The start of the new year is just around the corner, and I am wondering what you all use to organise your year. I would like to see pictures of your paper agendas, bullet journals, or online calendars - anything you use to organise your life! Even if it is basic or messy, I would really love to see it, as will a lot of people, I think!
As for me, I use a vaguely bullet journal-like system. I have just started my new Leuchtturm1917 in berry for 2021 (I happened to finish my old one just in time for the new year and I am so happy it coincided so I could start a new one for January!) I am still working on it, but hereās a picture of my future log (adapted from AmandaRachLee on YouTubeās 2021 video). I am using mildliners and Micron pens and a white gelly roll a lot of Pentel correction pen because Iām making a huge number of mistakes! I will get messier as the year progresses so this is the nicest it will get.
I am also possibly moving soon, so I have a few lists on Google Keep, which I made some nice headers for using Canva and following this instruction video. It looks like this:
and great timing too!
I was just finishing my calendar for this week (and my overview for the next 6 months), but still havenāt put in too much mess/personal info.
I use a Moleskine notebook. I think they call it a sketchbook. it has blank off-white pages that are just thick enough for my normal pen-ink not to show through + can carry some light watercolor.
I started with bullet journaling many years ago, but the whole system is a bit too involved for me, so I have been gradually pairing it down to something I can be consistent with.
I make a 6 month overview spread for long term plans and appointments as well as birthdays.
Iāve gotten addicted to this layout and have not been able to find any printed calendars that use it, so I keep making it myself even though it takes me 10-15 minutes to set up every week. It also has the added bonus of being more flexible, as I can use the same book as a diary/sketchbook and still keep everything in chronological order.
Very exciting topic! Iāve tried many different spreads over the years and mostly kept it simple and messy, but found that I want to put in a little more effort to track progress. Had a year of very bad time management so I want to do my best to make the most of everyday next year.
On the left a year tracker that I can use for 4 habits. I have a small schedule notebook that I want to use for ādaily goalsā.
On the right my New Years resolutions. I can get a lot done in a short amount of time, but if I give myself an entire year, Iām most likely going to progress way too slow or procrastinate. I decided to have 6-month goals, my birthday is in July so I can reflect on the last 6 months and look forward to the next 6.
5 year plan; Itās very running oriented but will probably be used for vacations etc. As well. Iāve been a very lazy/undisciplined runner in the last 5 years, so I really want to make steady progress and work towards bucket list races! Thatās why my resolutions consist of many running goals.
Trying to bring more positive thoughts in my life by tracking highlights everyday. Normally I love enjoying the small things in life but it has been hard this year. I watched Pixarās Soul this week and it definitely gave me some optimism that I needed!
I will probably transfer some pages from my old journal as well, like random creative ideas and purchases that I made. I also use Google Keep/Calendar for todos, grocery lists and ideas but itās sooo messy so thatās something I have to clean up in the upcoming weeks. I also keep up a braindump journal for general thoughts ādear diaryā style.
I just use Google Keep plus a notebook where I write everything without any order, it has lists and things to do. But also things I need to remember and also appointments datesā¦ Itās a mess!!! (but as I use different colours I can know everything more or less, at least what is important and what is not.)
I have a pre-made diary for appointments and such, since I donāt have time to make it all myself, but one of my new years resolutions is keeping a daily journal/junk journal. I didnāt want a too big notebook (because you have to fill the pages as well haha) and I found a gorgeous small one online. Itās hand made (even the paper!) from India and perfect for what I want to do with it. So far, Iāve only done the title page haha.
Some days I might actually write how my days was, but other days maybe a book report, a quote or just bits and pieces. I want it to become a work of art
Iām impressed with all these goals as well as the good organization. Good luck with all of it! I feel you with the ā1st pull-upā goal. Iāve had that goal for a few years now
Only because I have to be! believe me. it does not come naturally to me.
I may be slightly off topic but is there anyone who organises their finances like that? Usually I would just make one list of all of them through the month and calculate everything at the end but itās messy and I grew tired of doing it that way.
I tried some finance management apps but they were a) either way too complicated for my needs b) distracting just by the fact they are on the phone where all notifications sit.
So if anyone wants to share some handmade inspiration Iāll be grateful
I use Google Sheets to track every single purchase. You can make it as easy or complicated as necessary, I change up categories every year. I barely have to calculate anything as everything is automatically calculated so itās just a good overview. Each month has a column.
Everything I buy is pretty much necessary except āMisc - materials & goodsā (also dining out but I barely do). I want to reduce buying physical items so thatās what I focus on offline:
Format is month-date-cost-item. Green highlight is petcare related, blue highlight for plants so thereās the potential to subcategorize it even more. The way I can reflect on this is taking another color and mark regret purchases, I havenāt done that yet but from this picture thereās maybe one thing I could have waited with buying. Iāll probably continue with this system, hopefully with an even shorter list next year! Less spending is less tracking
Apologies if this is TMI, but hope it helps you! Definitely find the reason WHY you want to track your expenses, that may help with the motivation of how to do it.
