One of the many ways I utilize the Ninna Lu blog is to write a personal journal full of resources and links that I can always look back on and refer to when I need to at anytime. The Typepad blogging platform has allowed me to create my own personal categories of topics, archiving my posts within those categories, organizing my blog posts by month and it even allows me to share with others for a common inspiration. While trying to go paperless as much as I possibly can at work by day, I still find myself occasionally printing my action items, even still to this day writing on my notebook or journal all my to do lists for the coming week to keep myself organized. Call me a creature of habit, but that's what worked for me even in college. I do consider myself a fairly organized person, but there is room for me on improving my time management skills. You would think that one agenda book would suffice to organize all aspects of your life for work, business and personal endeavors.
Electronically, aside from keeping a journal on my blog, I heavily utilize my personal phone calendar and my Outlook calendar at work. I utilize mobile apps and have tried many different ones, but the one that mostly sticks with me is the Wunderlist app. My next ultimate goal is to take the time to organize everything on a wireless device, probably my phone, since it's the only device that goes everywhere I go, even with an iPad, and laptop. But will I transition everything to a tech device, and digitally jot every piece of vital information that pertains to my lifestyle on a One Note, a calendar, the Notes app, iCloud, and other storage apps? Honestly, the answer for me personally is probably not. For work, yes.
Yesterday, I attended a planner workshop for crafty girls. Yes, that's me. For those that can relate, this is an actual hardcopy agenda or journal. Ladies who take the time to papercraft their thoughts, ideas, inspirations, affirmations, and to do lists up the ying yang. All you need is a pair of scissors, a glue stick, paper and creativity to make an idea look pretty. Who doesn't love pretty? And to add to the ultimate truth, I just love paper. This is what I took with me from the encouragement of Cori: The Reset Girl the local planner guru of all planners.
1) Have a planner for each area of your life that needs improvement or time management. Yes, the Reset Girl has six: her Miracle Mornings planner, a Faith planner, a Boss Lady planner, a Master Journal/Planner, a Happy Place planner, and a light pink planner which she described as her fun planner, and even mentioned that of a camping planner as she loves to go camping.
2) There are two sides to a planner, one side is your to do lists categorized by commonality, and the other side is when you will implement those tasks.
3) Are you a list person? There are so many to combine to a list such as to do lists, reading book lists, grocery shopping lists, blogs to read list, newsletters or articles to read list, leaders to follow lists, other follow lists, and also a resource list in an area of your life that needs improvement.
4) Have one Master for scheduling. The rest can be journals for scrapbooking and planning to create an inspiration board, a mood board, a compelling prayer, quotes, poems, sayings, a vision board for that one area of your life.
5) Track your bad and good habits. What are your challenges or things in areas of your life that require improvement. Be your own coach.
6) A Miracle Morning per Hal Elrod consists of six 10 minute tasks the first hour from the time you wake up at 5am.
S - Silence for ten minutes
A - Affirmations for ten minutes
V - Visualization for ten minutes
E - Exercise for ten minutes or more :)
R - Reading for ten minutes (just short articles or blogs, not a whole novel but short paragraph stories)
S - Scribing (or writing)
7) Creating tabs for each journal. For example, The Reset Girl's Happy Place planner, the tabs are focus, praise, gratitude, My Happy and Journaling tabs. Think about the specific tabs for each of your journals. So for an area of my life, the tab represents a subarea.
8) Use Pinterest as a resource and create a library of pins.
9) My planner action items that I wrote down immediately while at this workshop.
a. Use my paper card and sticker collection from A Beautiful Mess and my washi tape to create/ design a planner.
b. Start thinking about areas of my life that I'd like to improve and create a specific planner for that area of my life.
c. Compartmentalizing is a great life management tool, so it is OK to have more that one planner, in order to place focus on one area of life at a time. So here is my plan of action items for my areas of life outside of work.
1) I have a creative fire within and I need to have time to just create. Therefore a creative planner will be made.
2) A combined inspirational/faith/spiritual/health journal for my self care needs.
3) A master planner - my Kate Spade 2017- 17 month planner will be used for my personal projects, scheduling with no conflicts, and keep track of my bills.
4) A Family time planner with my hubby, the pups, and my immediate family.
5) A Boss Lady journal for Ninna Lu.
6) A Fertility Encouragement planner. This is quite personal and confidential but it is an important area of my life that I truly need to focus on and drive myself to make the time. We've been having a difficult time with getting pregnant over the last five years. After my missed miscarriage two years ago, I took a break as I was pretty traumatized, but I am ready to pursue it again. Simultaneously for this planner, it will also be a journaling planner for myself for when I need the time to remind myself that not having children is ultimately "ok" for myself and my husband.
I hope that some of The Reset Girl's ideas and my own action items inspire others that need focus and create a well-organized and pretty time management tool. I hope to be added soon to her Facebook group for more ideas.
Thanks so much for reading.
~ marissa