How Disorganized Me is Learning to Becoming Organized

Something I have always struggled with (and will probably always struggle with) is my inability to be organized. I’m a procrastinator in the truest sense of the word: I wait until I’m under pressure to get something done. This may work out sometimes (I get bursts of creativity under pressure), but when it comes to getting tasks accomplished, or following through on something, this is really not a good approach to life.

Enter the daily planner. I never thought I’d use one. I always felt as though I could just make lists and check things off during the week. While that was okay (and boy does it feel good to check things off), I noticed that I wasn’t able to stay focused or feel orderly about my approach to the week. A disordered mind is unpleasant. Fractious. Stressful.

Now that I’m a full-time student and still working, I finally acknowledged my need for more organization. My family must have sensed that, because one of my Christmas gifts this year was a daily planner – and a bookish one, at that. However, I didn’t start utilizing it until last month, and wow, has my life suddenly been made simpler!

At the start of the week, I look ahead at my assignments and their due dates. I break the assignments up for each day in order to get them done and turned in on time, leaving an extra day for any wiggle room should something unexpected come up during the week. I also began a reading schedule, writing down which book to read on each day (I’m embarrassed to tell you how many I’m reading right now – I wasn’t finishing any however because I couldn’t stay focused on any one book).

While the planner doesn’t take away my crazy busy schedule, it does help me to feel a sense of calm knowing that I have specific tasks to complete each day.

My planner is this one, but I like this Paris in Color planner  (etsy) and this pretty pink and gold planner (currently on sale at from Paper Source!).

Happy Planning!

Until Next Time,

Shelbi