At the start of 2017, I shared my planner lineup for work, blog/YouTube content, personal/family, and on-the-go. Like many plannernerds, I use multiple planners so the process of choosing a planner every year for each life area can be daunting. Mid-year is the perfect time to do a ‘reality check’ to see what’s working, what’s not working, and make any adjustments to your planner setup going forward. In this first installment of this blogpost series, I’m going to share an update on my work planner—is it still working and what, if any, changes have I made?
Work Planner
Below is a quick overview of my 2017 work planner:
- Planner setup: A5 Miquel Rius graph bound book in an A5 leather Travelers Notebook with swing-out pocket on the left and pen pouch on the right (the seller of this cover is no longer in business so check out Journals by Joey on Etsy who offers pocket/pouches as an add-on option to his covers)
- Planning system: Bullet Journal aka BUJO
- Planning supplies: Sharpie highlighters (for color coding), stick-on tabs (for marking key pages), stick-on monthly tabs (for tagging the monthly overviews), Post-its of various sizes (for quick notes), Bic Soft Feel ballpoint pens (cheap but good), mechanical pencil (to add in temporary appointments); newest addition—Platinum Preppy fountain pen (inexpensive fountain pen that can use an ink cartridge, converter, or be converted to an ‘eye dropper’), Noodler’s 54th Massachussets ink (great professional blue-black ink)
To see my work planner setup, layouts created, and how I’m using it, check out my YouTube video Work Bullet Journal – Walk-thru & Functional Plan with Me:
Yay or Nay?
This planner was originally setup in haste because my original planner selection—which involved printing out custom planner inserts—was derailed when my printer ‘died’. So I did what any planner nerd would do: I dove into my planner stash and quickly ‘threw’ something together. Since I hadn’t purchased any extra preprinted 2017 planners and printing inserts wasn’t an option, I decided on the bullet journal system which only requires a blank book and a pen. In the summer of 2016, I did a ‘bullet journal experiment’ as a way of trying out this planning system. I learned the basic bullet journal techniques as well as many of the creative and functional hacks from other bullet journal enthusiasts and while it ultimately didn’t work out as my primary planner, I liked the freedom of designing your own layouts, changing them on the fly, and the focus on one day/week at a time—all which were perfect for my work schedule!
I’m happy to report that I’m still using this planner setup till this day. In the beginning of 2017, I designed a custom weekly layout that enabled me to keep track of a myriad of daily calls, project updates, and weekly tasks, as well as daily tasks, meeting minutes, and other reference information. I also continue to color code my entries by project and sub-organization and track special items like system change requests, professional training, and software requirements—check out the video above for more information. Overall, it’s been a pleasant surprise because when I ‘threw’ this planner together, I had no long-term expectations and figured I’d eventually move on to another planner in a month or two.
As of this time, I have no plans to change my work bullet journal setup—most of the changes will be to page layouts (I’m always on the lookout for effective work-related and project planning bullet journal layouts!). That said, I feel that at this point—dare I say!—I’ve achieved a certain level of ‘planner peace’ in this life area, can you believe it?! 😀 This is the first time I’ve ever (1) used the bullet journal system consistently (starting in December so it’s been 7 months and counting!) and (2) used a bullet journal for work (in the past, I’ve used Daytimer, Franklin Covey, Agendio, Day Designer by BlueSky and custom inserts designed by a planner friend) which goes to show that if you keep an open mind and experiment, you just might find a system that works best for you!
What about you? What do you use as a work planner? Have you ever tried the bullet journal system? What are some of your favorite tips and/or hacks for your work planner or bullet journal? Please share in the comments below and don’t forget to like, share and subscribe!
Until next time, 🙂
♥ LilD ♥
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