My planner/organizer

If you have read some of my other posts, you will probably know when I say finding a planner/organizer that works for me can be such a challenge.  I am continuing to work through some of the different planners that I find, but have still not been able to find one that works for me. 

For my life, I am thinking that I need to figure out what type of planner that will work for me, and it looks like it isn’t going to be one of those that you can purchase from a store.  I know that with all the things that I juggle having something that is flexible is what I need, so now to try and tell you what I have figured out works for me right now.  It is a mixture of a few ideas, but at least I am seeing that it is working right now, and that is all I can ask for.

A while ago I decided to try a traveler’s notebook and parts of it worked well for me.  The problem that I encountered was using one book to capture everything more like a bullet journal, and that is where it fell apartment.  I have figured out that I need sections to my planner and that is what I have come up with using the traveler notebook idea. Instead of having one book with everything in it, I have broken things down into four traveler’s notebooks that I purchased.

Here are the sections/books that I have:

1.     Notes – this one is to capture all the little ideas when on the go that I want, and they can be moved somewhere else later on.

2.     Writing – this captures the blog and website items that I want to write.  This means that all these areas are in one place.

3.     Reference – this is for all those things that you want to have with you, but they don’t change that often.  Here is there I have the fabric for our ETSY shop listed, cross stitch patterns from a couple of designers that I own and some other things that don’t change, but I want to have them with me.

4.     Calendar – how here is where most of the information is captures and those are the things that need to get done each week.  For this I have two pages for a week, and one is broken down by day and I list out what needs to be done and then on the other page I list the weekly accomplishments.  Some are on the to-do page and others that just get done

I have also found that I liked using the A5 size for my notebooks and since getting these on-line I have found that I can also get binders and loose-leaf paper in that size and that is making me so much happier.  I have other projects and such in the binders and that is where I keep more of the longer-term plans and projects and the details for the various projects that I want to work on. 

It feels good, starting to see a planner/organizer that is working for me right now.  I continue to fine tune what is with me when we are out, but at least I know that I have ways of getting things done, and I am starting to feel better about all of that as well.

Your planner/organizer must work for you, and remember that if you can’t find one to purchase that works, you can always figure out what you need and make your own planner/organizer. My biggest piece of advice that I can give is to be flexible and if something doesn’t work you can always change and try something else.

How do you recharge your personal battery?

I have recently been listening to a bunch of people talk about how they find joy and what makes them happy. I am going to try and compare the differences as I see them. 

Being among people

For some people, being among others makes them happy, and it is their way to find the energy. I have seen people at conference who get extremely energized because they are around people that they can talk to.

A lot of these people are the ones that you are going to find out in the various clubs, as that is where they are happy. These are the people that in some cases have had a very hard time over the last couple of years dealing with the isolation and the restrictions that were put upon them.

Being alone

For some people, being alone makes them happy and that is their way of re-charging themselves. Being among people to them is exhausting, and they can’t wait to get back to their quiet place.

The people that enjoy being alone are the ones that you will hear that they can curl up with a good book and lose hours at a time just reading. I know that there are people that will spend weeks at home without going out even to a grocery store because they would rather not deal with people at all.

A combination of both

I think a lot of people are a combination of both types. There are times when being among people can help you recharge some personal batteries, and then there are times when being alone helps recharge the batteries as well.

I know that for me there are times when I do find a bit of energy being around people, especially when we are talking about things that we have in common. This seems to help me recharge that part of my personal batteries. I am also one of those individuals that also enjoys the alone time when I can sit and listen to some music and do something that I enjoy doing without being around others.

Summary

You will find a lot of people are a combination of both types or when they are out among people they will have the energy, but they are very happy when they can get home and hide for a while. In a lot of cases, you won’t know what someone is like most of the time because most people will try their best to fit into the environment where they are currently.

Yes, I know a few people that when they are out among people aren’t happy, and I know people that when they are lone aren’t happy. We are all different, and how we recharge our own personal batteries will vary. Understand what makes each person different, and know that what works for you might not work for the next person.