Organisational

Planner Productivity: Prioritising Your Tasks

Emma-Louise Getting Things Done, Organisational, Productivity Tags: , , , , , , , 7 Comments

Hello and Welcome to the first in my productivity mini series.

There will be 8 posts released 1 per week all focusing on improving your productivity ready for 2017.

Some of these posts will have little quizzes and are easy to jot down and implement into your planning routine.

Today’s post is quite short and sweet and focuses on prioritising your tasks.

As we all know it’s pretty easy to get bogged down with everything we have to do, and then never really get anything done as we don’t know where to start. It can be overwhelming to say the least.

This little tip should help you figure out what needs doing and the order in which it should be done.

First of all write down all your tasks, don’t focus on an order yet just write them all.

Next go through the list and either colour-code or number the Urgent and Important tasks (these require the most focus).

Next go through and colour-code or number the Urgent Only tasks these are the tasks which should be completed after all the Urgent and Important tasks are complete.

Next colour-code or number the Important Only tasks. These should be the next to be completed.

Lastly, you can get on with everything else.

If your task list extends over the day remember to check it each morning and move the priorities as necessary and add anything that has come up since originally writing the list.

I use colour-coding for my priority list.

Red: Urgent and Important

Blue: Urgent

Green: Important

Black: Everything else.

I really like this method as I find it helps immensely whether it’s with house chores, my posts, my business, and just life in general.

Stay tuned for next week’s Planning post.

Thanks for reading.

The Stationery Geekette x

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Blog Content Update!

Emma-Louise Getting Things Done, Inspiration, Organisational, Planner Girls Collective, Planners Tags: , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Hey Everyone! 

So…this post is basically a run down of all the things I have coming up over the next month when it comes to content. I won’t go into specifics but you’ll get the gyst of things.

First of all I will be continuing my book reviews. I also have some which link to an author signing events I attended and Giveaways for a signed copies of the books in question. 

My Stationery / Planner related posts will focus a little more on some of the small businesses which I have purchased from.

I will be starting a new blog series about effective planning methods, efficient target planning and other productivity related posts.

The site itself will undergo a few changes. I am re-categorising to make content more slimlined and easier to navigate, I’ll be updating my personal about me and info section as well.

The Confessions posts will continue to run as our schedule takes us up to mid-December as it stands.

I am also going to be featuring a few Guest Posts from some of my favourite bloggers which I am excited about and you will see a post explaining how to become one if you are interested.

In the meantime if you are interested in finding out about the Guest posts or want to take part in the Confessions link up then feel free to drop me comment below or email me on thestationerygeekette@yahoo.com. 

Thanks for reading. 

The Stationery Geekette x 

Future Planning and Weekly Checklist

Emma-Louise Inspiration, Organisational, Productivity Tags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments

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Everybody loves to save time, in a society that is constantly looking to be productive and organised there are always tips and tricks to minimise the time we spend doing the tasks we need to get through each week.

I am one of these people, even though I am not currently working I am always on the lookout for ways to be productive with the time I do have.

I rarely get any time to myself and when I do it’s usually spent planning the next day, week ahead, on my blog, reading etc. I like to try and get as much done within that time as I possibly can otherwise it can be a good few days before I get any more time (toddlers are soooo demanding).

Well I thought I would share with you some of my tips and tricks when it comes to planning productivity and my weekly task checklist to ensure I have those little things accounted for.

When it comes to planning there are a few things which I like to do in advance.

1) Decoration – I always decorate 4 weeks at a time. I like to know that everything is ready to use as and when it maybe needed. Some people may not like this as decorating weekly is part of their planning process however I leave my blog planner to do weekly but always pre-decorate my everyday. It’s one less thing for me to worry about.

2) Schedule Tasks – Once I have decorated my 4 weeks I then go through and add in any birthdays, appointments, calls, emails that are upcoming and I schedule in all my tasks such as laundry, rubbish, ironing, hoovering etc. I have a housework schedule that rarely differs week to week so it’s easy enough to do.

3)  Monthly Goals – At this point I usually write up my goals for the next month ahead. What I want to have achieved when it comes to doing my next set of weeklies. This is also handy to look back on to see where you may have failed, mistakes you’ve made and what you’ve learnt

So there are my top top 3 future planning tips.

Each week however I have checklist which I like to do through to ensure that some actions are taken care of but the days can differ week to week.

