Proper journaling. Ideas for keeping a diary

During the day, you accumulate a lot of things, and many of them you forget to do. In order to prevent this from happening again, we recommend starting a diary. Thanks to him, you will always do what you have planned for the day.

Diary Benefits:

• Now you will not forget about both important and secondary matters.
• If you need the information you need, you just open the right page from the last week or month.
• You will learn how to properly plan your day.
• You will become disciplined and you will develop a good habit.
• You will strive to achieve your goals and objectives, because now they will always be before your eyes.

Have you ever had a diary? In this case, you must definitely learn how to use it correctly. It depends on this how you plan your day and whether you will be able to complete all the most important things. He will become your personal assistant and in 1-2 weeks you simply cannot live without him! Now you do not need to memorize everything, just make a note in a notebook.

Step 1. First of all, you need to buy it. If you want to fill it out, choose interesting design uplifting. The main condition is that you like the notebook. If its design annoys you, you will immediately throw it away and definitely not take notes in it.

Step 2 Notepad layout. In order to make every day unique and memorable, make small sketches in the corner of each sheet or just glue the stickers. You can also use colored markers.

Step 3 Distribution of cases. Things are important and not so important. Those that need to be done first, write down at the very top positions for a specific day or week. Secondary - on the bottom lines.

Also, at the beginning of the month and week, it would not hurt to put down the most important things that you must have time to do. You can fill out the diary in the morning, before you start doing things. You can also do it the day before, in the evening, and in the morning just open a notebook and start your day.

Step 4. Phone numbers are an important section that should also be in the diary. You should not trust them only to the mobile, because it can be lost or broken. Be sure to write down important numbers in a notebook, select a few pages for this at the beginning or end of the diary.

Useful tips for keeping a diary:

• Only you should fill it out, never trust it to someone else
• In order not to look for the desired page for half an hour, make or buy a cardboard bookmark
• Write down important things as soon as you remember them, because in half an hour you can forget necessary information
• When your diary is over and you need to start a new one, rewrite the whole important information into it.
• Aphorisms. In order to be more erudite, we recommend that you write down 1 saying per day on each page. it great way learn something new.
• Important Goals and outline the tasks with a red marker, secondary ones with green or blue, as desired.
• In order not to be late and have time to do everything, put down next to each task a certain period of time that you are ready to allocate for its implementation.
• Correct the plan, if there are any changes - add notes on the bottom lines.
• At the end of each week and month, note which of the tasks you did not manage to complete and why. Prioritize them and complete them in the coming days.
• Plan smart. If you plan too many things for the day, you may not have time to complete them. That is why we advise you to plan things wisely, distribute tasks wisely.
• It's okay if you're a little behind on time. Various events take place throughout the day Unexpected situations, so you can deviate slightly from the original plan.

Thanks to the diary, you will notice that your life has changed dramatically - you will become much more responsible and efficient. The changes will affect both your work and personal life - after all, you will go to success in small steps.

How to keep a diary: video

Here you will see how to properly keep your diary and what you should pay attention to when planning your day.

I will slowly drag my interesting posts (in terms of the number of views and my personal opinion) from the old blog.
I'll start with a voluminous post on time management, namely keeping a diary: I'll show photos of my own, talk about methods of keeping, tell you what it means to "eat a frog." All this is under the cut

As you all know, I have a lot to do and a lot to remember, so I can’t do without a diary. A person can keep 7 objects in his head, so you will never find it in your memory, it is better to write down what needs to be done.

First, let me show you my diaries/notebooks:

This purple notebook has already ended and is now on the shelf. It consisted of planning for a month and blank sheets for notes, which is very convenient.

top photo: "things to do over the weekend"- I write such a list every Friday, it is very useful not to forget anything and do everything

. Moleskine is my notebook of ideas. Here are drawings, ideas, recipes, clippings from magazines, as well as more wishes from my friends, when I re-read them I always smile. I love it for its small format, you can carry it everywhere with you and instantly write down your thoughts and ideas.

. Corporate diary "COTES"- The most effective planning tool is a dated diary. Let's dwell on it in more detail and I will tell you how to fill it.

I have 5 partitions: work, university, french(tough things that I can't take anywhere)

EF(in the free spaces between the first three sections)

and entertainment(this is in my free time from all other affairs).

