Today, I’m sharing how I stay on top of all the stuff I have to do as a creative who is mostly vibing through life. And I think a lot of people these days are just doing their best to make things work and that can mean juggling a lot of stuff.
As someone who personally loves calendars and planning after decades of being in school and seeing so many different ways people keep track of tasks I have found that writing it all down works best for me. And particularly in this chapter of my life, when there are just so many different things on the go I’m not just in school, I’m not just a mom, I don’t just just have one job, having an analog system is keeping me sane. My index card system where tasks are individually written down and can be physically moved, has been the best for me. I personally find having a good planning system where I know my tasks are being looked after gives me peace of mind. I can get very easily overwhelmed by all of life’s day to day actions but when I have a physical place to put those tasks, those potential worries, I can be a little calmer, and I can be more focused on what I am doing. And it really does feel good, and it might be the end of April but that doesn’t mean this is a bad time to try out a new planning system or to add something to the system you already have.
The basis of my system is the simple index card. I have a card for every task and one card for each day of the week. You can read about the system below, watch my video, or do both!
For every task I need to do whether it’s a one-off task, like getting the AC fixed or if it’s a recurring task like buying groceries, I write an index card. The blank side, or what I call the front side of the card gets as few words as possible to describe the task, it might just say, groceries or Post Office and if there is a deadline for that task I write it in the upper right hand corner of that front side. On the back or the lined side of the index card, I write down the date the card was created on the right hand corner, and in the lined spaces I will write additional information about the task. If it’s groceries, my grocery list, if it’s the Post Office whether I need to pick up packages or I need to drop something off. If the task is communicating with someone I will write down 1 to 2 sentences or a couple bullet points about what that communication needs to look like and then I group the index cards together based on the day they need to get done.
As someone who both likes schedules but hates being bogged down by them I only group the tasks for one to two days at most. Either the night before or the morning off any given day, I sit down go through my index cards and pull out the ones that are appropriate. So this morning, for Monday, April 27th I pulled out all the task cards that I either need to or would like to try to complete today. The top was my card that says Monday because I have one card for every day of the week. And the Monday card on the front says Monday and on the back side with the lines it says the tasks that need to get done every Monday. Not some Mondays every Monday, and that’s true for every day of the week. I have a Tuesday card with the tasks I do on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday etc.
This planning system takes me no more than 10 minutes every day. I sit down, physically take the tasks I want to get done that day put then with the card that says that day. paperclip them together and then paperclip that whole stack into a pocket-size notebook and I’m on my way. The next day I simply look at the previous day’s pile see what got completed, what didn’t and then I will add whatever tasks I have that day paper clip together put it back in my notebook and I am on my way again.
I find this system works very well for anyone who needs to really be physical with their ideas. I like physically writing my poetry down on paper. I draw and sketch out my art ideas on paper and though there are some amazing apps and computer programs for planning that work for lots and lots of people I really miss the physical element of writing when I’m only using those digital platforms. Recently things have been overwhelming and scattered for myself as mom in perimenopause so I went back to my basics because the physical act of touching each task and moving it to a completed pile or a canceled pile or just moving it to a day of the week that it needs to get done helps me connect with what I need to be doing and I feel better for it.
I wanted to share this because I know lots of other people, especially women, especially moms who are overwhelmed this time of year. And I thought, why not in a time of year where most people aren’t thinking about it, but are overwhelmed share how I help myself with some pieces of paper and a pen.