Greetings!
This blog went dormant because I began having
severe medical issues directly after the first post. Though I had no idea at
the time, I was being poisoned by a heavy-duty chemo drug I was taking for a
condition I don’t even have. (No, I don’t have cancer, thank you for your
concern.) My reaction to the drug gradually worsened, and finally caused me to be
hospitalized three times in 2014. I almost died all three times. (Key word:
almost.) The lasting effects are neurological in nature. I have neuropathy,
aphasia, tremors, fainting spells, and have been told by someone I trust that I
have fallen asleep on her in the middle of a conversation – a face to face, in
the same room conversation.
Another effect of the brain damage caused by this
drug is I am showing symptoms of ADD/ADHD, which I never had before. I used to
be a very organized person, never double booked, and very rarely, if ever,
missed an appointment. Now, I am easily distracted, can’t remember much of
anything unless it is written down where I can see it frequently, and all the
organization strategies and calendar tools I have used in my life are no longer
effective. AAACKK!
I let that shake me for about a year. Recently, I
decided to try out new strategies and tools until I find something that works
for me. I had been considering a reboot of the blog for a few weeks, without
having a clue what the content would be.
I will work my way through new tools and strategies and blog about them.
I will use each calendar tool for two months because that is the suggested time
to try a system in order to learn how it works and use it often enough to
determine if you can use it effectively.
The first calendar tool I am using is The Bullet
Journal. I chose it because people I know use it effectively and it has been
popping up all around me in the last month or so. I have never used a tool like
it before. That may well be a plus since the old way of thinking is no longer
the way my brain works. Since I don’t know if it will be effective, I appreciate
that you can use any notebook you happen to have and need not buy a new or
special notebook. Since I am a writer, and a collector of notebooks, paper,
pens and such, I had a nice notebook on hand. If you didn’t and wanted to try
this, I suspect you could buy one from a dollar store.
I put mine together over two days. I only set up
six months on the Future Log because I don’t want to spend time on building out
a system which I might not find effective.
The first minor annoyance is the lack of a weekly spread.
If it becomes a major annoyance before the week is out, I may well add a weekly
spread from elsewhere. Another minor annoyance is that you brain dump items so
they are often not in date or time order.
The brain dump can also be considered in the plus
column. If this tool, or any part of this tool, proves effective I can keep
going and not worry that the new material is not in the “correct” order. While
two days is not much of a sample, I find that using some tool, whether or not
it will prove to be the best tool for me, is giving me more confidence than I’ve
had in months. I also have accomplished several tasks that I remembered because
they were written down.
I have added the link for the original site for The
Bullet Journal and a couple from people who have modified it to work for them.
Thanks for reading. If you have any tools or
systems you think I might try, send me the name or a link and, as long as I
don’t have to pay anything to acquire them, I will add them to my list.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Bright Blessings!
http://www.bohoberry.com/bullet-journal-update/
http://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/blog/how-to-bullet-journal
I am also on Twitter:
@michelle owings-chri
@michelle owings-chri
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