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My weekly checklist consists of;

1) Scheduling ‘me’ time – I have to do this to ensure that I remember to look after myself. If I didn’t I’d end up doing housework or things for other people. I also use this time for blog planning, decorating and other planner goodness.

2) Schedule ‘miscellaneous’ time – This is just time where I plan not to plan. This for anything that may pop up that needs dealing with quickly that couldn’t be planned. This to to try and maximise productivity with my other tasks and minimise distractions.

3) Weekly To-Do List – This is pretty self explanatory. I list all the tasks I want done for the week and then prioritise the top 3-5 that are essential.

4) Menu Planning and Shopping List – I don’t plan my meals in advance for each day, instead what I do is write down 7 meals that I want for that week and just tick off which I have when I have them. That way I can be a bit more flexible with how I feel on that day. I also write a shopping list to correspond to what I need.

5) Theme My Days – This is an idea which was originally from Alexis over on Strange And Charmed and it’s very simple and rather brilliant.
Plan your days tasks according to their category, for example; do all house work in the same day, all paperwork in the same day etc. This maximises your focus and makes productivity higher.

There you have it, how I future plan and weekly plan.

If you have any tips or tricks I’d love to know them. I am always looking for ways to improve my process.

Thanks for reading

The Stationery Geekette x

How I Use The Filofax Clipbook For Studying

Emma-Louise Organisational, Planners Tags: , , , , , 7 Comments

As you may have seen from one of my previous posts on e-courses I study a lot of free online courses (you can find that post here).

One thing I wanted was to have a nice planner to keep all my study notes in. I did however want something not very bulky and easy to carry about.
After doing some research I came across the Filofax Clipbook.
The Clipbook comes in a variety of colours and is really light and portable and does come with inserts which are standard A5 (I bought secondhand without inserts so I can’t include them however they can be found on the Filofax website).

The clipbook is perfect to use for my studies and I’m really liking it now I have set it up. I’ve kept it all really simple with just what I needed and nothing more.

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The first thing I have in the Clipbook is a calendar,  I use to note upcoming course dates and where applicable assignment due dates.

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I also keep a zip up wallet in here where I keep divider tabs for my subjects.

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After this section I have a subject planner. This is where I list all course details that I am undertaking.

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I then have the subjects that I’ve studied and are currently studying. These are divided by using tabs on the top of the page rather than dividers.

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I have other divider sections after this, in thise I keep multicoloured paper, graph paper and plain paper as I intend to complete each course on a different type of paper.
I also have a books to read section and to-do section at the back for when a course requires further reading or research.

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As you can see I’ve kept it simple, easy and uncluttered. I’m unsure when I go back to re-train as a TA in September if I’ll use a clipbook or a different planner after all I will have the new Carpe Diem Ballerina by then 🙂

I’d really like to see how you’ve set up your planner for studying,  if you have any tips to share, your use of decoration etc so please feel free to drop me a comment, link or email.

Thanks for reading.

The Stationery Geekette x

Home Binder System: An Alternative to the 43 Folder Binder

Emma-Louise Organisational, Planners, Productivity Tags: , , , , 6 Comments

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Last week I watched a YouTube video by Miss TrenchCoat (aka Alexis from Strange and Charmed). It was all about  the 43 Folder Binder System. The video can be seen here.

The basic concept is to have 43 folders in your binder, 12 are monthly and 31 are for each day of the month. The folders are for you to slot reminders, Bills, invitations etc in that you get so you know what’s upcoming and when. A complete running folder with 12 months future planning.

I loved the idea of this system especially for all my house stuff such as bill dates, budget, cleaning,  birthdays and whatever else pops up throughout the year.

One thing that did become apparent when I was considering my set up was that my life simply is not busy enough for all 31 days of the months folders.
Knowing this I have adapted the method to suit my needs.

Instead if 31 daily folders I have 5 weekly dividers dated 1st – 7th, 8th – 14th, 15th – 21st, 22nd – 28th and 29th – 31st. On these I will use sticky notes to put any info relevant to that week.

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I also have one folder per month where I can pop any paperwork for that month.

I have also included a few other things in my system.
My contents are:
1) Account Numbers

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2) Budget Info

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3) Contacts
4) Inbox (where I pop things when I don’t have time to sort it)

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5) Cleaning Schedule

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6) Monthly Calender

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7) Monthly Events Card

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8) Monthly Folder

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9) 5 Weekly Dividers

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The binder then repeats itself from 6-9.
I am really hoping this helps to keep track of everything that is going on in a more functional and practical way. I often will note things in my planner and then cannot find the associated paperwork and I don’t make notes in my planner regarding bills and payments either.

