I am a very organised person, pretty obsessive with it if I’m being totally honest. I like to have everything planned so that I know exactly what I am doing on what day, at what time. I have also found lately that it helps to keep me motivated and positive as I now have a system that produces a solid plan for my week. I thought I would share it with you, to try and help a few of you. You may want to use my way of organisation for a more simple and stress free life! It is quite new to me too, but I am finding it to be a great way of organisation but who knows I may find something better in months to come. But here’s my current organisation situation..
Although I do use my iPad and certain apps to organise my life, I do prefer to have a hard copy that I can personally write on. (Yes I know the old fashioned way) I find it easier to write everything in my organiser which I purchased on EBAY at the beginning of the year, here it is below with my diary…
The key is to always write in pencil!! This allows you to change things around easily, as you can simply rub things out if you feel it isn’t working. I personally think that having the book in front of you, being able to edit it whenever you like, helps to keep you stress free and is great in making sure your week is perfectly planned to fit your needs.
An organiser is so much better than an diary. It gives you a little section for each day in a weekly view. This allows you to look at your whole week all together, giving you a better outlook into what you have to do each day. I personally find this is better than just seeing one day at a time, and makes it easier to plan what you can fit in on each day. Below is a blank week in my organiser to show you what I mean..
On to the actual planning.. I tend to plan two weeks at a time just because of my fortnightly rota from work, but it may be better to start with just planning one week at a time and see how it goes. Firstly, I write in all the days I’m working in the week, and in my case I write whether I’m working in studio or on location. Basically, just all information that I need to know about my working day. Once that is all sorted, I think about all the different activities, chores, errands, appointments and general things I need to schedule in, that need doing that particular week. It helps to write everything out on a separate bit of paper, and mark it off when you have scheduled it into your week. When organising your week you need to make sure you spread everything out evenly and use your time wisely so you don’t become overly tired. (Also make sure you have scheduled in some me time!) Taking time to plan your week is key in making sure everything can be completed in the best way possible! After working out what I need to do in that week, I simply work out how much spare time I have each day and how much time a certain activity needs which then allows me to decide when would be best to do it during the week. It does take time to get it all to work, and there is always plenty of rubbing out, but trust me it is all worth it when it is finished!
I go through this ritual every Sunday night. I know it’s not for everyone but I find it puts a positive outlook on my whole week, and really helps with the Sunday night blues!
I do also write a diary every day which I do think helps with staying organised. I find it helps in being able to know what you do and on what day if you do ever need to find out when something was done later on down the line. As mentioned above I do also use my iPad alongside my organiser as it helps to plan my weeks but I won’t go into all that now!
So basically after all that rambling on, all you need to do is buy yourself an organiser, a pencil and a diary and get planning your weeks, one at a time!
I hope this has been helpful 🙂
Emily Jane
xoxox
A Little Bit Of Everything 