Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Bullet Journal - 1 work planner/journal

A little over a year ago i was looking for a new Planner for work. something with a calendar and a writing space. That's when I stumbled onto the new concept of Bullet Journaling.
It's a really simple concept if you go to www.bulletjournal.com but on Pinterest...HOLY COW!
It's some new crafty thing with people painting and organizing all kinds of stuff. It was fun to look at, but crap, I ain't got time for that?! It ended up stressing me out a little. Every week or Month I needed to create new pages and draw things and measure. Well, I need to measure so that the week is even. I don't like uneven stuff.
I digress...I have these great graph notebooks that i've used for work for years. I pick up the 300 page thing for about $10 bucks at Barnes&Noble. It's a brand from Spain - Miquelrius. I have several just put away ready for use. I kind of hoard them. I used the same notebook for almost 2 years when arriving at this company. It was covered in stickers from here and there all related work work - name tags, gimme stickers...stickers from fruit...whatever. I made sure to take pictures and it's still somewhere at home as a keepsake. It took almost 3 years to fill up that one. I felt very accomplished, like using a pen until the ink runs out.
So...anywho...I decided to use that since it was too late in the year to get a 2015 planner. I'd try the Bullet Journal system to get to the new year and either buy something new or continue with this.
well...drawing the weekly calendar was a chore. Especially since I'd need to draw it before the week started and Monday's are a hairy day for me to tell people, "Just a sec, i need to draw this week" and I don't mess with that kind of thing on the weekend. I pretty much compartmentalize work and home.
My solution was to get a Moleskine Weekly for work. I can keep notes and lists on the right side and the weekly calendar is on the left side so a calendar is always right in front of me. I've really adapted to having a calendar right under my nose. I do have to carry another Moleskine for notes but what I carry is still rather small. I sometimes lay them out in front of me in meetings but people only mind themselves so I don't think I've even had to address it. People work the way that's best for them.
I can take a laptop to a meeting, but I don't feel productive or engaged that way. Pen to paper is good for me.

I ADAPTED Bullet Journal ideas to suit my needs, which is kind of why it exists. It's more a guide than rules.
1. First, I bought a book with the dates already in there. cuz...I'm not doing that again.
2. In my non-dated book, I put the Index/Table of Contents in the BACK...this way, I don't have to guess how much space I need at the beginning. I opened up and started writing in a new notebook and forgot to add the index once. So it makes sense to write to my heart's content and then my notebook finishes when it meets up with the index/TOC.  And I tend to have to find time to add to the TOC when I'm at my desk and reviewing my notes. I play catch up throughout the week to keep things clean and my notes on track.
3. You'll see on Pinterest that books are full of great images and fancy scrollwork and artistic writing and I am sooo far from that! I love art and still consider myself a pretty talented person with a pen but Dayum! I'll stick to my doodling - There is work to be done!
4. I don't work on the notebooks at home. I have a separate notebook for that. and I do not draw in that one either.


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