I also have a plastic zipper wallet in to keep my sticky notes in a safe place.

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For anyone who would like to see the 43 Folder System then please pop along to the lovely Michelle at Uglybugdoes on YouTube to see how she set up her binder.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pcdfNvuTqco

Thanks for reading

The Stationery Geekette x

6 Months To Change My Life Update 1

Emma-Louise My Life, Organisational, Productivity Tags: , , , , , , 4 Comments

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I know it’s technically going into the 3rd month now and I should have got around to this sooner but as they say it’s better late than never.

I have achieved quite a chunk of my list over tha last two months and overcome some of the bigger hurdles which will now allow me to move forward much easier.

So what exactly have I achieved over March and April?

* I moved home – somewhere smaller, cheaper and closer to family.
* I enrolled on several e-courses.
* I completed Criminology Beyond Crime e-course from Open University.
* Paid off a huge chunk of debt.
* Reworked my payment plans.
* De-cluttered the kitchen.
* Ordered new wardrobes and a shelving unit with baskets.
* Improved blog post content and frequency as well as updating the theme I use.
* Set up new blog planner.
* Got a haircut and made more effort to style it daily.
* Started a new fiction book series.
* Ordered Spark Joy
* Attended a planner mini meet and met new people.
* Increased family time.
* Ate more fruit and drank more water.
* Lost 3lbs

I still have a long way to go but I’m starting to lay foundations down.

For this month my aims are:
* Put up and assemble the new furniture.
* Request permission to redecorate.
* Finish 1 book.
* Pay off 1 debt.
* More dedicated family time.
* Less online time.
* Date with my OH.
* Organise and sort Alexis’s room.
* Toy Declutter and sell.
* Start new e-course.
* Eat better
* Loose 7lbs.

I’m really hoping that things will start to come together in May and although many of the the changes are small they will have a huge impact overall.

Here’s to a month of good progression.

Thanks for reading.

The Stationery Geekette x

My Blog Planner

Emma-Louise My Life, Organisational, Planners Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

I decided that I was going to focus and improve my blog more in 2016. To do this I knew I would need to implement a routine and for that I would need a planner. Originally I was using the large Ocean Kikki.K, however my wonderful partner bought me the beautiful Wellness planner for my birthday this month.

When the planner arrived I took out the inserts and put them into the Ocean planner and set about making my new one perfect. I really wanted something that was cute and pretty as well as functional. I love the Grey of the Wellness planner, I feel this looks more professional and contrasts the fun mint green on the inside. I don’t usually bother much with internal pocket prettiness, mainly because my Malden is hard to cater for with them been vertically challenged.

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However the Wellness planner pockets are a great size and location for me to do things with. In the top pocket I have a mini notebook for any notes I need to quickly jot down. This was from Wilkos and has a cute heart design. I also have my name paper-clip just behind so it pops up above the notebook, I love the colour of the clip and it fits perfectly with the colour scheme. It was made for me by Michelle at Uglybugplans. Just below the notebook I have a Planner Nerd paper-clip which was made by Cherryblossomsinthemarketsquare and then in the bottom I just have a little butterfly from the Kikki.K dashboard set. My first page is a drawing done for me from one of the ladies in UKPA and a journalling card from the Kikki.K dashboard set.

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My first section is my calender. This is where I plot out my blog posts for the weeks ahead and make any notes of posts I may like to squeeze in.

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I also have my Kikki.K stickers and a little wallet in this section where I keep washi sample sheets and other little bits.

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After this I have my Ideas section. This for all my blog post ideas, things I want to look into to, research, brainstorms etc.

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My next section is for Planning. This is where I draft all my posts and write down what I want my post to look like, and sound like.

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Next is my stats section. This is where I list my monthly statistics so I can track how things improve or decline, what maybe popular and what isn’t.

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My next section is to record all books I read that I may want to review. I use the Book inserts from the Kikki.K for this.

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Next is my To-Do section. This is pretty self explanatory. I keep all the things I would like to get done with my blog and tasks for blog posts.

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Finally, to set it all off I have this gorgeous little charm from UglyBugPlans 🙂

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So there it it. I have ordered some weekly inserts from Just So Stationery which I plan to use in my Calender section too.

