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Something that I have been revising, improving, and perfecting this year is my organization techniques that keep me in tip-top shape in everyday life.
I have always been the person to want a paper copy of EVERYTHING. I don't use other paper products like napkins, paper towels, single use wipes, etc. and this is how I justify this semi-unsustainable habit of mine. I am absolutely the type of person that would carry about a bunch of different notebooks and folders all. The. Time. When I was in school everyone would be so shocked at how much I could fit in my backpack and how much my damn backpack weighed.
I have always been one to love a hard copy. I love the feel of paper in my hands and I have realized that I learn and grow best when I am writing things down on a hard copy. Writing things out for me helps them stick in my brain which is helpful when I am so crazy busy. Trying to switch to online books when I was a teenager was an AWFUL process and I ended up buying a lot of hard copy books instead. Reading things online has never worked well for me, even as I have grown up. I remember in college I would print tons of documents I needed for my research projects so I would actually get the information I needed. When looking at a computer screen I am not as focused and I felt that impacting my research and work ethic.
As I am getting older and busier and am trying to create healthy routines and habits for myself I have been re-evaluating the way I organize myself. Over the past few months I have been working to streamline all of my processes-- the coach I work with challenges me to show up every day as my highest and best self and I have realized that in order to do that, I need to have processes in place like I am already wildly successful! I am going to share with you all my organization habits and techniques hoping that this will help you strategize better in your own life.
Planners: The one thing I really have not been able to give up is my hard copy planners. I have two that I use on a daily basis that I love and that help me stay completely organized even when I have a million other things going on. The first is a 2018-2019 Essential Daily Planner I bought from Amazon for 15$. This planner comes in different sizes and has the most basic layout that I find helps me organize the business aspects of my life. This is what the weekly layout looks like! They also have a monthly calendar you can use to reflect and work on.
The second planner I use on an everyday basis is my Silk and Sonder planner. I found this company last year when I started journaling and considered making a bullet journal. I really liked the idea of a bullet journal but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with the time commitment needed to make it really successful! Silk and Sonder is an awesome company that sends you a new planner every month. The staples in each monthly planner include a 4-month future log, a monthly calendar, mood tracker, habit tracker, previous month's reflection, intentions for the coming month, poems, a coloring sheet, recipes and more!
Every week they provide a layout that has top 3 goals, intentions, individual weekly habits, meal prepping, grocery list layout and more. You also have a complete week set up with a box for every day that allows you to write in a daily gratitude as well as a notes section for the end of the month.
My Silk and Sonder planner has been the best investment I have made in myself in a while. The planner is so pretty, well thought out, and keeps me organized even if I don't get to use it every day! I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a new way to keep themselves organized. I thought I would hate getting a new planner every month but so far I have loved how it helps me reset my thinking for the month ahead! It has been a huge game changer.
Journal : The other notebook that I always carry with me is my journal. I love starting my day by taking 5 minutes and writing in my journal about my intentions and goals and challenges for the day. I also love having it with me so I can journal through any road blocks I am having trouble navigating. Being able to put the pen to paper and allow my thoughts to flow freely has been a game changer and I rarely leave without it anymore!
OneNote : Even though I love having hard copies of things, I am trying really really hard to move all of my notes to an online platform so I can always do work regardless of where I am and what materials I have. I have found that OneNote from Microsoft has every function I need and I love how seamlessly it works with my phone, laptop, and Microsoft account. I will usually start by taking handwritten notes that I then take a picture of and upload to a new page in a notebook and I can finish my notes there if I want. I have found this especially helpful for content batching. I will write out my topics for the week and then after I upload the sheet of paper I write all of my captions out in OneNote.
I have created notebooks for each major section of my platforms and I love that I can create subsections that can have their own pages.
The other thing I have found really useful is that I can export pages as PDF's to send to my coaches, my clients, and friends. My planners, journal, and OneNote are my organization ESSENTIALS. I still have a hard-copy folder for all of the notes I write, but I clean them out every two months and recycle what I don't need anymore! I no longer have to carry these folders everywhere with me since I have moved all of my notes over to OneNote and I can easily access anything I need quickly and efficiently.
How do you stay organized in this crazy life?