New Year, New Planner

Like many papercrafters I love planners, journals, books and all things made with paper.  Each fall and early winter I begin the search for the next year's planner.  Back in September I purchased an Erin Condren planner like this one below http://www.heidiswapp.com/capture-30-and-memory-planner/and love it!

It's working well for me for both work and my life.  I'm enjoying decorating it and being "creative" in a small way.  However, because my work schedule and task lists are so heavy, there isn't any room for memory keeping, journaling or a gratitude list.  So, when Heidi Swapp and Big Picture Classes announced Capture 30 and I saw this planner that was available as an additional purchase as part of the class I knew this is what I was looking for! 

Check out Heidi's announcement on her blog here:   http://www.heidiswapp.com/capture-30-and-memory-planner/

   To sign up for Capture 30 at Big Picture Classes, click on this link:         http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/classes/details/capture-30

 As soon as I get a chance to photograph the inside of my album I'll post some    photos.  Heidi calls this album the 2015 Memory Planner and that is how I am going to use it.  I've always wanted a dedicated place that I could jot down what I did with my day and things I want to add to my scrapbook/Project Life albums.  I'm excited to find out what Heidi has in store for us during the month of January as she helps us set up our planners and get 2015 underway.  In the meantime if you want to see more of the 2015 Memory Planner check out my Pinterest board of the same name.  

The Bullet Journal

I have wanted to share this information for a few weeks.  It's not really about crafting or scrapbooking but since I have found it so helpful I thought others might find it useful as well.  
I have used a variety of calendars, planners, to do lists, etc over the years both for my personal life and work life.  I usually return to one of the Franklin Covey daily or weekly style pages for whatever planner I am using.  I've tried different styles and formats and never stuck with one for more than a few years.  Now I think I have found a system that I will stick with - the Bullet Journal.  Here is a link to the information that I found and then implemented:

http://www.bulletjournal.com/

Here are some photos of what my Bullet Journal looks like:

MOLESKINE SQUARED NOTEBOOK LARGE

  

INDEX PAGE

JANUARY EVENTS on left and JANUARY TASKS on right

ONE LITTLE WORD PAGE

ONE WEEK

NEXT WEEK

I think the thing that I like most about this system is that it gives me a place to put all the things I want to remember/have handy in one notebook.  While it obviously has my calendar and a space for daily to do's I can create lists for all the various projects I want to to do or are working on.

 I like the Moleskine Squared Notebook Large.  The size works really well for me.  It fits in my purse easily.  I worried when I started that I would fill up the notebook within a few weeks but I started my notebook in October 2013 and as of today I've not used half of the notebook yet!  I also really like the grid pages.  This is really helpful for some of my creative projects.  I can easily draw page layouts, card ideas, page protector styles and other drawings with the grids.
The other things that concerned me was whether it was going to take a lot of time to set up each month and if it was going to really be as easy as it sounded to find my various lists.  I have found that it takes just minutes to set up each month and the Index at the beginning of the notebook helps me find everything. The Index is really the key to the system for me.  You might find that the symbols are the key to your system.  I use a few of them but there are some I don't use at all.  
If you are looking for a way to keep your planner and all the information you deal with each day in one place check out the link above for more detailed information.  I had to watch it a couple of times to really get the feel for it.
What type of calendar/planner do you use?