Life

Tools That Help Me Plan Better

In this post, I would like to share on how I get things done.

I’m not someone who is highly organized and disciplined. Being easily anxious, planning really helps me to stay calm and be on track.

Evernote

First of all, among other planning tools, the lists are the most important thing. I am a hardcore lister.

I keep my lists on Evernote – things like goals, master to-do lists, financial commitments, saving goals, and writing ideas. I realize that many achievements in my life are more likely to be materialized if they’re written, insyaAllah.

I prefer pen over the keyboard for the thinking process. I don’t immediately plan or type my lists on Evernote as I brainstorm better with pen and paper than with a laptop or cell phone – they often bring me to other places i.e. random websites, social media platforms, and useless news scrolling.

Only when I’m happy with my lists, I’ll transfer them digitally.

Yes, it’s quite tedious. For me, analog might slow us down but while slowing us down, it makes us more thoughtful and creative.

Evernote is amazing. It is a cloud-based software service designed for creating, organizing and storing various of media file whether it’s a text document, a photo, a video, an audio file or even a web page. The only thing I hate about Evernote is that it can only be accessed from not more two devices if you’re on free version.

Expectedly, I’m on the free one.

Google Calendar and Google Task

Things that I need to do are pretty much routine i.e. daily – go to work, write, send and pick up kids, chores, A.M and P.M beauty routine and for weekly – halaqah, groceries, going out with friends, kids-quality-time (art/workbook/storytelling) etc.

So, I don’t really do daily planning and to-do list.

The daily to-do list is only necessary for non-routine work that I keep track using Google Tasks. Google Tasks is a free online service that helps manage your to-do lists.

While those task are nothing without a date/time assigned to them, I schedule them on Google Calendar along with my events and appointments. Google Calendar is also an online service so it can easily be accessed via the apps or Internet browsers as long as you have the internet. Unlike Evernote, there’s no limitation on access for both Google Calendar and Google Tasks.

They can be displayed side by side on a computer screen and that’s very helpful.

Notebook or Bullet Journal

My minimalist on-the-go essentials are my phone, wallet, notebook/papers and pen, lipstick and my car key (only if I’m driving, of course) – all in my handbag.

I always have a mini notebook in my bag. It is more like a bind of loose papers to me. They get finished pretty quickly because I love to tear them off and give the papers to my kids and friends.

At this moment, I fancy having an appointed bullet journal. I was already using one before I religiously listing on Evernote. However, after decluttering all of my notebooks, I have none left and through time I feel like I’m missing something.

I’m planning to have a pocket-size bullet journal for on-the-go journalling. I won’t overlap its role with my Google Calendar, Google Tasks and Evernote. It is not so much for the planning purpose but more of therapeutic journalling for me.

I’m still giving it time – to think about whether it’s really necessary.