Tips To Organize Your Life With A Simple Notebook

With so many smartphone apps, desktop apps, and sticky pads, our organization systems have become a source of chaos! This post is for all of you procastinators out there {and I am probably the biggest one of all!}. Do you feel like you are constantly running around all day long but still don’t feel like you are getting things done? If so, then this is the plan for you! It’so simple that anyone can do it – all it takes is a notebook and a little will power. 😉

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Find a great notebook and pens you love. You want paper that feels good and won’t bleed through and you want the notebook to be small enough to carry everywhere but big enough to have room to map out your time.

Make sure your notebook reflects your personality. Some of the ways people personalize their notebook are:
- Adding scraps, like movie ticket stubs, receipts, flower petals, etc.
- Gluing in photographs
- Making sketches and drawings
- Writing poems
- Choosing a quotation or a goal of the day

Or create a notebook that's truly personal – that's the idea behind my customized notebooks, by adding your name...

Or even your favourite quote.

Then pick a couple of pens you like in contrasting colors. You'll need it to feel smooth and flowy when you write.

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Write today’s date on the top of a page (or anywhere on a page for that matter) and start writing.

This is helpful if you want to create a simple diary or other time record of your ideas, thoughts and notes.

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Let's create a list of things you want to be. Let’s make your history. Get your goals out of your head and on paper so you can see and read what you want. This gives you immediate focus and clarity. These are big picture items, not to-do items, things like “be a good listener,” and “stay positive” would be on this list. You can also list things you want to do more of in general, things like “move more” and “focus more on my job”

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This is a great way to keep track of data points you may record in your note taking/studies.
Maybe you’re keeping a diary or journal and want a quick way to reference specific numbers.
For example, perhaps you are tracking your new exercise routines, your weight, weather, the height of your children, how your garden is growing, etc.
Set aside a couple of pages in the notebook for you to plot out summary charts of data.
You could draw a grid, make a table or graph to keep all of your data in one convenient place.

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Choose a time once a week to host a meeting with yourself to plan for the week. Create a weekly to-do list with seven headings written in colored pen. Write down everything you want to accomplish for the week under those headings so you can group like-items together. Be realistic about what you think you can accomplish.

If any of these items must be done on a specific day, write the first letter of that day with a circle around it next to the item. However, if it doesn’t have a rock-solid deadline, don’t pin it down to a specific day yet.

This is also a good time to consult your list of aspirations and see if there’s anything you can do this week to further your big picture goals.

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This may be the most important tip in this post. Do not start writing a daily to-do list until you’re clear about what your day looks like. Each morning, start a fresh page with the date up top in colored pen. Next, use a colored pen to divide your day into time chunks.
After you’ve written your calendar items down, your day should naturally break itself up into chunks of time.
So write down those chunks for this specific day. Use your weekly calendar to break this down.

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Last but not least is record everything. If you have a thought that you might possibly need for later, write it down in the notebook so you don’t lose it. I record book ideas, text for emails, journal entries, grocery lists, and much more. Next to each type of entry write a symbol so you can recognize it easily and transfer it to it’s final resting place once the notebook is full.

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If you feel like your life is getting away from you, give this plan a try. You will start to realize that there are probably many things that you do throughout the day, that can really be left for a later date {or don’t need to be done at all!}. Once you have prioritized what really needs to be done – and you make yourself stick to it – you will feel some of that stress start to disappear and you will feel a greater sense of accomplishment at the end of your day. Get those mandatory tasks done as early in the day as possible so you have a little downtime for yourself or extra time to spend with family when the end of the day rolls around.

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