I have tried a couple of different “daily planner” type strategies (Bullet Journal, etc…), but none of them seem to stick. I’m looking for ideas on how others are able to organize their daily/weekly/whatever to see if any of them would make sense for me (or maybe even trigger inspiration to take parts from ideas and make my own). I’m pretty sure whatever I go with would have to be digital (carrying a physical notebook with me was part of the reason Bullet Journal didn’t work), but I’m not opposed to trying an analog technic again. Also, depending on the strategy I could probably “convert” it to digital and use Obsidian or another tool (I’m an iOS user).
Routine, routine, routine. When my routines get messes up, all hell breaks loose.
I have a (or multiple) paper notes on my table to my left, where I write down stuff. I often separate them into columns or paper notes of “today”, “todo”, etc.
At work, I have a text file with sections and bullet points (one-liners) for Critical today, Maybe/Opportunity today, and todos/backlog. That serves as a personal list and for “to check” or “small things to do” notes in addition to our task ticket system (with planning, descriptions, and assigning, etc; for Software Development).
More broadly, I’m okay with noting stuff down, and not really using it that much. It varies quite a lot whether I am able to tackle them or not (procrastinate/evade). But that’s okay.
I also don’t get a feeling of accomplishment when check-marking or striking through done items, which some other people seem to get. So it’s more of a write stuff down for more structure and offloading from my mind, and to get a better overview.
Thanks. That’s actually a bit helpful. I think I’m similar to you on the “tick the box” feeling
Proton Calendar reminders, combined with years of building daily habits.
I’m very environment sensitive/dependent. I’ve been temporarily staying with family, until I move next month. The lack of being in a controlled and curated home environment has honestly thrown a lot of my organization out the window.
I’ve found that an A6 size notebook was easier to always have with me because it fit in my pocket the way a smartphone does. But I’ve been using an A5 since I stopped going to an office and, well, I had some A5 notebooks lying around.
I’ve also found that the best thing I learned to do with the notebook was to have very few things (the most important things) written down in the front and “other” things written in the back. Focusing on the things in the front until complete (or has become less important relative to some other thing) and marking them off is tremendously helpful. Folding the corner or bookmarking the most recently written on pages allows for easy navigation.
It’s a bit like a stack and a heap. When a new “other” thing has my attention, I write it to the heap in the back of the notebook. The most important things (3 at most) are written to the stack in the front of the notebook and popped off (struck through) when finished or moved to the heap (writen in the back of the book because it’s no long a top priority). Eventually the back and the front meet (a stack overflow) because you’re not erasing anything and you need to use a new notebook.
I couldn’t tell you why this is so helpful other than to say that it frees my mind to write down whatever has my attention and is important enough to remember but not important enough to prioritize now.
Other than that, I use a calendar app and Google notes for things I want in digital, synchronized form.
Also, regular exercise seems to help me stay organized. But that’s probably not what you’re asking about.
