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Orderliness

 

Orderliness is a virtue of the cardinal virtue of Temperance, and growing in the virtue of orderliness is about keeping order in your life to determine what & when to do something and to ensure you do it. This includes planning daily to exercise better habits aligned with the virtues as well as any work you need to do. Here are some examples of better habits you can exercise every day to grow in the virtue of orderliness:

 

Use a Task List

Use a list to indicate only the tasks you need to complete today, then prioritize them and check off or cross out a task when you complete it. If a task can be completed after today, put that task on a list for the day it needs to be completed. If a task on today's list doesn't get completed today, put it at the top of your list for tomorrow to be completed before any other tasks.

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Use Time-Blocking

While task lists work, they don't account for the amount of time it might take for each task or for the amount of time you have available to complete the tasks on the list. That's where time-blocking helps, because it involves blocking off time on your calendar so that the blocked time is designated only for a specific task. If there is no available time on today's calendar for a task, you have two choices: (a) make room for it on today's calendar by moving a lower priority task from today to a different day, or (b) put the task on a different day where time is available. If a task requires more time to complete than what is available on the day it is due, then you should block off appropriate time on your calendar for the days leading up to the day when it is due. If a task that is time-blocked today doesn't get completed today, then you should time-block that unfinished task for another day with the appropriate time needed to complete it.

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Combine Task List & Time-Blocking

Both of these time management methods can be used together to accommodate tasks that do not have a deadline. Use a list to indicate tasks without a deadline and ensure they are not forgotten, and then time-block them on today's calendar when there are no tasks to fill available time for today. If a task on the list changes to require a deadline, you can check off or cross out the task after time-blocking that same task for the date on which it's due.