Yes, yet another post about planners and organizers. Obviously, I have an ongoing struggle with how to organize myself. And sometimes a system will work for a season, and then things change, and I need a new system.
So, at various times I have used Planner Pad to keep track of my to-do list and appointments. It's an excellent weekly planner. Off and on this year, I have used it, and it has been helpful. However, I have had some problems using it. One problem is that I need the electronic reminders from my phone/google calendar. And there was too much redundancy in the system. The second is that my schedule is too complicated and full right now for a weekly layout. I really need to focus one day at a time.
So, I looked at daily planners and couldn't find any that I felt would suit my needs. I did make a custom planner online, but it was going to cost me around $60 to order. The term "bullet journaling" kept popping up, and I decided to look into it.
Basically, you log your day in bullet form, using different symbols for events, to-do's, facts, and memories. You can create more long-term and monthly pages as well and keep notes from meetings. An index page is used to keep track of important pages.
Some people go insane with their bullet journals, creating all sorts of elaborate and artistic layouts, while others keep theirs very simple.
The great thing about it is that you can use supplies you have around the house to make it, if you have a spare notebook. Or you can buy a very cheap notebook. People sometimes use expensive ones, but they are still cheaper than many traditional planners.
I like the ability to customize and the lack of wasted space. I can stop using it for a while and then come back to it. So far, I'm not using it so much for logging my kids' homeschool but for keeping up with my insane daily schedule. Having three kids at very different stages as well as my volunteer work at church and a night class I take makes my life very complicated. I am grateful to have such a full life and so many things that I am passionate about, but it is messy and crazy and extremely difficult to organize.
Helpful links for learning more about bullet journals:
