And yet. I struggle to maintain a proper schedule, and I’ve got hundreds of notebooks and diaries that I’ve never used. Until last year, I was constantly double-booking myself and forgetting commitments which isn’t a good look when you’re in your 30s.
I also work as a freelancer, so making sure that I hit deadlines is really important – plus, my anxiety often spikes and I get overwhelmed when I feel like I’m not in control.
If any of this speaks to you, you might find the way that I’ve learned to manage my time helpful. It’s January, let’s get our lives under control and keep organised (and productive!) for Get Organised month.
I tend to divide and conquer to keep myself organised – I have a small wall calendar that sits just next to me so I can see it every day. This is where I keep track of the big things like days off, dentist appointments, birthdays and so on. I fill it in at the beginning of the year with birthdays and anniversaries, and then whenever anything gets added it goes on the calendar! As it’s right next to me, I see it every day. Mine’s a cute dragon-based one I got for Christmas last year.
Or this RA Young Artists one (Ra Young Artists Mini Wall Calendar by Flame Tree Studio | Waterstones). Just make sure you hang the calendar somewhere that you will see it every day, and keep a pen handy too!
Waterstones has some lovely options for mini wall calendars, like this Hubble Space Telescope one (Hubble Telescope Mini Wall Calendar | Waterstones)
Next up, I use a magnetic weekly planner on the fridge in the kitchen. This is helpful for meal planning – my husband and I have busy lives, so it’s good to see what we’ve got planned for the week! I also love having the option just to add things to the shopping list quickly and easily, as this means we’re not buying too much and wasting food.
My final thing is my bullet journal/diary. I’m not sure it really counts as a bullet journal as I’m not particularly arty, but I’ve got a functional system set up which works for me! These pictures are from my old journal as my new one isn’t set up yet, but I’m planning a similar thing for this year.
I aim to read 80 books this year – last year I managed my goal of 75 which was great! I like having this visual tracker of everything I’ve read, as it makes me happy to fill it in with each book.
My weekly spread is coloured coded for work/personal tasks. I’ve played around with tracking things like hobbies on the weekly spread, but that doesn’t really work for me. I track my reading though, and a ‘ten-minute tidy’ as well as my current crafting projects and what I’m watching!
I also like to have a double spread at the beginning of each month with a quote, a mini planner and my habit tracker.
It’s a work in progress every year, but this is what works for me at the moment! You’ll need a dotted journal to allow you the flexibility of setting up the pages as you want – this one from Paperchase is totally lovely! Bloom Together | Notebook | Papier
If you don’t know where to start or don’t feel confident in setting up your own journal, you can also try something like this: Free Bullet Journal Templates | Tombow (tomboweurope.com) where you can download free templates and ideas to help you keep yourself on track.
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