With colored markers, I mark on the side the duration of all these cases during the day (each section has its own color), and inside I already write the cases related to this section.

I also have EF training schedules pasted in there, my work schedule and some more useful notes on the stickers (recipes, grocery lists, what I want to buy myself, what I want to do, etc.)

There are also useful pages where you can record your expenses / income and take notes.

. Desktop diary " The little Prince" - you write down the things, and then you joyfully put a tick after they are completed.

Now more about the methods and ways of keeping a diary

GTD (Getting Things Done) system

The system is quite complex and is used to implement large projects, but something may be useful to us.

Case notation system:

Method of Gleb Arkhangelsky

You can buy a diary using the Arkhangelsky method in any store, but in my opinion it is overpriced, and no one bothers you to create such a diary yourself. Some interesting tools you can use:

Ways to increase motivation

• "Frogs": small, unpleasant things that are postponed. Eating a "frog" means doing one of those things.
• "Elephants": global affairs, projects. The “elephant” must be divided into steaks, then the global business will be easier to “eat”.
• Intermediate Joys. Reward yourself with something nice for a job well done. Enter “joy” in advance in the appropriate column: drink a cup of coffee, eat a cake, watch an interesting video.

Not everyone thought about how to keep diaries, although this question is often asked by people who count every minute, namely business people. After all, in order to be successful, you need to be able to correctly allocate your time, while not forgetting about your family and self-development. Even if you are creative personality, the diary will help you find a free window for art and relaxation. Well, athletes often live according to a schedule: sleep, meals, training - everything is strictly on schedule. So how do you keep a diary?

“Only the transition from dreaming and planning to action proves the seriousness of your intentions. Don't be one of those indecisive people who constantly rush about various ideas, but never embody any of them.”

Sergei Yarushin

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The diary is a wonderful tool, the maintenance of which allows you to spend more efficiently. own time eliminates the need to keep a large number of information in your head, and also, it can turn into a real full-fledged hobby that you will do with pleasure every day.

Types of diaries

There are two main types of diaries: dated and undated.

A dated diary is designed to rigidly structure your own time, and allows you to solve a large number of tasks with a high degree of efficiency through proper time planning and the use of personal resources.

Undated diaries are designed for those who are not particularly busy with planning and do not like some kind of rigid framework and restrictions. The undated diary has no temporary positions, which means that you can use it in a satisfied form at your own discretion. This version is most often used by people of an artistic orientation or teenagers. Both of these options can be a really rewarding and fun addition to your business.

Choosing an organizer

To properly keep a diary, first of all, what you should pay attention to is a sample of the appearance of your paper assistant. Of course, everyone has their own sample of an ideal diary, as well as the concept of how beautiful it is to keep it. The appearance of this little book should encourage you to take it in your hands more often and make some notes, so that in the end, develop the habit of a network diary.

If you are all a fan of paper pages, or you enjoy scheduling your time without relying on templates and giving free rein to creativity, then you should think not only about how to fill out a diary, but also how to arrange it.

You should not choose a large diary, since compactness is an important factor. Sometimes you will have to take it with you in a backpack or bag, in which case big sizes will only interfere. In addition, you always want to leave a bulky thing at home, while a small notebook will always be an indispensable companion and keeper of your time and ideas.

The diary should be made of good enough paper, not fading and not too soft. Do not forget that this is your constant companion, and he should please the eye at least a year later.

Of course, you can just buy a beautiful leather-bound diary, or even make it to order, but if you create it yourself, it will certainly catch your eye more often. Of course, depending on age and gender, your organizer may look completely different, but this will be your unique interpretation. These diaries reflect inner world, its owner, revealing its best sides.

Glider design

A great way to dilute the seriousness of everyday life, and just raise yourself once again mood - spread notes on the pages of the diary with useful tips, or wishes. If your loved ones leave such notes, finding them every day will be a pleasant association of filling the organizer.

For girls, the very design of the diary can become an exciting activity, a model of harmony and design talents. Moreover, what should be in the diary of every girl is a specially allocated time just for herself, because a girl, being among many things, should still remain feminine and unique.

