Thursday 3 August 2017

Getting organised...does the perfect planner exist?

I've been feeling really disorganised of late*...lists everywhere, but nowhere to be found; ideas and thoughts jotted down in notebooks, but I can't remember which one; tips saved within IG, but not collated anywhere useful; free courses signed up for, but not organised enough to follow through with them.

Does any of this sound familiar to you?


I was using a bullet journal last year, to great effect, but less so at the beginning of this year. I decided to upgrade to a binder system (Filofax) as I thought that having a calendar, and sections for all the other bumpf, would makes things more easy to access. Nope...I find the rings get in the way of jotting notes down, so I end up having to remove the sheets to write things in. Grrr. And I'm hopeless with predesignated areas for to dos/This Week/goals etc, and especially with those diary inserts with times marked on throughout the day.

I've never been one to follow a pattern, colour in someone else's design, or stick to a template if I can design my own ;)


As a temporary measure, I've made myself a few of my Sprigs design notebooks (in the shop if you fancy one yourself), and am using them to make a start on being organised.

  • I have one for my Ditsy Bird thoughts/plans/projects - the biggies that need noting down and adding to as I go along. I've added an index to it, so it's easy to quickly access the page I'm after.
  • One to be used as a DB bullet journal, complete with key and index. 
  • One for home - thoughts/plans/projects - in the same way as the DB version


For my daily diary, I'm persevering with my Filofax, but am working on designing my own planner pages, taking inspiration from a variety of sources, to tailor the layout to suit me and my particular foibles.
I've got a few ideas so far

  • A weekly spread over two pages, to be used in a bullet journal way
  • A place to list weekly goals for wellbeing, to help me keep track of water consumption; vitamin taking; exercise; meditation (not yet started but really wanting to very soon)...a habit tracker, as they say it takes a month or two to turn a behaviour into a habit. So by tracking them, I can keep on top of them, to get me closer to the habit stage, and not having to consciously monitor them all the time.
  • I want to include a check-in area for myself...how have I felt this week, can I pinpoint the reasons? can I repeat them/remedy them for future weeks? how am I progressing towards my goals? did I work on the One Thing or did I get distracted? What have I learned from the week? What am I grateful for...specifics, not just 'I have a lovely home' type comments. What mindset do I need to encourage...or what mantra will help me through the week to come?

I'll start by drafting up some pages and layouts, and then trial them for a week to see how they fit. I can then tweak them until I find something that fits me and my mindset...knowing I can always change again in the future. After all, I'll be printing my own, so there won't be any wastage to worry about.

I'll share my progress on here in case anyone else is in the same boat, or just interested in seeing how my ideas pan out.

How do you keep organised...keep all those balls in the air? make sure birthday cards and gifts get sent on time? avoid missing hair appointments? get the ideas out of your head and into some form of easily accessible order? Do you have any tips or advice, or a fave planner person you refer to for ideas? Do please share in the comments or drop me a line on IG.

until next time!
Sarah
x

*having done a bit of reading on this, I'm pretty sure it's down to hormones - I'm on medication that stops my ovaries, and has effectively put me into menopause whilst on it. I was very relieved to read that it isn't just me trying to get through my days with a frequently foggy head! :)

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