Apologies -- I need to take this week and next off from the report on the Bullet Journal

This week began with my birthday.  It was a lovely day and I was going to take my sister to the dentist and do the work for this blog post.  It would be later than I like to post, but not horrible.  Well, I did take my sister to the dentist.  When I came home -- my life had exploded.  I tried to focus on this all day today (Tuesday) and just couldn't do it.  I am going out of town for the long weekend, and won't have access.  So I will ask you to excuse me for letting you down and hope that next week Tuesday, my post will be so scintillating that it will have been worth the wait.

My Adventures with the Bullet Journal -- Week Five

Greetings! 

Welcome to Week 5!  Can you believe it?  Here’s my report.

What worked?

I am still delighted with my weekly spread and the traditional monthly calendar I have added.  I accomplished most of my tasks – and the tasks not completed were the ones that were dependent on another person’s help.

The time budget is working very well.  I’ve realized that it takes me longer than I think to do certain things.  For example,  taking someone grocery shopping (they have no car) takes two hours – sometimes longer. That’s a serious chunk of time out of your day!

I am also listening to my body – when it says “rest”, I rest. (I have chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and neurological issues stemming from a bad reaction to a heavy-duty drug I was given for a condition I don’t even have.  That’s a story for another day.) 

It is taking me time to adjust to the fact that I need to find new ways of structuring my days because I can’t do what I used to do.  That is very frustrating.  However, railing against something does no good.  So – I am getting a handle on how much I can do with the medical challenges I have now.  You have to learn how to accept what is and find a way to work with it.  (That wisdom did not spring full blown from my head – it has taken many years to understand this.)

My “AHA” moment this week was the realization that when I schedule my week, I *MUST* allocate time for rest, for unexpected phone calls, and for helping my husband when he asks me for help.  For example, I am ordained clergy.  Part of my ministry is counseling people.  This week, I had an unexpected series of ministerial calls that took up two hours. Those are not calls I can ignore or refuse or the Divine would be *very cross* with me.

What was annoying?

I found nothing annoying this week.  Honestly, I am quite taken with the Bullet Journal, I may not want to look at other systems.  I will because I promised and because I may find something better and I won’t know until I try.  I’m not sure how many I will examine if none of them work better than the Bullet Journal.

What changes will you make this week?

None.  I am loving this and I feel like it is working.  I am less stressed that I am going to miss something.  I am accomplishing things, and when I don’t, I know what took its place. I like this system.  I expect to tweak it a bit – but not this week.

Anticipating an amazing Week 5!! I hope your week is outstanding and all goes well for you.

Bright Blessings!

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 
https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:
https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

I am also on Twitter:

@michelle owings-chri

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-owings-christian-bbb7278

branded.me:
https://branded.me/michelleowings-christian

My Adventures with the Bullet Journal -- Week Four

This was the first week that using the Bullet Journal felt totally natural and comfortable.  I am enjoying the changes I’ve made to the system.  The traditional Monthly Calendar is a big help. While I don’t look at it daily, it’s great to have when I need it, which is usually every second or third day. 

The weekly spread continues to work well for me.  Moving to a spread that uses two days per page gives me space for my appointments and tasks as well as notes.  I often need to make a quick note about something I’ve done or a follow-up I need to remember.  I also like having the space to mention unexpected happy things that come up during the day.

I implemented using a Time Budget this week.  I was shocked at the amount of time needed to complete a task compared to the number of tasks I expected to accomplish in a day.  No wonder I had tasks that I could not complete!  I also realized that taking another person to an appointment takes twice as long as I expected.  That information is very valuable, and will help me schedule my days in a more realistic fashion going forward. 

I started several new projects this week and they ate up more hours than I liked.  However, setting up projects frequently takes more time than maintaining them.  I am hoping that will prove to be the case.  I still managed to complete many of my tasks and some days I managed to complete most of them. 

Since I am pleased with how things are progressing, I will continue tracking my time and using the Bullet Journal as I have this week.  I am amazed that it has been four weeks already. Onward to Week five!!

Bright Blessings!

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 
https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:
https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

I am also on Twitter:

@michelle owings-chri

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-owings-christian-bbb7278

branded.me:
https://branded.me/michelleowings-christian

My Adventures with the Bullet Journal -- Week Three

Welcome to Week Three of the Bullet Journal – and the first week of May! I hope it is more like May where you are than where I live.  It was colder yesterday than it was on Christmas Day.  Brrr.

The monthly page suggested by the Bullet Journal was just NOT working for me.  I realized that last week.  I decided to wait until this week to change it, since it was the first week of a new month.  I haven’t put up a “year at a glance” calendar yet, I’m not sure that I will need one.  I made a two page monthly calendar grid to try for May.  I think I will like it.  I’ll let you know next week.

I had intended to keep a list of what tasks I did and how much time each one required, to get a handle on how to schedule my time more realistically.  Between all my medical conditions being in flare; meeting my 80K word count goal for Camp NaNoWriMo; and preparing for a choir concert on Saturday night that did not happen.  It is still a good idea and I will do it this week. 

Though it was a very busy week and I overscheduled myself a bit, I still felt good about what I accomplished.  I added a list of “Accomplishments” for April at the end of the weekly spread. When assessing the month which is ending, remember to focus on what you accomplished first.  Then examine what you did not do, and brainstorm WHY.  One of the best lessons I am learning from this neurological shift is that there is almost always a WHY. Once you know why (or some part of why), you can do two things. First, be gentle with yourself and claim your progress. Second, think of ways to set out what you can reasonably accomplish. Making a list that is impossible to finish leads to feelings of incompetence, which is certainly not the goal.

  This was the first time I migrated information from an entire month.  It took about ten minutes longer than a regular weekly migration, which seemed reasonable to me.

I am pleased with the Bullet Journal and the changes I have made to the system.  My additions for Week Four will be the Month Grid calendar instead of the list and using the Time Log to note my tasks and the time required to complete them.  I want to get a sense of what I can realistically accomplish in a day, since I really dislike task boxes that are not filled in as completed. If I only book what there are enough minutes in the day to do, I will feel much better about myself.

I’m looking forward to Week 4.  Have a wonderful week!

Bright Blessings!!!

You can find me on Facebook on my personal page: 
https://www.facebook.com/cedarwolfsinger?fref=ts

And my company page:
https://www.facebook.com/CedarsProofreadingAndEditing/

I am also on Twitter:
@michelle owings-chri