You have a million tasks to do. How do you accomplish each one and not lose track? Write it down! Make a list. Keep up a calendar or an agenda. This has always been how I stay organized.

I’ve always been a list maker. Just ask my mom. I used to make lists for everything. I even have written a list of outfits I was going to wear during the week. (In my defense, I was in high school.) I have even written, “take a shower” on a list. Usually, my tasks are more substantial, but- hey whatever works to get everything accomplished!

From Paper Planner to Google Calendar

In college, I had a paper planner and wrote everything down in it. It contained all of my assignments and my social calendar. As things got digital, I tried using Google calendar. I have been regularly putting in appointments in my Google Calendar since 2015. For a while, it was working great as my only calendar. I like how it works seamlessly from the computer to your phone.

• 

• 

Recently, my husband and I synced our calendars. He was getting tired of checking with me to see if we had any plans or if I was busy doing something. It works great! I am a member of several different organizations and those also use Google Calendar. Someone in the organization who has access to the calendar can type in an event and it will show up on every member’s personal Google Calendar. I can see all my events from my sorority alumnae association and my MOMS Club, but my husband can’t. We can see only the events we personally put in there. Group events are separate.

Google calendar was working great for my calendar but not really for my to-do list. I knew I needed to make a change, which brought me to the next step in my path for getting organized.

The Bullet Journal

I am such a list maker. I was tired of having a million post-it notes everywhere, especially at work. I needed a way to keep organized that I could write down. There’s something about writing things down that keeps you more committed to the task. I knew I wanted a paper planner again. So, I did a lot of research. I looked at the Happy Planner and many other types of manual agendas, but ultimately I settled on the Bullet Journal. I no longer use a bullet journal, but I had fun with it when I did.

Two years ago, I read an article in a magazine that I used to work for. It was about how the author used her Bullet Journal and had a couple pictures of some of her spreads. It shared the website BulletJournal.com and I went to the website and checked it out.

According to BulletJournal.com, “Bullet Journal (or BuJo for short) was created by Ryder Carroll, a digital product designer and author living in Brooklyn, NY. Diagnosed with learning disabilities early in life, he was forced to figure out alternate ways to be focused and productive. Through years of trial and error, he developed a methodology that went far beyond simple organization.”

A BuJo motto is “The Analog Method for the Digital Age.” It is a system for taking notes, keeping track of events and getting organized. I won’t get into the basics of how Ryder suggests you go about doing that, but you can find out more about it on his website.

What I liked about the BuJo is the ability to personalize it and make it your own. One thing I especially loved is the variety and endless possibilities of the collections. Collections are ways to organized related information. The basic collections in a BuJo are The Index, Future Log, Monthly Log, and the Daily Log. Ryder explains these in detail on his website. What I enjoyed creating was collections about anything and everything that was helpful to me. I made collections called: Books to Read, Weight Tracker, TV/ Movies & Streaming, Medical Appointment Log, Holiday Gift List/Ideas, etc. It could really be anything you wanted.

There were also ways to incorporate habit trackers into your BuJo, which really keep you accountable for making better choices. You could perhaps create a collection for habit tracking or you could add it to a regular logging page. I kept the basic core collections of the BuJo, but instead of doing a daily log, I kept a weekly log and had space for each day. I made creative spreads using a ruler, nice colorful pens, stickers, stencils, colored pencils and washi tape. It became a creative form of expression for me as well as a way to keep organized. It really became addicting and I found myself writing in it more and more. As time went on and the busier I became at work, I found that I didn’t have all the time I wanted to devote to my BuJo and would have to spend evenings and weekends working on my spreads. This is something I wasn’t willing to do long-term.

Supplies I bought:
Ruler
The Official Bullet Journal Notebook
Washi Tape (really just fancy paper tape used for decoration. I have tons)
Colored pens (I found that the kind by Micron are my favorite)
Stickers (Lots and lots of stickers)
Stencils (For drawing shapes when you can’t really draw)
Colored pencils
Pretty Post-it notes
Dual Brush pens (Hardly ever used these, sadly)
Probably even more things that I am forgetting

When creating a BuJo, all you need is a notebook and a pen to start. But, I went all out and bought the items mentioned above.  At the time, I thought I really needed EVERYTHING! Now, it’s just sitting in a bag somewhere in my house…

One thing about Bullet Journaling that most newbies don’t think about is the community of BuJo enthusiasts that are out there. Between Facebook groups and blogs, you can get so many suggestions, ideas, inspiration and help with Bullet Journaling. I joined a group on Facebook called Bullet Journal Beginners and it was very helpful. There is also a really popular one called Bullet Journal Junkies. Many others make blogs and send out monthly emails about Bullet Journaling including Ryder himself. It is all very helpful and informative.

