Organize Your Life with Planners

 Dear Readers,

We will start a new year in a few days and it's time to get a new planner!  I love planners and I wanted to show you the ones I used.  I meant to post this article in the summer but I had to change my plans many times because of people getting sick around me, at home or at the office.  At times, I felt overwhelmed by bouts of illness but had to quickly get back on my feet because my family depends on me and I can't take days off from work without affecting the office.

My fixed schedule was constantly interrupted and I had to postpone or cancel many plans.  The changing circumstances around me forced me to find new ways to juggle my time.

I knew it was time for me to re-evaluate my planning system.  I know many people don't ever want to use a planner and they seem to live fine without it (I don't know how they do it!) but I am not one of those people.  I need a planner to not forget appointments, deadlines, birthdays, events, meetings, etc.  I also use my planner to work toward my personal goals as well.   

There are many planner systems and people should choose a system that suits their needs and lifestyle!  So what I will show you in this blog post may not be something that works best for you but it could give you some ideas!

I have used different types of planners since elemenary school years.  I started with a tiny lined notebook, then I upgraded to a small 3-ring binder, then a full-size binder, the bullet journal, and then I got hooked to the Traveler's Notebook system.

I love how easy it is to use a Traveler's Notebook but with increasing projects in my life, I needed more than just one planner and I needed more writing space too.

So I use different planners depending on the areas where I need the most organization:

• Events, billing, appointments
• Work, tasks, deadlines
• Health, workout, diet
• Gratitude Journal
• Family Photos
• Meal Planning

I prefer dated journals when I know I will write something daily so I don't have to spend too much time on adding dates.   

For my photo journal, I don't use dates at all because I won't print pictures everyday.  If you are the type of person to print photos everyday, then a daily dated journal would probably work best for you!

I'll show you today the planner I use for work : The Classic Happy Planner Twin Loop, which is a wire-bound planner with a vertical layout from Michael's Craft Store.

It has a hard cover and it stays on my desk at the office.

You can see the whole year in one spread.

There is a monthly vertical layout.

It also has a monthly section where I can see the whole month in one spread.

At the endof each month there is a recap page.

I like how each month tab has a beautiful art cover.

The weekly spread is where I write most of entries.  It has a margin on the left to write a weekly list or follow-ups.

I wanted to show you my other journals too but that would be for another day!  I hope you will find the planner type that suits you the best!

I wish you all a Happy New Year and good luck with any resolutions or goals you may have!

Journey to Happiness

Dear Readers,

Summer is here.  The weather is sticky and humid where I live but my old bones appreciate the warmth. How are you?  Have you been taking care of yourself?  Have you planned a vacation?  After the death of my father, I had to rethink my life once more.   If there is one thing that mortality does, is to make you question your life all over again. 

I thought of the reasons why I started blogging and how happy it made me feel back then.  My intention has not changed: I still want to share with others what makes me smile so that people can also feel happy and learn from my experience.

This is why I didn’t want to talk much about my struggles but it’s part of why I was silent for a long time.  I didn’t want to burden others with negativity.  Life comes with highs and lows but we have to get up to continue walking on the road otherwise we will stay down.  So I have decided to get up and keep on walking to reach the highs and live in the sunshine.

Will you join me on my journey to happiness?  I hope you can also find here reasons to enjoy the little things that can make your life better!

To get started, I asked myself questions about my goals in life:

• What is important to me? (what are my values)
• What do I want?  (how do I want to live my life)
• How do I get what I want? (what do I need to do)

I did quite a lot of reading in the past few month and one book in particular helped me focus on the task at hand: "Crush your Limits" by Thibaut Meurisse.  I am not paid to advertise this book or any of his work.  I have read other books and articles but this is the book that gave me the push to take actions to get back on my feet.

After brainstorming, I made a list of what I needed to do.  This list applies to my present situation and may change in the future.  And of course, your list may differ a little or a lot from mine depending on your situation.  

List of things to do

1. Set up a desk so I can plan my life and future projects
2. Set up an organizing system for my projects
3. Improve my physical health with meal plans and workout schedule
4. Schedule time for myself and for my family

Today I will show you the first step on my list: set up a desk to plan my life and future projects.

I have always been a very organized person and clutter frustrates me.   I had a very small secretary desk in my bedroom where I kept my planners and documents but it was getting too small for my needs.

So I decided to get a bigger desk and shelves (I am keeping the old one for storage and reading).  I made space in my living room and got a white desk from IKEA.  I added a drawer unit to store documents and stationery.  Two shelves were installed above the desk.

I gravitate toward pastel colors very much so it was a no brainer to decide on a color palette.  Most of my craft supplies are already in those colors; I didn’t have to buy too many new items.  

If you follow my instagram account, you will probably recognize some of the objects on my desk.

I decorated the shelves with watercolor paintings from the amazing artist @journalingafternoon on Instagram.

My desk does not take up much space but it adds so much functionality as well has joy to my life (what can I say, I love an organized space filled with pretty things).

Under the desk are drawers that I use for stationery which I divided into sections:

Stickers

Letter paper, envelopes, pencils

Washi Tapes

Small items

It took many days for me to complete this step. It was a tiring, time-consuming but a pleasant experience nonetheless because as I purged, cleaned and organized my desk, I was able to create a very practical and relaxed environment that will help me plan my life and future projects.

In my next blog entry, I will tell you more about the second step of my journey:  set up an organizing system.

I wish you all a very good summer! 

Much Love

Jane