You can use beads, embroidery, decoupage for decoration title pages. With a little creativity, filling out such a diary in the future will be especially pleasant. If a teenage girl has to keep a diary, then appearance can be a manifestation of youthful hobbies, diligent selection of design and personal preferences.

Of course, if a boy keeps a diary, or a busy man, the choice almost always falls in the direction of minimalism. This design is not distracting and is aimed purely at practical use.

Adult women also often simply do not have time for sentimental design of the organizer. And here it doesn’t matter at all whether a business woman is in front of you, or an ordinary housewife. Women who essentially work from home have no more time than office workers. The organizer will help such ladies to write down the list of products, household chores, notify when to pick up the child from school.

By the way, the organizer, softly upholstered in leather, ceases to be just a functional booklet and turns into a stylish and necessary accessory. Such a gift will be valuable for both men and women. And having provided it with a memorable signature, you will make a gift as close to your heart as possible.

Electronic or paper diary?

If you are a fan modern technologies, or have long preferred electronic records to pen and paper, then how to use the diary can be confusing. In fact, the way out is incredibly simple: many companies have long developed applications that will help you competently plan your day. Moreover, such a diary does not need additional space, it easily fits in a phone, tablet, or laptop.

Also, the advantages of the electronic version can be event reminders, easy editing of files, adding multimedia information. Using such a program, the options for what can be done in the diary expand significantly: from shopping planning to business plan strategy.

What to fill in the diary?

If speak about internal content diary, that is certain rules how to navigate your glider as efficiently as possible.

The main rule of how to fill out a diary is to be honest with yourself. Of course you can plan great amount affairs, but will it be useful if you do not have time to complete even half?

Trying to enter as many points as possible, we are trying to optimize, fill the day with important things and not forget anything. But in the end, this leads to an overload of the day, the inability to distinguish really important things from routine.

If you are honest with yourself, then even after writing a list of 20-30 cases, after analyzing them, you can understand which are important and which are not. For example, going to an important meeting, you will naturally drink coffee on the way, as this is part of your daily ritual. In this case, the automatic action does not need to be reminded and simply clogs the horizon, not allowing you to focus on the most important thing (for example, preparing for this very meeting).

How to prioritize?

Always highlight the most important things. If you have just started flying a glider, you will automatically add something extra. In this case, take the extra time to point out the things that, if not done, will not affect the achievement of the final result. You must learn to understand what you need to focus on, and what things you can sacrifice.

“Remember that every minute you spend on planning saves ten minutes of your work.”

Brian Tracy

By the way, some time is also needed in order to learn to understand what things are really important. To do this, think about urgent matters, matters that can be postponed, as well as their degree of importance to you personally. To use the diary correctly, arrange the tasks in this order:

• urgent and important matters (pay bills);
• urgent unimportant things (wash the dishes);
• non-urgent important matters (write a chapter for a diploma);
• non-urgent unimportant things (think about it, is it worth doing them at all?).

By deleting a certain number of non-urgent and non-important cases, you will have free time, which you can use properly. And also, having figured out what should be the most important in the diary, there will be no confusion in the arrangement of cases.

It is better to highlight the most significant events and dates with a colored marker so as not to miss them for sure. Ideally, in order to use the diary as conveniently as possible, you should use it for different type records with different markings. For example, for memorable dates, you can use an orange marker, and for business meetings- green.

To develop the habit of keeping a diary, you must make sure to write every day. Postponing over and over again, you should understand that in this way you are postponing your dream, leaving it along with doing things for later.

If there is no desire at all, or there are thoughts that you can postpone the recording until tomorrow, just remember your goal and that by returning to your old life without planning, you certainly won’t gain anything positive.

In order not to lose particularly important information, set aside a few pages (possibly at the end of the diary) for entries that should always be at hand, or leave a bookmark in those places that are most often used.

It is much better to set fewer goals and achieve them than to take on overwork. Also, having fully completed all the tasks (even if there are few of them), you will receive greater moral satisfaction from completing the assigned tasks. Leaving even a small amount of things to do, you will go to bed with a feeling of incompleteness, which, deposited in the subconscious, will slowly undermine self-confidence.

In order not to stretch the execution of the points for the whole day, set a time frame that you will not go beyond. It is better to do fewer things with greater efficiency, thereby properly allocating time.