I was very happy with it for a long time, but I liked to do it very artistically and creatively, which got too time-consuming. It got to be too much and I later stopped my BuJo. Then I became very disorganized and was back to square one. I thought, there has to be a better way. I considered someone pre-making my BuJo and then filling it in. But, I didn’t want to pay anyone and it didn’t seem logical. The creator of the Bullet Journal wanted everything to be simple. He created it so that it could be kept up with consistently without much effort. Then, people who adopted his planner/journal method came up with all these other more creative collections and ways to decorate the pages. It strews from the origin of the Bullet Journal itself. Like I mentioned before, I prefer the more artistic method to making a BuJo, but I couldn’t keep up with it. So, I began researching again.

Passion Planner

That’s when I found the Passion Planner. Now, I considered other options before purchasing a Passion Planner, such as the Scribbles that Matter Bullet Planner, an Erin Condren LifePlanner, the Happy Planner or a Commit30. But, I think what really hooked me was that they were having a flash sale and I just happened to be on the website at the right time. I spent a fraction of what a Passion Planner costs and tried something new. I was so excited for my Passion Planner to come in the mail. It was already April when I got my Passion Planner, so I started from the beginning of that month and left the beginning of my journal blank (which started in January).

Let’s take a moment to talk about the company itself and its founder, Angelia Trinidad.

According to Passionplanner.com, “We’ve all been there: uncertain about what to do in life and unsure about the next step. When Angelia Trinidad faced this anxiety after graduating from college in 2012, she decided to do something about it. She designed the Passion Planner, a personal organizer to help you simplify your life and focus on what really matters.

Since then, Passion Planner has grown into a worldwide community of dreamers, planners, and achievers. We’re dedicated to helping everyone follow their passions. As a Get One, Give One company, every planner purchased lets us give one to someone in need. We partner with nonprofit organizations to support causes from education to preserving our planet.”

There are different components of a Passion Planner. Everything is laid out on the page for you so all you have to do is fill in. There are also blank pages in the back to use for whatever you like. It’s more than a planner; it’s also a goal setting guide, appointment calendar, sketchbook, gratitude log, journal, and a sketchbook. It has personal and work to-do list outlines and weekly and daily focus. You may use it however you wish and be as creative or as minimalist as you like.

When I first started my passion planner, I was working full-time. I used my planner to plan personal and work projects and set goals. I also make to-do lists and frequently used my “space of infinite possibility” found on each weekly spread and other areas throughout the planner. I used to decorate my Passion Planner with stickers I bought from my BuJo days. You can be creative and add stickers and “flair” but you can also be simple and just fill out the pages. Now that I’m a Stay-at-home-mom, I use my Passion Planner much differently. It helps me keep up with my schedule. I’m in a MOMS Club, so we have different events throughout the week as well as my other appointments and plans going on. I also use it to keep track of my chores around the house, my to-do list and occasionally my shopping list. There is a “Good things that Happened this week” space in each weekly spread and I use that to record my son’s milestones. It is really helpful to do this each week so I can write it in my son’s baby book each month. I’m sure I will love looking back on this part of my planner in the future.

At the beginning of each Passion Planner, there is a Passion Roadmap for goal setting. You list goals and due dates for completion in 3 months, One Year, 3 years and for your lifetime.  It is really helpful to keep you on track. Each month there is also a space for a mind map of tasks to do that month. I did the one at the beginning of the book last year, but not this year. It is something I keep meaning to do. There is also an end of the month reflection for each month of the year in the Passion Planner. I’ve never filled out the end of the month reflection, but I would imagine it would be helpful.

There are blank pages in the back of the planner that you can make into anything you want. I went back to my BuJo days and made a collection type page for Holiday Gifts to buy last holiday season. It really helped that my gift ideas were all in one place.

A lot of people use the Passion Planner and it is very beneficial. They have an academic version and an undated as well that come in a variety of sizes and colors. You can check out their website for their latest planners.

That pretty much sums up how I have and currently use productivity tools in everyday life to keep organized. I hope it has helped you learn more about a few different products that will help you stay on task and be productive. What types of things do you use to manage your time and achieve your goals?