So, I’ve been in quarantine since April 17th. Yes, I know the exact date.

The problem is, keeping everything that is needed on track has always been a problem for me. I’ve tried all sorts of different organization tricks, from planners to the Calendar app to making lists. But I finally found something that works.

Before I say what I use, let me go over the other three things I mentioned.

The planner that I have used for years is the Happy Planner. I would always get the Classic style planner. The planner is about a half inch thick, monthly planner just slightly smaller than the average sheet of paper. While I enjoyed using this planner, I always felt like I was missing something when I was using it. There was always so many blank spaces each week, and it caused me so much anxiety. So I decided to move on from this method.

The next method tried was using the calendar app on my phone. While I always have my phone on my hand, I noticed that I wouldn’t check the calendar when I needed to. It was just there, without me wanting to check it. I just could not get into the app on a consistent basis. So again, I moved on.

My final attempt actually came from my Dad. Every Sunday, he would sit down and make a long list of all the things needed for the week, for all of us in the family. I actually used this method during college, to keep track of all my assignments. (Considering that I usually had two different novels to read at the same time as writing a short story almost every week, it did come in handy.) Unfortunately, this method just didn’t work for me in 2020.

I was about to just give up with having any semblance of organization until the end of the pandemic when the world goes back to semi-normalcy (so… June 2021?). Then I found something. On Youtube.

I found bullet journaling.

I’ve been setting up my bullet journal for the past few days, and I already enjoy it. I can make the layout in any way I want. I can have whatever stickers I choose, without having to worry if they will overlap with a square that I might needed later on in the week. I can make lists for the week if I want, or just jot down that I need for that day. And because it’s an actual physical item, I can’t really ignore it every day. Because I’m smart and have it sit on my chair in front of my desk every night so that I can’t miss the thing.

In the coming days, I’ll show off what my bullet journal looks like. Don’t expect something like you might see on Tumblr or Instagram, or god forbid Youtube. I’m not that talented.

But I’m enjoying it. So I hope you’ll like to see it too.

Until next time!