I had complete and total freedom to design my planner however I wanted. I found myself creating habit trackers, making future calendar spreads, and even jotting down to-dos, memories, and anything else I wanted.
However, creating all these different, creative means of tracking every aspect of my life grew tedious. I found that I just didn't have the time to hand-make my spreads, or track every little thing I wanted to do. Plus, I HATED how perfect I wanted my bullet journal to be. Every little mistake I made, made me cringe. I was bullet journaling for the sake of it being pretty and fun, and not for the sake of getting things done. Thus, that was quickly a bust.
At this point, I decided to switch digitally. As of right now, it's working wonders! Google Calendar has been a close companion of mine since the start of this semester. I color code each event/task I need to do, designating certain blocks through the day to either do them, or get them done by. It's a quick and easy way to see your week at a glance, and mistakes can easily be deleted and replaced.
I implement organization in an abundance of areas throughout my life. "Everything needs a home" is a motto to live by, and I swear you will be much more organized following this method alone. Sure, I'm not exactly perfect with it, but if you have a place to store all your towels, and another place to store all your makeup, you'll find yourself knowing exactly where everything is, at all times (granted, you make sure to put your things back in their homes!)
No, you don't need 24 different colored highlighter and sticky notes to stay organized (although, by all means go for it!), but little methods such as investing in accordion folders or designating baskets for items in your home can make all the difference in making your life more organized.