Week 8 of the Very Visual Organizer and Week 2 of using Bullet Journal as well

This week marks the last week that I will report on the Very Visual Organizer. Even with all my inconsistencies, I have reported on that system for EIGHT weeks.

I also used the Bullet Journal for my portable calendar.

Very Visual Organizer

What worked?

Everything. I love the flexibility of this system. It makes me very happy, I love the colors and being able to see how my time is allocated.

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

Nothing. I kept the third sheet, making the base three pages tall. It is very effective.

What will I change?

This is the last week of the eight weeks that I promised to report on this system. I will continue to use if because it is very effective for me. I think it is the last new system I am going to explore with you since I have found one that works for me. If you have any questions about any other systems, by all means, ask me.

Bullet Journal

What worked?

Everything. It has been interesting to have both the large calendar on the wall and the Bullet Journal notebook.

What didn’t work/was annoying?

The symbol for a telephone call was envisioned as a telephone handset. I changed the symbol to a large C instead of the telephone handset because it did not ever look like a handset and it annoyed me.

What did I change?

I changed the key. Although I had a signifier for a call as opposed to an appointment, I put the signifier for an appointment when I have a call. At some point, it might be important to have the different signifier, it is clearly not vital now.

I implemented the Outstanding Items page. It worked well and now there is nothing on it that has not been checked off. I will need to be putting more items on it.

What will I change?

As I mentioned last week, I  discovered a Facebook group for using the Bullet Journal during NaNoWriMo and two Bullet Journal forums on the NaNoWriMo site itself. I have joined them all. I enjoy the lovely spreads.

I start National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) tomorrow. I printed out two separate word count trackers that I found online. I also made a habit tracker for myself. It isn’t pretty. I did figure out a way to make my Bullet Journal prettier than it has been. I cannot draw. I may get back into lettering (I used to do some calligraphy) in December. However, I discovered items I already own that I can use RIGHT NOW. Stickers!! I love stickers, and I have bunches of them. I don’t write as many letters as I once did, so I haven’t used the stickers much at all. Now I can!  That makes me very happy since I have no funds to purchase washi tape or other pretty things to fancy up my journal. I have stickers and I know how to use them. For example, on my weekly spread, I have a pumpkin and a fall leaf in today’s header. Tomorrow, for NaNoWriMo, I have a cat sticker, because cats are featured in my NaNoWriMo novel. I will put a different cat sticker on each day of November.

  

General accountability:

I have written every day this month. I’m delighted. Last week was a bit rough in the sleep department, my insomnia was in flare. However, I got up most days by 10 AM, except for two days on which I made a conscious decision to sleep in.

I am using Scrivener – they have a special Free Trial for NaNoWriMo. I continue to enjoy it. Yesterday I discovered a wonderful function – split screen. I could have a document with questions about world building open on one side and a new document on the other in which I answered the questions. No flipping back and forth from one document to another. It was a joy!

1. NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. I will still be posting here on Mondays. I will also be writing at least 1667 words each day – the amount you must write to get to 50K by the end of the month, which is the goal of the challenge.  I’m Cedarwolfsinger on the NaNoWriMo site if you’d like to be my Writing Buddy, just add me.

I hope you have a productive week! If you are participating in NaNoWriMo – write prolifically and HAVE FUN!!

Bright Blessings and Happy November!   – Cedar

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/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

and – drum roll please – at my new Author page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Wolfsinger-1538605939498546/

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

Week 7 of the Very Visual Organizer and Week 1 of using Bullet Journal as well

This week, I continued to use the Very Visual Organizer because it works so well and makes me very happy.

I also used the Bullet Journal for my portable calendar.

Very Visual Organizer

What worked?

Everything. I love the flexibility of this system.

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

Nothing. I kept the third sheet, making the base three pages tall. It is very effective.

What will I change?

Nothing.

Bullet Journal

What worked?

Everything. It has been interesting to have both the large calendar on the wall and the Bullet Journal notebook.

