Do you ever happen to procrastinate simply because you have too much work to do? I do that from time to time. In fact, yesterday I was supposed to publish a new post on this very blog but I didn’t because my head was full of other things.
Working for yourself can be very overwhelming and we tend to become less productive when too many things are on the menu. And when we procrastinate, this load of work just gets bigger and bigger.
A Lost Day
Yesterday I went to renew my passport because I will need it for my 2014 travels to Europe. I was glad I got this sorted out because it’s very important but I lost a good 4-5 hours of the day on this issue. When I got home from the passport office I started thinking of what I should do for the rest of the day. There were so many things to do that I ended up watching the last episode of Shark Tank. Every time I would try to force myself to “work” I would simply get discouraged because I had to do this, and this, and this and that! Where do I begin?
The day was wasted. The first thing I did this morning, as soon as I woke up I wrote a list of things that needed to be done:
- Write a new post for this blog
- Plan 10-15 more posts for the rest of the month
- Write a new e-mail for my emailing list
- Work on my new niche site (motorcycle parts)
- Do a redesign of my travel blog since I am planning to update it while traveling
- Do some SEO work for my offline clients
- Create videos for my online ventures and my offline clients
- Test Facebook ads (to get more page Likes)
This was a list of “work-related” tasks. I left out other errands (appointment at the doctor’s office, appointment at the bank, etc). But, this list helped me concentrate and sort these tasks in their order of importance. Since I made this To-Do list I simply concentrate on doing one thing at a time, instead of jumping from one thing to another.
Few weeks ago I wrote a blog post How Often Should You Blog where I shared some strategies to help you manage your blogging, however a to-do list seems like another great idea. Especially if you are as disorganized as I am.
Bullet Journaling
When my girlfriend noticed a dozen of sheets and post-it notes all over my desk (all those notes contained some kind of things to do and other “important” information) she suggested that I should try Bullet Journaling. This concept will help you keep your work and life organized. I fell in love with the idea and at this moment I need to go to a book store to get a good journal for this.
I will never be able to describe the concept as well as the video that I am about to share with you:
You can also find out more on Ryder Carroll’s website: BulletJournal.com
Stay organized. Stay focused. Be productive!
Have anything to add? Don’t be shy, comment below!
– Alex
Wow! I really like the bullet journal idea. I have a bunch of notebooks that I use but I still miss a lot of stuff and put off stuff that never gets done.
Do you know the type of notebook he’s using in the video or if you can just use any plain old notebook?
Jay, I don’t know which kind of notebook he is using but it must have at least 31 lines, to fit 31 days 🙂
He’s using a large Moleskine Squared Notebook (http://www.moleskine.com/en/collections/model/product/squared-notebook-large)
Thank You, Liza 😉
Thanks you Elizabeth.
Scored one on eBay for $10 shipped to my door. Local Staples wanted $45 for it! Bunch a thieves!
You can get the one from the video on Amazon as well:
(aff link): Moleskine Notebook Squared (5 x 8.25)