Happy Friday! Since I've transitioned into the full-time freelance world I admit my weekdays and weekends occasionally blur together, but for most people, Friday means one thing: hello, weekend!
Speaking of full-time freelance.. What a transition! I didn't think switching from having a "real" job to working from home would be so challenging, to be honest. It has been a whirlwind! I'm trying to make sure I still keep elements of a routine going because while I disliked waking up at 6 a.m. every day to work in an office full of fluorescent lighting, there were some benefits to having a clear-cut schedule. It's not as hard to know when to work, rest or play when you have a boss and coworkers to be accountable to.
I saw my friend Jordan post about her bullet journal recently, and I remembered hearing about this method of schedule management on The Internets™a while back. So I wanted to try one and see if it helps me feel more prioritized and put together!
I am 100% new to bullet journaling — like, three days new. But here's why I liked the idea of it:
Speaking of full-time freelance.. What a transition! I didn't think switching from having a "real" job to working from home would be so challenging, to be honest. It has been a whirlwind! I'm trying to make sure I still keep elements of a routine going because while I disliked waking up at 6 a.m. every day to work in an office full of fluorescent lighting, there were some benefits to having a clear-cut schedule. It's not as hard to know when to work, rest or play when you have a boss and coworkers to be accountable to.
I saw my friend Jordan post about her bullet journal recently, and I remembered hearing about this method of schedule management on The Internets™a while back. So I wanted to try one and see if it helps me feel more prioritized and put together!
I am 100% new to bullet journaling — like, three days new. But here's why I liked the idea of it:
- it's analog. I have never found online calendars to work for me. Even when I set reminders and alerts, I just feel so much more scattered online than I do on paper. Also, how many times have I opened a browser to check my Google Calendar and wound up on Apartment Therapy or Facebook instead... Oops!
- It allows for flexibility. The creator of the Bullet Journal method recommends you don't schedule out your tasks and to-do's for more than a day at a time. I think that's a little extreme — I've been scheduling out my to-do's weekly since I began freelancing, but flexibility is something I need during this season when deadlines get moved or I'm working with clients on a fast turnaround.
- You can keep everything in one place. The idea is that you can keep your calendar, shopping list, themed tasks and to-do's (wedding planning, anybody?!) all in the same place. That makes me feel more sane than having three, four or five notebooks to juggle (and potentially forget somewhere).
I think what I like most about bullet journaling is that it's really customizable — some people get super creative with them and others stick to the nuts and bolts. I learned the basics of setting mine up from the video on the Bullet Journal website, and it's very simple at this point. We'll see what happens as I keep using it!
I'm not sure if bullet journaling will be the end-all, be-all method for me, but I'm going to try it for a few weeks and see if I can get the hang of it. I'll share an update on my thoughts after a little while! What do you guys think about scheduling methods, whether you've used a bullet journal or not? Any tips, tricks, etc.?