You can make it a rule to cross off tasks that have already been completed. This will help to see the amount of work done, and in addition, it will give pleasure from crossing out lines.

Make planning in your diary a healthy habit

At the end of the day, make a habit of reviewing what you've done, even if something doesn't work out. By taking into account all the missteps, the next time you fill out the diary, you will be able to better determine the time spent and prioritize.

“The only obstacle to the realization of our plans for tomorrow can be our today's doubts.”

Franklin Roosevelt

When distributing plans, break the diary into the first and second parts of the day. Try to do the most unpleasant and hard work immediately, without delay. In any case, having done some work, there will be a desire to take a break and postpone actions that require maximum concentration.

Be sure to take a break for yourself, do not forget about a small break after busy hours. Only by restoring your strength, the following actions will be as effective as possible.

Also don't forget to reward yourself with small nice things. For example, to go to your favorite boutique on the way from a successfully held conference, or just get an five to eat ice cream.

“Planning without action is a dream. Action without planning is a nightmare.”

Japanese proverb

Of course, you can plan all week at once, but only highly organized people who have some experience in the distribution of cases can do this. Ideally, you need to fill out the diary in the evening, highlighting this certain time. By turning filling out your personal organizer into a pleasant ritual, you will be happy to return to it again and again, thus creating a habit.

If you started a diary to reach a specific goal, break it down into days and say it every day, especially in the morning. This will improve your motivation and make your goals clearer and the path to achieving them easier and more enjoyable.

Let keeping a diary be a new hobby for you that will help you in life. And don't forget:

“Dreams are plans realized on time.”

Natalia Grace

A diary is a great tool for planning your schedule and daily activities. And you can add a lot of useful things to your diary that will help you remember the main thing, be organized in all areas of life, and most importantly, unload your head. After all, in fact, there are a lot of things that we try to remember and keep in our heads, although it would be better to write them down and free up the space of our memory 😉

Below are 33 ideas for your diary to make it even more useful.

Health and sports

1. Drinking mode. We all know that you need to drink about 1.5-2 liters of pure water during the day. And in order not to forget about some water in the #So_easy_planner diary there is such a daily tracker. It's simple: I drank a glass - painted over it. You will never forget that you need to drink water, because. it's right before your eyes, and you won't forget how much you've already drunk 😉
2. Physical exercise. You can borrow daily or according to some weekly schedule. You just need to write it in the window of daily activities and habits in your notebook. For example, note that I go to yoga on Mon, Wed and Fri. And also, for example, I run every day, we also write a run here and mark it every day. Everything is in front of your eyes, pretend that you forgot to fail 😉
3. Sports programs. If, for example, you are engaged in some kind of program, or doing a challenge, then they can also be painted on pages for writing or simply printed and pasted or attached with a paper clip to a diary. By the way, a cool site with such programs and challenges darebee.com. For example, do you want to learn how to hold the bar for 5 minutes in a month? Please!
4. Nutrition programs or challenges. For example, you pass detox program? Do you want to rid your body of sugar? etc.

family and home

Personal

Business and Technology

Children

1. Schedule of extra classes. We have two daughters. The eldest is engaged in cheerleading, drawing and English, the youngest goes to school preparation and will soon go to black too. It happens that a grandmother calls and says: I will pick up my granddaughter after training, at what time is she free? And I just have a stupor, I don’t remember right away. Of course, you can keep all these training schedules in your head, but why;). You can just write it down.
2. School timetable. If needed, of course. For example, I do not follow this 😉
3. School bell schedule. But this is a necessary thing to understand when you can call the child if suddenly something happens, and when it is not necessary.
4. Vacation schedule. It is usually said at the beginning of the school year and it is useful to write it down to plan family time, vacations, vacations.

Finance

1. Savings tracker. If you want to save up a certain amount of money for a large purchase or just for a vacation and want to see the progress visually, such a tracker will be very convenient.
2. credit tracker. Again, if there are loans and you want to visually observe how much is left until full repayment.
3. Bill payment dates. Of course, if it is necessary and important. For example, my meals in the garden are paid until the 20th of the current month, and for English and preparation for school you need to pay until the 1st. Etc.

What interesting things do you keep track of or write down in your diary? Share with us in the comments below 😉

Surely, every person who wants to increase their productivity and labor efficiency thinks about the question of how to properly keep a diary.

