A few years ago I started using a bullet journal to keep myself in order… well, mostly to keep my mind in order. It helped so much! I was a new mom, running a business and working on readjusting my expectations for what “productivity” really means for me.
I watched a lot of YouTube videos about various layouts! I used some scratch paper for a couple of weeks to test out my theories on what I would prefer and then I finally settled in on this layout for each week.
At first I did cute things like add doodles and colors – but soon it became pretty basic. Chasing a baby around doesn’t leave a lot of time for doodling.
I’ve completely filled three notebooks now and this layout has stuck with me more than anything! I helps me to assign tasks to each day and check them off as I go. It reduces the overwhelm and keeps me on track for things I really need to complete.
I have since added a box below for general “To-Do’s” like making phone calls or using up some produce in the fridge. Just gentle reminders that can fall into place when I find time during the week rather than being assigned a date.
The other space I hold on the page is general notes and reminders for things I don’t want to forget but that don’t need to be done this week. In the Bullet Journal (bujo for short) world they call this a “Brain Dump.” It soooooo helps to just write something down. If you’re like me, random thoughts of things I need to do will continually roll around in my head and distract me from whatever I’m trying to focus on in the moment. Just writing it down is a good practice for “letting go” of these thoughts.
In 2018, I also started working a full time job temporarily. This job was A LOT of work and involved managing projects and goals for multiple departments. While I was there I started to develop worksheets I could use to keep focused and make sure I was hitting something in each department each week. I didn’t want to let anything slide for too long so I started tracking to-do’s based on categories.
We’ve made additional changes this year to our work goals AND then the Coronavirus happened. It is so easy to forget everything! You’d think that being home all the time would free up some brain space, but it absolutely doesn’t. Home is full of distractions. Not to mention that living through a pandemic can really take a mental and spiritual toll on our own stability.
I worked these up to use now! This brings all of my work into one place – my part-time job, my side hustle (this!), my family, my house, my self…. not in that order, of course.
The weekly worksheet includes a section for work projects. This would be a great place to write up each task you have on your list and track your hours. The important note about this is that there are limited lines. I do this purposefully for myself, because having an unending list of things to do is not helpful! I have learned to set limits. Because I work part-time, I use each line as a representation of a single hour of work. Once I fill the lines, I’m done committing to anything further for the week.
The Side Hustle section is broken down into various areas of business. This helps me to make sure I’m not focusing too much on any one area, as I had mentioned was my goal when I was working full-time at a complex organization. Get a few things done in each category and you’ll be well on your way to progress.
The Habit Tracker is an excellent space to keep track of your self-care and personal daily goals. There’s a great video about keeping checklists from Matt D’avella that even notes that adding something like “compliment your partner” every day might be a good thing too. I’ve pre-filled in a few wise habits that you could interpret on your own.
The final space on the weekly checklist is a… checklist! What phone calls do you need to make? Or bills to pay? Or random things to remember? Put them here!
The other two sheets included are a budgeting tool and a Dream Project list. These can be used on a broader timeline.
If you’re interested in getting started with worksheets, I’ve included a freebie here! Just download this PDF version of my weekly layout (like the one I used in my bullet journal). This is also a great addition to the Planner Sheets to help you assign tasks to certain days. They work well together to give you different views and perspectives on your goals and tasks for each week!
