How I Stay Organized On A Daily Basis

August 15, 2011

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My collection Moleskine planners including monthly and yearly formats

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For the last few years, I’ve relied heavily on Moleskine planners to keep me organized. Let’s face it — staying on track can be especially difficult when you’re forgetting half of what needs to get done. Every day, I make a to-do list and cross it out as I go. If something doesn’t get finished, it gets carried over until I complete it. This method is super basic but I find that it keeps me accountable. Having a hard copy of my list to carry around makes it much more real compared to an online list that I can turn off and forget about. I know that there are fancier planner solutions out there but having everything compiled in one list in one place is foolproof. My Moleskine planners have been a security blanket of sorts since I was in college and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What’s your preferred method for keeping track of daily tasks? Any tips or tricks that you’d like to share?

31 Responses to How I Stay Organized On A Daily Basis

  3. Lindsay says:

    I am still trying to find my feet when it comes to organizing and planning. I have tried a LOT of different things and I always always revert back to the analog way of writing postit notes – not the best thing I know..

    My biggest gripe with planners is – WHY can’t I get a planner that has the entire month w/ the little boxes in the beginning and then a nice weekly layout following it? I’d love to be able to write quick notes in the monthly boxes and then carry it over to the weekly page if there needs to be more content.. I’d rather not carry a monthly AND weekly planner.

    Reply
  4. Steven Buehler says:

    I have a hybrid netbook/tablet (Dell Inspiron Duo)—a full-blown computer instead of a mere iPad—and a Livescribe smartpen and A5 notebook to capture all my written input. For events/conferences I print one of the 25-page dotpaper notebooks in Livescribe Desktop to use exclusively for that event and archive it when the event ends.

    Reply
  5. Morgan says:

    I love using Moleskines as notebooks, but prefer Filofax for planners: much easier to customize.

    Lindsay, have you looked in to Filofax? You could definitely get monthly and weekly planner pages and organize them how you like.

    Reply
  6. Sarah says:

    I try to keep everything minimal and mobile – I use Wunderlist and Agenda Calendar on my iPhone, Google to-do lists for clients, and sticky notes on my PC at work.

    Reply
  8. Dara says:

    I love moleskines but for some reason I’ve never been able to keep up with writing in them on a daily basis, and it’s a shame for such an awesome planner to go to waste. So I use plain moleskine notebooks for random brainstorming and scribbling, but I use teuxdeux.com for my daily list-making. It’s really simple, and I can access it from anywhere (with an internet connection), which is a big plus!

    Reply
  9. Shelby says:

    I recently got a Filofax, I’m not completely used too yet, but so far it’s absolutely fantastic & I get excited just thinking of all the stuff I’m going to be aable to do with it.

    Reply
  10. Zellain says:

    Post-its, Moleskine notebooks and my TokiDoki planner (so colorful inside). Occasionally I use Color Note (Android app) or Evernote on my phone if I think of something I need or want to tackle while I am out. The Moleskine notebooks work the best for me now, but it’s taken me years to find a method that keeps me going and working. I’ll probably go back to a weekly Moleskine planner for 2012 after 2 years of TokiDoki.

    Reply
  12. Jennifer @ Auxiliary Magazine says:

    I have been carrying a small black reporter style moleskin around for a few years. But I just got the 12 mini moleskin montly calendars you pictured. Love them! I never updated my phone calendar and it was a mess. I do the same thing too… write a list each day and carry it over til they are all done.

    Reply
  13. Lauren says:

    Unfortunately for me, planners never seem to work.
    I’ll write in them furiously for 6 months, then never touch them again.
    I actually have some little clips up on a wall in my room, and I clip all the important stuff on those (or a post it telling me what to do).

    Reply
  14. Flo. says:

    I also make lists on my molesine <3
    But if I have to do something I KNOW I'll forget, I write it on a post-it and stick it on my computer screen, or on my glasses before going to bed.
    (Also, if I'm traveling, I make a list of all I have to pack. I use a type-writer because my printer is damaged and I'm too lazy to do anything about it haha)

    Reply
  15. Brittanny says:

    Non-digitally: I use a Moleskine knockoff made by Ecosystem as my weekly planner. The beginning of the year rolled around and I completely forgot to buy my Moleskine for 2011 and of course they were sold out. It’s actually pretty nice though. The cover is much more durable than a Moleskine. I bought a WeekDate dry erase board after seeing Gala write about it on her blog.

    Digitally: I just started using Microsoft Outlook instead of the Mail and iCal app on my Mac. I also use Evernote on my Mac and iPhone to keep track of links for my Link Roundup on my blog. I downloaded every productivity app imaginable but settled on Evernote. Things is a really good app as well.

    Reply
  17. Sushibird says:

    I love moleskine for sketching and doodles, but for keeping my planner, I have completely fallen in love with teuxdeux.com . It is so ridiculously simple I actually end up using it. The iPhone app was absolutely worth the money. I find that other online calenders, including google – it takes me too long to to put in stuff or edit it, so I end up postponing it or not checking it, but teuxdeux.com is really fast and simple, a big plus in my book.

    Reply
  18. Krissy says:

    I religiously use iCal. Don’t know what I’d do without it now. Until about 3 years ago, I used to just remember everything I had to do and when it needed to be done, etc. etc. Yay memory skills. But I like being able to delete stuff from the day’s list of tasks once something is complete. That sense of “Horrah! One more thing off the list!” isn’t something you can do inside your head. ;)

    I’ve always liked the idea of having a physical paper planner to carry around (there are so many cute ones!), but I have this strange aversion to writing in them. I don’t want to ruin the prettiness! Ridiculous, I know. But I just end up staring at them and ogling the pretty pages being too afraid to write in them.