I love this layout and it gives me enough space for my everyday appointments and things I need to remember. I donāt do monthly or yearly spreads, I donāt know what Iād need them forā¦ thatās probably for when you not have the entire year pre-made? I just plan from week to week, maybe Iām a bit chaotic. But Iām totally useless without my planner, I canāt remember stuff for my life, haha.
Iām really impressed by all of your organization! Iām more of a to-do list kind of person and at the moment, I have a lot of different things spread out across multiple notebooks and journals. I need to find a way to consolidate everything without driving myself crazy.
Thanks for that! I feel inspired now - I like the colour marking on the paper sheet, didnāt think of categorising it this way. I have one more question about the sheet but Iāll drop you a message about it
@bom_dia, I have to say that like @metlodyt, I too am not naturally organised and I have to try really hard to be as organised as possible, hence my journalling! I still let things fall through the cracks but this does help me organise my life a lot more.
@_annalies I have a junk journal too! I only recently started it myself. Itās just relaxing to stick stuff in it randomly and not think too hard about it. It soothes my perfectionist soul to allow myself to be a bit messy and unplanned! Have you thought about sharing your journal on this topic? Iām still too intimidated!
@Genevril I actually donāt track my finances in my journal, I donāt have the skills for that, but I do use the Google Sheets template for āMonthly budgetā. That sort of helps me a bit (Iām very bad at maths).
@Axolotl_ I absolutely love planners to be honest, but here the selection is kind of limited so I find it easier to make my ownā¦ but yours looks just like something I would like! I guess I could probably get it online but I am trying to cut down on my carbon footprint from all the shipping.
@syaffolee Good luck finding a way to consolidate! It is a really challenging thing and I wish you all the best. Keep us updated - maybe 2021 is the year for you!
I am using what may possibly be my all time favorite planner to date for 2021. I almost didnāt buy it because I already had one. My boyfriend saw it and he liked it so much he convinced me to get it. The one I already owned was undated and this one is pre-dated for 2021, so it worked out perfectly.
I had one from Sheepworld for many years. Last year I wanted to be cool and modern, just started with planner in the smartphone, but is not enough for me I do not get along. Then I had bought me another emergency planner simply a notebook.
For this year I wanted to look for something really nice suitable. I also wanted to buy me first a ālighthouseā, then by chance when looking for postcards, this seen and immediately, it is ā¦
Bin sehr zufrieden mit meiner Wahl, dieser hat rechts noch extra schƶne Spalten sogar mit Kochplan. Hinten noch extra Seiten To-Do-Listen/Notizen und Skizzen. Dann natĆ¼rlich die Ć¼blichen noch Feiertage/Ferien etc.
Yes! I love the Hobonich Techo Weeks! Theyāre small and cute, have the spreads I need for monthly/yearly views, and lots of pages in the end for random stuff.
Hello again! Happy 2022! It has been a whole year since this topic was discussed. I wonder if anyone wants to share their planners for this year, or any tips and tricks that they started in 2021 that youāre carrying on for 2022? Are there any new planners on the market that I should be aware of? Iām trying to incorporate a gratitude journal, maybe - does anyone else do that, and if so, how?
As for me, I am still using this chart I formulated as a sort of tracker for health-related things. I give certain factors a rating out of 10 daily (0 being very bad, and 10 being very good; 5 being an average grading where things are neutral). Iām not very good at data analysis but I find this system gives me a good monthly overview about how Iāve felt over the course of the month, and then if thereās a dip on a particular day, I go back to another section of my bullet journal to try to clue out what caused that dip, if anything. Stress levels are one factor I track! Itās pretty fascinating (but I have to remember to do it - you can see by the gaps that I forget to enter some days).
For years Iāve just kept track of birthdays, appointments, and other important events on a monthly calendar, and supplemented that with daily to-do lists on index cards. Last year I started using a weekly planner, hoping to get rid of the index cards, but that didnāt quite work for me; I still ended up with lists jotted on endless scraps of paper.
For this year I bought myself a Hobonichi Techo A6, and promised myself to justify its expense by using it very hard. So far itās working out. I use the monthly column section for habit tracking (exercise and language-learning), the two-page monthly spreads for birthdays. appointments, and events, and the daily pages for to-do lists, a gratitude journal, and random brain dumps. In the blank pages at the back I keep reading, movie, and buying lists, and a running tab on people to whom I need to send postcards.
My 2022 Hobonichi was a bit late and has just arrived today, so my afterwork plans are to fill it up and start jotting down stuff. Itās a yearly gift from a Chinese friend, and it always makes me happy when it pops up on the mailbox. He doesnāt tell me in advance which one heāll pick for me, so itās a yearly surprise.
This yearās has pandas on it, and all the text inside is in Chinese! Iām so happy!
@scrutiny I really like your health chart! Last year I tinkered with a ālife spreadsheetā, and one part of it is just mood, on a colored scale of 1-10, for mornings, afternoons and evenings:
I havenāt done any analysis on the spreadsheet yet, but looking at the whole year, I can clearly see when big stuff happened or which days were particularly stressful, and draw some conclusions.
Theyāre small and cute, have the spreads I need for monthly/yearly views, and lots of pages in the end for random stuff.
YAY!
Iām so happy!