First I want to apologize for everyone who tried to hook up to Barks and Bytes blog hop last week. Apparently Mr. Linky’s server decided to upgrade some things and the result was it brought the whole linky system down. Linda told me that the broken code was slowing her site down, so I just completely removed it from my site too. Hopefully this week it goes without a hitch.
So what’s up with the title of that blog post?
Well sometimes you just need a little help to get your shit together.
Now I don’t know about you, but I need to write things down. Lists are very important to me, and help keep me on task. The trouble is I’ve gotten away from writing lists and I feel like my life is sometimes spiraling out of control.
I have SO much to do, but don’t accomplish nearly as much as I should/could. Without a list I find myself mindlessly wasting time on Facebook, or checking my e-mail 500 times a day.
This dilemma is not just in my personal life, but in my blogging life as well. Sometimes I feel like I have nothing left to say, and then suddenly I remember four topics that I’ve been wanting to write about for quite some time.
Last year I was super excited to make an Editorial Calendar/Scheduler for my blog. I took ideas from two or three different people with their own schedulers, and I made my own.
It had everything I wanted in it. A 30-day calendar for each month, a page in the front of each month for notes, and a page for each week of the month. I printed it off on nice paper, then I went to Staples and purchased some dividers and placed them in front of each month. Then I paid Staples to have them bind it. All told it cost me about $20.
Initially I used it diligently, and then after a time it was too heavy, and too bulky. (I stopped using it. And now, well let’s just say I’m not even sure where it is. 🙁
Here, look at this picture of the beautiful sunset I took, while I go look for the planner.
Thanks for waiting, I found it in a cabinet in my room. But it’s still too awkward for me to use.
I have the editorial plug in installed on the blog, but it’s not the same as writing it down. Despite all the conveniences of smart phones, and calendar schedulers, I still like the feel of good old fashioned paper.
SO this year I’m planning my new planner. It will probably only have three pages for each month. A calendar page, and maybe a couple of notes pages.
Any post ideas I haven’t implemented from the old scheduler will be moved to the new. At the end of each month I’ll go back and check my list and move anything I haven’t written about into the next month.
I can also schedule any special blog hops or important dates that I want to post on into the planner and make adjustments as needed.
Do you use a planner? Are you of the electronic or paper kind?
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I have an electronic “To Do” list on my phone and iPad. But for most stuff, I just change the due dates. Lol.
I use both. During the day, usually I use the note app on my phone; at night I have paper and a pencil on the night stand. I have read that because of the light on the phone, using it in the middle of the night can keep you from falling asleep. So by day I am modern. At night I turn into my alter ego “Old School”.
Mom has several lists of things on paper around the house for different things. We always seem to have too much stuff for the blog, but we keep most of it in our head. We do have a paper calendar on our desk with posts written down if they need to be on specific days and then we fill in the others with what ever we are in the mood for. So far, paws crossed, we have no need for real advanced planning or scheduling or ideas, it seems to simply happen. We fully expect this to change one day, but until then, we keep going along as always. Computerized lists and reminders never work real well for us.
I don’t plan my blog posts. I do have certain days I do things, like the photo prompts. But I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants.
I make lists all.the.time. And still forget things all.the.time!! So, yeah, I need to be more organized. More organization=less stress, right??
I think i would die without my online calendar planner! I am SOOOOOOO forgetful, when I come up with a blog idea, if I don’t jot it down right away, I will never think of it again!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I make lists and even lists of lists, but I am still paper person. I’m glad there are a few of us left.
Wait. Is checking your email 500 times a day WRONG? Because if that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right… All my writing ideas, all my appointments, and my to-do list are on my phone. I use them religiously. If my phone eats it, I’m screwed. Not really. They’re also in the cloud which puts them on my iPad. If the cloud eats it, I’m screwed, but that would be the end of the world, so we’ll all be screwed. I hope I can still check my email after Armageddon……
I usually plan my blog posts, check my emails once a day (unless I’m anticipating a specific email), but never my social media posts, probably because they’re too short to bother.
You only have to visit my blog to know I don’t have my sh*t together. 🙂
I like the idea of pretty planners. But it doesn’t work for me in real life.
Instead, I keep a simple notebook and pen with me at all times. I write everything in it–grocery lists, to do lists, blog topics, business ideas, quotes, etc.
When something is no longer relevant (like a to do list that’s done), I strike it out with a yellow high lighter. At the end of a notebook, I go through and decide what I want to transfer to my new notebook or still have to handle and toss it out.
The best system is works for you, no matter how stupid it looks to everyone else. 🙂
I am SO with you on needing to get my s**t together! I used to be so organized when I was younger but I seem to have lost that lately. I do have a few lists on “post-its” on my computer but for the most part I still like good old fashioned paper for lists. I also have a blog binder with some semi-organized note pages. But I also at most times have at least two different lists on scrap paper next to my computer, that I periodically re-write once I have a few things crossed off. I’m not sure it’s the greatest system but it kind of works for me right now.
I use a paper planner for work and appointments. I tried a digital one, but I like to see a whole month or week and didn’t find one I liked. I am the queen of lists, digital for work, paper for home. I am fairly organized but still forget a thing or two!
I have tried to be a planner person, but whether it’s a physical book one or a digital one, I can’t stick to it. I’m much better at just jotting things down on post-its or scraps of paper that I can throw away when I’ve accomplished the task. My desk at work looks like a disaster zone with notes like “write letter of recommendation” or “finish grading essay 3,” but that works so much better for me than anything else. I admire your decision to try another scheduler!
What means “organized?”
I have a large calendar on my desk that I write all of my blog posts down each month. It has big enough squares for me to jot notes. I write down everything. I have a ton of post-it notes stuck on my desk hutch.
Great idea. I have lots of ideas but finding time to get them all written out is my issue.