    Reply
  20. Nubby says:

    Hi Everyone,

    Thanks so much for all of your helpful insight, recommendations and advice for staying organized! I’m sure you’re helping a lot of other readers out there who want to get started but don’t know which option suits them best. For small tasks, like many of you, I also love a good old Post-It note as well…For the time being, I am sticking with Moleskines (why change what’s working?) but if I ever decide to try something new, I’ll consult your recommendations first. Thanks again!

    Reply
  21. Juwita Jalil says:

    I’m a fan of Moleskin.
    Daily planner for my everyday things to do. I fill up the pages at the early of the year. Update birthdays so I don’t forget. As for my things to do, I cross them out everyday. If not, bring it forward. Even my grocery list is written here as well.
    For work, I use the A5 notebook. Works well to scribble and cross out too.

    I’ve ventured from just the notebooks. I also use the envelope folder as well as the accordion folder. Got to love them for keeping me organized.

    Post its all around my bulletin board!

    Reply
  22. Violet Koncz says:

    Great idea! I gotta get me a nice moleskin. I find that I start using little notebooks but then I lose them or forget about them. If something is REALLY important that I need to get done then i write a little post it note and stick it to the back of my phone. Downside is they come off after a while, lol.

    Reply
  23. Melinda says:

    Teaching needs some serious organization!! I use my phone’s calendar to schedule my non-school activities and to-do lists. For my school use, I have a Day Runner that I’ve kept since college that I replace every year, set the school schedule, and have a color coded system to let me know when I administer tests (class tests and state tests), projects, when grades need to be put in, etc.

    For class I have a post-it on my desk to tell me which lecture I start with, what worksheet, and class assignment is for the day, and I pile my worksheets and desktop (physical and computer) according to date to keep me organized.

    On my computer desktop, I have a folder with the six weeks as the title, and inside the folder the days of that six weeks, with digital copies of the worksheets in each folder set according to the order of the day’s lesson.

    For worksheets: I use file folders for all the unused worksheets (set according to the day of the week for absent students), the soon to be used worksheets (set according to the day of the week with a post-it on top for the day’s schedule), graded worksheets (set according to class period) and I have a folio in my school bag for my need to be graded worksheets (set according to class period, and another set of file folders for my already graded work (set according to class period).

    That’s about it, for lesson plans and such, I keep a hard copy of all my worksheets in a braded folder (the ones first graders use with the prong things on the inside). In that folder I have the lesson plans on top, then according to day I have the worksheets organized according to date.

    That’s my life as a teacher! LOL And can you believe I’m a Cancer!!! I think my moon was in Virgo or something when I was born! LOL <3

    Melinda

    Reply
    • Nubby says:

      Melinda: WOWZA! You’ve taken this to a new level. Judging by your comment, there’s some serious Virgo lurking deep inside of your somewhere. That I’m sure of!

      Reply
  24. Leigh says:

    I love paper planners–okay, I have a bit of a stationery problem–but I never remember to use or carry them. So I’m pretty reliant on my Google Calendar and an Android app called Jorte that syncs with it but looks more planner-like.

    When I was still working a job with a desk a couple of years ago, I had everything on Post-It notes. They were all over, but it got the job done!

    Reply
  25. Lindsay says:

    Morgan / Sarah –
    I have definitely looked in to DayRunner but my issue with those is, I don’t really like the way they look and I haven’t found any smaller book-like (not the removable binder ones) that has the monthly/weekly combination. Plus, the dayrunners aren’t very pretty ;)

    I am definitely going to look in to the filofax. I haven’t looked in to that.

    I do have a gadget suggestion for all of you though.. there’s a plugin for google calendars (which you can sync to ical) called InSightly. It’s AMAZING!! Basically it lets you forward emails directly to a ToDo list so if I get ten clients sending me emails asking me to do this and that, I can forward it to my insightly custom email address and the next time I open insightly there is that email, automatically under that specific contact name. LOVE IT!

    I do need something thats more analog though because there’s nothing more instant than writing.

    Reply
  26. jeff claassen says:

    i was a moleskin addict until about 6 weeks ago when i took the iphone plunge. i have rectangular wear spots in all my jeans pockets as evidence of never leaving home without my trusty moleskin. like you, i mainly used it for daily to do lists and random ideas that would pop into my head. or writing down the title of a book on my “books to read” lists. the inner right pant leg pockets of all my pants have all been stained blue thanks to ink leaking out of my pen since i also had to have a writing instrument on me. i never had to deal with any major leaks, but from sitting down and standing up the ball point pen would retract randomly. now that i have the iphone, i don’t need to carry a pen and the notebook app works just as well, if not better, than the moleskin at keeping a handy to do list on hand at all times.

    Reply
  27. M. Dominic says:

    I used to use a Moleskine and while I love it, I found it didn’t really work for my daily/weekly needs. INSTEAD, I have started to use a FranklinCovey planner called “Perspective” (Which I keep in a nice plain black fauxleather binder with self-made/decorated dividers). It shows me a week at a time in the top (seven tiny boxes for things) and six GIANT blocks of space under it for to-do lists, therefore, I can organize my week by things that have to get done in certain areas (stuff at home, stuff at work, stuff for writing/blogging, etc.) and a shopping list for the week (things I’ll forget to buy at the shops over the weekend and such). I find it is SO SO helpful and I get everything done these days now that I use it. It’s rad.

    In fact, I feel I should make a blog post on this now, haha! I’ve never met anyone else who uses the Perspective, but, I swear, it’s a game-changer if you’re someone who has tried a lot of different organization-types and not been able to find what works.

    Reply

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