What didn’t work/was annoying?

The symbol for a telephone call was envisioned as a telephone handset. I changed the symbol to a large C instead of the telephone handset because it did not ever look like a handset and it annoyed me.

  

What did I change?

Only the key, which is more complex than the key I used before. I felt it was effective and that I will be needing the expanded key because there is much more happening in my life.

  

What will I change?

I did not decide on the spread I wanted to use for the Outstanding Items page last week. When Thursday came and I had not implemented it, I decided I would wait until this week to use it. I have now created it and it is in my Bullet Journal, behind my Weekly Spread. It only has a few items on it just now. When I think of more, I will add them. I like the concept; I will see how it works and let you know next week.

I had envisioned using a rainbow of different colors. I did not do that. I used red to fill in the appointments and tasks I completed, and I used green to note the items I migrated.  There may be more colors in my future.

I have also discovered that there is a Facebook group for using the Bullet Journal during NaNoWriMo and there are two Bullet Journal forums on the NaNoWriMo site itself. I will probably poke at them. I love looking at the lovely spreads. I don’t know if I am enough of an artist to implement them, however. Trying something new during NaNoWriMo might also make me crazy.

General accountability:

I have written every day this month. I’m delighted. I was still fighting being sick and still got up between 9 and 10 AM during the week.

I am using Scrivener – they have a special Free Trial for NaNoWriMo. I like being able to put everything in one project. There is a learning curve and I am poking at it for planning, setting, plotting, and character development. I feel good about it.

This week I am also starting to do Writing Sprints to get myself ready for NaNoWriMo, which starts next Tuesday.

I hope you have a productive week!

Bright Blessings – Cedar

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/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

and – drum roll please – at my new Author page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Cedar-Wolfsinger-1538605939498546/

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

 (Sorry that the links are not all showing up. I can't figure it out.)

Week 6 of the Very Visual Organizer and Re-start of Bullet Journal in addition

Hello there! Sorry, this will be up so late. I have been fighting a cold for the last four days. Today, it was winning.

This week, I will be using the Very Visual Organizer because it works so well and makes me very happy. I will also be starting to use the Bullet Journal again because I need a portable calendar.

What worked?

Everything. The extra flexibility of this organizer and being able to re-arrange the post-it notes when I had to take meds and take a nap in the middle of the day is a major asset to this system.

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Nothing.

What did I change?

I added the third sheet, making the base three pages tall. I like it and will keep it.

What will I change?

Nothing on the Very Visual Organizer system.

I need a portable calendar now. I’m spending more time out of the house and making appointments while I am out. I also will be doing even more of that in November around National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I am going to rejuvenate my Bullet Journal for the portable calendar.

Today, I spent four hours online, looking at Bullet Journal spreads and ideas for different collections, sheets, ways to accomplish various goals, and goal setting. Since it is already the middle of October, and I will not be using anything dramatically new in November because of NaNoWriMo, I will revisit those different ideas in December while planning for 2017. This week, I will be making additions to the very basic key I used before, and adding a sheet which I think will be very useful.

These are the items which will be in my key. (None of the symbols I spent an hour on putting in the post came out. OK. I guess I will have to describe them.)

󠇧  empty square = task                                       partly filled square = started task            

  full square = completed task         󠇧                 square with an arrow through it = migrated task 

  empty circle = event                                      filled circle =  completed event

 filled bullet = note                                           star = important 

 empty triangle, point up = appointment         filled triangle, point up = appointment finished

 !  Due/Deadline                                               telephone receiver = call

 envelope with a lightning bolt = email           question mark = explore/research

 lightning bold = idea                                       pen = write

I may also play with different colors, I don’t know yet. It is more complex than the key I was using when I first started the Bullet Journal. I think it will be more useful to me now considering all the new things going on in my life. The new page I am going to implement this week is a list of things I’m waiting for before I can act. Many posts called it a “Waiting On” list. I like Outstanding Items better, so that’s what I am going to call it. I’ll let you know how it works.