Thanks for reading:)

The Stationery Geekette x

 

Planning A House Move – Tips and Tricks

Emma-Louise Organisational Tags: , , , , , , 5 Comments

I recently moved house, by recently I mean the last week. Been the super organised geek I am I tried to have everything organised. There were a few moments that were a little chaotic but those mostly were down to moving with a toddler.

I thought I would write a little guide of tips and tricks for moving. Things which I almost forgot and may not jump straight into the mind of those who are busy with a prospective move.

I thought I would start at the very beginning with tips for looking around houses.

First of all be honest with yourself and with your partner (if applicable). What are you both willing to live with and without, how much do you want to decorate, what specifically do you want?

Questions to ask the letting company/ landlord/lady:

  1. What type of Gas, Electric and Water meter does the property have?
  2. How much is the rent and bond?
  3. What TV/broadband does the property receive?
  4. Does the property have a digital ariel?
  5. Are tenants able to decorate the property?
  6. What are the neighbours like?
  7. When was the last Gas Safety Inspection?

*Don’t forget to check for evidence of mould on the walls, ceilings and floors*

There are also things which maybe of value to research before deciding on a location such as local shops, schools and things to do. Facebook is a great place to look for removal company too. We got a great deal with ours and he was absolutely fantastic and cheap.

Once you have applied and been successful in your application for a property there is then a list of things which need to be considered.

Things to do – not just packing but other things to prepare for the move. Cleaning of the old and new property, any repairs and meter readings from both properties.

It might be handy to take note of room sizes and window dimensions too.

When packing your belongs my advice would be to label all bags and boxes with contents and location it belongs. For example I had Kitchen boxes labelled with their belongings and also whether they were essential and non-essential so I knew what needed unpacking first. Colour coding could also be very useful too.

When dismantling furniture I used sandwich bags for the screws, labelled the bag and put all the bags in a shoe box which I had ready and out all the time.

I also had a last-minute pack checklist. This was primarily things which I needed with me to go to the new house asap. Items such as clothes for the next day, deodorant, hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, kettle, tea, coffee, sugar etc.

I had a few cool bags (massive supermarket ones) ready to transport the freezer and fridge contents asap too.

Last and not least the call list. When moving there are many people who will need an update of address. Some of these include :

Council tax

Employer

Gas/electric

TV licence

Water

Mobile phone company

TV/broadband company

Credit card company

Any benefit offices

Any other places which are relevant such as Amazon, EBay, Etsy etc

And the most important – The Bank.

Moving is stressful and all we can do is be prepared. I hope that my list of tips and advice will come in helpful for anyone planning a move:)

Sections I had in my planner:

*Important Info -Dates, Contact Numbers, Reference Numbers etc

*Room Dimensions

*Things to pack by Room

*People/Companies to Call

*Things to Remember

*Things to Buy

*Last Minute Pack List

 

Thanks for reading

The Stationery Geekette x

 

 

Time Management Techniques

Emma-Louise Organisational, Productivity Tags: , , , , 3 Comments

The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980’s.

The technique is to use a timer to break down work/tasks into intervals. Each interval lasts 25 minutes which is then followed by a small 5 minute break. The interval is known as a Pomodoro which is Italian for tomato and represents segments.
Once you have completed 4 Pomodoro’s you then take a longer break of around 15-30 minutes before starting again.

The method is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.

The underlying principles are:
1) Decide on a task
2) Set the timer for 25 minutes.
3) Work on the task until the timer goes off.
4) Put a check mark on a piece of paper.
5) Reset the timer and repeat 3 more times.
6) After the 4th Pomodoro take a longer break.
7) Start again.

The fundamental concepts are:

Planning > Tracking > Recording > Visualizing.

I have been using this method for a couple of weeks now and it seems to be highly effective at getting things done. 

For tasks which require more lengthy processing time or at those times when motivation and energy is high I also use another method known as Time-boxing.

This is when you allocate a fixed time period called a time-box to a planned activity. An example of this was when I was unpacking my bedroom wardrobe contents this week. I allocated myself 1.5 hours to get it all done.

If you are like me and have some form of planner with you at all times it is handy to write down your tasks and think about how long it will take to complete them. I always add an extra 5-10 mins just in case. I then work through the list starting with either the longest or most dreaded of tasks (for me that is sorting out all the laundry on Sunday’s). I separate them into Pomodoro’s and Time-Boxes.

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Do any of you use a time management technique? If so which?

Thanks for reading

The Stationery Geekette x