On Being Organized

Hey guys!

It's been almost a month since I post anything on this blog. I've been kind of busy travelling from home to my grandparents' place and back to Australia. I've been on the plane so much last month my butt hurts. Since I'm back in Australia now, I've taken care of some school matters and done some volunteer work for my campus this week which have been so much fun but also quite exhausting. I have been very productive this past couple of weeks. Everything is under control and I can relax a bit this weekend. Now that I have free time in my hands (finally!) I'm going to talk to you guys about what being organized mean to me. (What a segway)

Being organized is something that I find difficult at times and it doesn't get any easier the longer I do it. I started to have a real planner or agenda or whatever you call it, in 2013. It was sometime between the last years of my high school and moving to Australia. I thought that since I'm going to live on my own now with no one telling me what I'm supposed to do, I have to be responsible for everything. I have to take care of school things, chores, social life, and work by myself. So, of course, I need to arrange everything in one place where I can see it. Because apparently, keeping a reminder in my head wasn't enough. Planner it is, then.

My first planner was just a weekly planner with cute photographs of food, mostly, on the top of the page. I was so excited when I got it. I thought the colorful theme of the planner would make me want to open it everyday. Well, I did for the first few months. But hoo boy was it a chaos after that. If you could see my 2013 planner, it was just horrible. Unfortunately, I don't have any documentation of that planner of mine so I can't show you anything, but just know that it was REAL BAD. Everything was everywhere. There are times when I just don't fill it months and it's just emptiness. Ugh, I don't even want to remember it anymore. First trial, a complete fail.

The next year I was more determined to do better with my planning. I just bought a simple A6 weekly diary. It was purple and small with leather cover. I could bring it with me everywhere because it was smaller than my previous one. My 2013 planner was so awkwardly shaped. It was square? I guess? I can't really recall the shape but I remember that It was a chore to fit it in my handbag. So yeah, I had a simple little planner that I can have on me all the time. The inside was just like the usual daily planner with times, what are my main tasks for the day, and a space to put some notes if I need to remind myself of anything. I also don't have any pictures of this planner and it's now back in my home country, so there's that. I know I really suck at documenting things. You don't need to point it out. Anyway, the planner was working quite nicely for me, it was the nice size and I can organize everything easily in it. However, it was really boring to look at. It's just basic black ink on white paper. Opening it was not as exciting as it was the first couple of weeks of last year planner. But it served its purpose just fine. So, I guess it's kind of a success.

This year, I went back for the cute concept that I had two years ago. It's an A5 weekly planner I got from Kikki.K sometime in September last year and no, this post is not sponsored. I think the system I have for this planner is the best so far. The front couple of pages are a month-in-a-glance view. I color-code my school related stuff, work, and social things in different colors. I used it the most to put in my assignments due in advance and if I have anything work or social related for the month. So, if I make a plan with someone I could just look at it and everything is laid out for me. I think it is very effective and makes me feel a little bit more productive. I usually decorate in these pages because it's what I look at the most every single day. I want it to be fun for the eyes but also serve its purpose properly. The rest of the planner is just weekly pages. I use it like a to-do-list where I can check off everything I've done for the day. I feel very accomplished if I'm able to tick everything off at the end of the day. This is the best system for me, I think. It looks nice and I can rely on it.

I think that's it for now. I've been typing a lot of words without even realizing it. This post is particularly long compared to my previous ones. I like talking about planners. They have helped me so much in making me function like a proper human being. I think I would be lost without it now. I know planner is not for everyone, but it's been my lifeline this couple of years that I've been using it.

I hope you liked this and not annoyed at my ramblings (or at least I hope you can tolerate it). By the way, all the pictures in this post is of my current planner. It's the only one I have photos of now. Just wanna make that clear. I'll see you again next time. Bye!

Riz