How I Stay Organized: My Productivity Planning

I have never been the best when it comes to productivity and organization, but lately I’ve found myself fascinated with it. For a while now, I’ve been wanting to be more productive, I guess “get my shit together” in a way. I wanted to start working out, drinking more water, and reading plenty of books so planning each day became a necessity for me. I work a full-time job and on top of that I am getting ready to go back to school as well as keep up with my family and social life. I have some free-time but I’ve always been confused and not thoughtful about how I use it. I hope the tips that I can give you will help and I will also link some YouTube videos and other articles throughout and at the end of this post. That way, if you’re interested, those will be able to give you even more insight on keeping your life productive and organized.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar has become my best friend in my everyday life. I started to use a calendar at work on my Dell computer. It was the Microsoft Outlook calendar and it helped me anticipate what I would be doing throughout my day at work. I really enjoyed it. However, before now I had never even thought of using a calendar outside of work. Sure, I would use my apple calendar on my phone every now and then just to make sure I wouldn’t miss a really important event. But other than that, no thank you. I didn’t see the point in using a calendar at my age. However, the truth is anyone can and will need a calendar app when they're between the ages of 15 - 65. You may be asking yourself, “What the hell would I put on my calendar?” I know, I thought that too. However, with school coming up it was easier to find things to mark down. I’ve marked down all my classes, the times they start and end and which days they’re on as well as their location. In the description, you can even write down what room number they’re in so in case you forget (especially those first couple of days) you will always be able to figure it out quickly. Google calendar can also give you updates/reminders of your tasks that are coming up and you can even customize when those reminders are sent out. For example, I use the 30 minutes before task reminder, but at work I use the 15 minute reminder. Click the video below to get a better understanding of google calendar planning!

Notes App

Most of us probably have a pretty chaotic and cluttered notes app. However, have you ever thought about using it to your advantage? I didn’t until I started researching more about productivity planning. If you’re anything like me, you might get random thoughts, lyrics, ideas, or plans that pop up into your head randomly from time to time. Using your notes app can be a great way of organizing these often unplanned thoughts. Personally I create different folders in my notes app in order to keep each thought categorized. For example, I have a regular “Notes” folder for things that don’t match with a specific category. My other folders are labeled “ 00 YouTube” or “01 Captions”. This way I know exactly what to find what I’m looking for each time I go into my notes app.

Stickys

If you have an apple computer you may have tried using the stickies app that is built into the computer. Personally, I use them all the time and usually I have about 4-5 up on my desktop at all times. I love the sticky notes and I’ll tell you why. Personally, it is so much easier for me to use these instead of a planner or calendar because I can see them right away when I open my screen and I am immediately reminded of things I need to do. I have a few sticky notes up on my screen and almost all of them are related to school. I have a “Weekly Planner” sticky note that gives me space to write what important things I need to do that day. I have a “Assignments Due” sticky for assignments, exams, quizzes, papers, etc. I always make sure to mark down the due dates beside the assignment description. I have another sticky that’s for long term important “To Do” items and also a sticky that has my class schedule with times and location on it. If you’re a very visual person I highly recommend this method of productivity planning.

Journal / Planner

You guys know me. From the beginning of this blog I have been a stickler for journaling, after all I am a Journalism major. However, journaling can also be used for productivity planning because of all the possibilities that are available. Personally, I like journaling about my day/week and what went right or wrong throughout the week. You can even write down proposed ways to avoid these obstacles in the future. If writing tons of words down on a piece of paper really isn’t your style, a planner could work better for you. I have a personal favorite planner from Papier. Planners are essential for not only academics but everyday life as well. Carrying a planner with you in your bag or purse is something that I highly recommend doing if not anything else. I use my Papier planner for academics only, because my calendar and teux are my everyday planners. I highly suggest investing in a great planner from Papier but if you aren’t too sure yet it’s always a good idea to check out Target and Amazon for aesthetically pleasing planners.

TeuxDeux

I am so glad that I found TeuxDeux, I will be honest and say that I wasn’t a big fan of it at first. Now that I’ve gotten a chance to figure it out and play with it a little, I have learned to love it. TeuxDeux is exactly what it sounds like. It is a free desktop and mobile site/app that is made up of tons of lists. The main section is a weekly layout. You can write down short descriptions of things you need to get done throughout your day. The next section is a variety of different lists such as groceries, books to read, movies to watch, someday lists, etc. You can even make your own lists in this section! For example, I made two lists for my personal and academic goals for this upcoming semester at school. When you complete things on your list you can then cross them off or delete them completely. If you don’t get a task done, it will move over to the next day automatically! When you join they give you some shortcuts to help items on your list stand out like bolded subheadings and italic text. I highly recommend checking it out, even if you aren’t too sure about it. Trust me, I felt the same way and I use it daily now! Click the video below to watch my favorite video about productivity planning!