General accountability:

I have written every day this month. I’m delighted. I have gotten up by 8 AM on the days I wasn’t sick and by 10 AM on the days I was sick and went back to sleep. That’s a clear win for me!

Have a productive week!

Bright Blessings – Cedar

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/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

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

Very Visual Organizer Week 5 and Goals for October

It was a crazy week.  I had to get up early a few days to get my husband to a class because we couldn’t afford parking.  Then, on Friday, we ran away to Natural Stone Bridge and Caves, where we are still!  We go home tomorrow.

The getting up early days were difficult because I was not sleeping well.  However, I was getting more done. I have been getting up reasonably early on this vacation as well.  I am getting writing done and have managed to dismantle the rat wheel in my head in order to enjoy the stillness and the calm.

What worked?

Everything. 

What didn’t work/was annoying?

Not a thing.

What did I change?

In the last few weeks, I had discovered that the base calendar I was using, (the size of a desk blotter) was too small. I added an additional page to make it taller. That worked better than the original.

What changes will I make?

I will add another page, to make it three pages tall.  That will give me equal areas for tasks in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I will need that as I plan to continue getting up early enough to have productive morning time.

I have been trying to find a portable system because my new business requires that portability in my calendar. I love the visual aspects of the system I am using, and I am going to keep it for my “non-portable” system. I have been poking at portable systems and haven’t found anything I like yet. I may just go back to the bullet journal as my portable system and see how it will work. I will think about that this week.  I don’t want to start using a portable system in the middle of a week – I don’t consider that a fair test. The next week I will be home the entire week will be the week of 17 October – that may be the week when I try the Bullet Journal again.

I did not do a detailed review of September, though I did tell you it was a hot mess. 

Goals for October

1.     I have joined an online writing group (Ninja Writers). They have a challenge for people to write at least ten minutes daily this month, to get that habit in place before National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. I’m working through exercises to flesh out my new concept for next month. (I have been writing every day.)

2.     I am planning to get up between 7 – 8 AM weekday mornings.  I’ll see how that works out.

Have a great week!

Bright Blessings -- Cedar

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/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

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

Explanation of My Absence in September

September was a big mess of a month for me with family crises and personal and family illness abounding.  I also officiated a wedding and did more work for my new Park Lane Jewelry business. While I am aware that this is a new month, I just don’t have the time to do a complete look back at September and goal setting for October.  I can tell you that I have committed to writing at least 10 minutes every day this month, getting the daily habit in place and ready for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) next month which will be my 7^th or 8^th time doing the challenge.

If we can get someone to watch our four footed kids, my husband and I will be off-line and off-grid from Friday 10/7/2016 through Tuesday 10/11/2016. I will not be posting on Monday.  However, I expect to do the calendar work and the blog writing while I am away, making it a simple matter of cutting and pasting on Wednesday when I return home.

We are visiting the Natural Stone Bridge and Caves in Pottersville, NY. I anticipate sitting outside by the river, which is approximately 100 yards from the cabin we are renting, and writing my heart out, only coming in for meals and tea and hot chocolate to warm up. I will wander down to the Rock Shop several times a day to say “Hello”.  We don’t have extra cash to buy anything and I am not the kind of person who enjoys looking around when she has no money to spend. This place is heart-home to me.  I tend to relax and write and sleep really well there. The bed is one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept on.  I tend to go to sleep reasonably early (between 10 and 11:30 PM) and wake up early (between 6 and 7:30 AM).  There is no cell service at the cabin – you have to travel about 10 miles into town to get service. The attraction is run by dear friends and my husband and I have visited once or twice every year since we have been married.  (Twenty-six years in June, for your information.)

Have a great first week of October.  I’ll be back here next Wednesday, relaxed and refreshed! 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/

and my new page for my new business venture:

https://www.facebook.com/MichelleOwingsChristian/

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