Planners and Journals and Calendars: Why you need all 3!
I was just about to write about planners and journals and why, for me they can’t be one and the same.
But then, LinkedIn notified me that ADDitude magazine had linked to one of its articles… that I had read about three months ago.
So I took some time and read through the short article: Some people with ADD prefer paper planners, journals, and analog clocks and timers.
Others like digital only.
And some people, as I do, use both.
I keep appointments on both digital and paper calendars. Sure, why not. If I close my laptop or open another tab or scroll somewhere else on my phone, the digital version is not in front of me. I have to click, tell Siri, or navigate to a website or app to open it.
At my desk, it’s just to the right or left of me, depending on which way my desk is facing.
When I was younger, I used to draw up my own calendar, each month. Starting when I was in third grade. I believe I didn’t understand or know how to ask for help so the picture half is upside down.
Or the calendar is. I’m pretty sure I disappointed Miss Slosilo… but I love this calendar!
But seriously, I would just use a ruler, create the grids, and when I got older. I kept track of my periods by drawing a little rainbow arc on the date it started and wrote in a corner how many days since the last one.
Now I just print the calendar out from either timeanddate.com or some other template. I’m tired of looking for the perfect calendar (Kitty Cats of Greece, for instance) to hang on my wall.
I currently use paper for planning, trying out Marydee Sklar’s Seeing My Time planner. When I bought it, I was able to access a short video that walked me through the steps of using it. I was able to ask questions, take pictures of the spreads I had done and I got responses from Marydee or her team members. It really is geared to help you see your time in blocks as big or small as you could possibly imagine.
But one of the best things about it, is its size. 8 1/2” by 11”.
So now it’s…
The Bullet Journal Method vs. The Seeing My Time Planner.
Okay, I admit it.
My eyes are older than the rest of me.
I find it increasingly difficult look at Excel Spreadsheets, even the most elegant ones on my small laptop screen and my even tinier phone.
So writing down my grand plans for the future just seems impossible in the cramped space of a small journal book which was otherwise delightful for short journal posts, indexing and being able to refer back to things. Great way to keep track of migraines, what movies I’ve seen (streaming and in-person); and what books I’ve read.
I think journals are a great way to keep track of what happened on what day. You can tie it to habit-tracking:
Exercise: Walked tonight after dinner. Foot hurt. But saw lots of fireflies.
Diet: Don’t ask. Okay, only one serving of ice cream, but it was a big serving.
Self-care time: a nap & iced coffee (coffee was too weak bleahhh) (and I just fell asleep in my chair again) (at least I didn’t drool).
Work: Planned for next week — still have problems solidifying my goals. Also, worked on the newsletter.
Gratitude: My hardworking son and husband and the fireflies and the cats. I just love them! Squeeeee!
So I think I’ll always have a journal, a long form journal of some sort and I will have a planner — to plan how to spend my time.
The best thing about both the Daily Plan page and the Weekly Commitments page in the Seeing My Time planner, is that I get to see the empty spots. Time that I can use just for myself. And the pages are big enough for me to imagine future me.
But Seeing My Time is not so good for looking back.
And I’m doing a lot of looking back lately.
To sum up: For effective planning and organization you need the following 3 functions.
Something that shows you what time you have, so you can plan how to use it. A planner that interfaces with a calendar and/or clock.
Something that helps you reflect: what worked, what didn’t, what did you like about about the last series of books you read (The Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo. They’re great, by the way!). Could be a dotted grid journal, like the Bullet Journal. Could be any old notebook.
And something that helps you corral your deepest thoughts. Because that helps you practice your art, whether its writing or designing or cooking or hitting a baseball 463 feet into the fountains…whatever it is. Long form notebook for journaling. Or sketchbook, whatever works.
If you know one SINGLE app or technique or notebook that does it all, please let me know what it is.
In the next newsletter, I’ll tell you why keeping a journal became a way of life for me.
I will include excerpts from my earliest journals — a lot of which have phrases in code or other languages because I’m really embarrassed by what I wrote and I’d die if some grownup found them, especially my mom or that teacher I have a crush on.