About the basics and key points keeping a diary, you can read in the article

And in this article we will analyze how to properly write a list of weekly tasks in your diary. After all, personal effectiveness is just the sum of such skills as skillfully compiling a list of weekly tasks.

Order in the head = Order in business

To achieve order in your head, you need to correctly make a list of tasks.

We all have tasks that require daily effort. They are not part of any project. These are activities that should be carried out on a regular basis.

For example, working with e-mail, phone calls and so on.

You also have to deal with casual meetings, events, and personal commitments. All of these items should go in a diary called "Weekly Task List".

Current tasks are most days, so it is very important to plan them and add them to your diary. However, it's important not to fall into the trap of being busy every minute of your day. Otherwise, this approach will turn your weekly list into a grueling routine that creates unnecessary stress.

How to keep a diary

To properly keep a diary - write down three types of notes in the list of weekly tasks:

• tasks in the current mode,
• tasks that require extra strength (like new habits, scheduled appointments, meetings, personal commitments)
• important tasks within your projects.

To illustrate this concept, let's look at each type of note.

No. 1. Tasks in the current mode (current affairs).

A weekly to-do list is not your typical to-do list. This is a cluster of routine tasks that require daily performance. These tasks are important to managing your professional and personal life, so it makes sense to cross them off the list as you complete them in a sort of ritual. This list forms the coming week.

Once a week, sit down and plan the next seven days (Sundays, for example). Start by scheduling time for things like:

• repetitive work tasks
• physical exercises,
• assignments,
• time with family
• housework,
• paperwork (both personal and professional),
• Email,
• phone calls
• Cooking.

What happens on this list is up to you. The key here is to set aside time each day for the current activity. It also helps in understanding how long it usually takes to complete each task. For example, processing Email can take less than an hour a day, so you can always leave enough time for current affairs.

It also helps to combine, group things, which allows you to increase the efficiency of each day. For example, every week you need to visit the grocery store, post office and hardware store. Then it makes sense to group these tasks, giving them a single period of time. Performing these tasks together allows you to carry out your current activities in the most efficient way.

Finally, there is a reason why it is necessary to start with the current activity - it shapes the entire next week. If you are like most people, you are often attacked emergencies or random tasks. Without a set schedule, you won't be able to figure out exactly what you'll be sacrificing when you say yes to someone asking for your time.

No. 2. Meetings and gatherings.

In addition to daily tasks, you also have appointments, meetings, and personal commitments.

You should consider this because your ability to complete important tasks depends on how much time you spend on other activities. It's better to know in advance that your productivity will be limited due to an earlier appointment.

In addition to the weekly to-do list, it's important to use a digital calendar that sends a reminder of an upcoming event. This will work as an additional reminder of important meetings.

Majority mobile phones are equipped with these functions, and you can also use or office software(eg Microsoft Outlook) that have a built-in calendar. You can use Google Calendar, it syncs with Gmail and is accessible through any device with Internet access.

Number 3. Tasks within the project.

The last items to include in the weekly task list are tasks from the “project task list”. This can be challenging because you want to focus on important tasks while avoiding the temptation to over-commit yourself in the next seven days.

List only those tasks that are approaching a due date or that are critical to the completion of the project.

As for the rest of the project's to-do list items, only work on them when you've completed everything else.

How to make a weekly task list

We have already discussed the three types of tasks included in the weekly tasks list. So how to keep a diary using such a list? More precisely, what does this list look like? The easiest way to explain this concept is to offer you a simple action plan.

Get started by opening the weekly page and dividing it into sections by day of the week. If you are one of those who work better in a certain part of the day (for example, in the morning), then divide each day of your activity into the morning part and the evening part. If you are actively working on weekends, be sure to include them in the list of days of the week. If the weekend is for relaxation, you can create a five-day schedule. That's a total of 10 or 14 time slots.

Now plan three types of activities: current activities, appointments and meetings, tasks from the “project task list.” Exactly when you schedule your tasks depends on your work and living space. It is important to use this list to create a simple structure for activities for the next seven days.

To illustrate, I will give you the following list of tasks for one of the days:

Monday

Before lunch:

Working with video (5).

View projects and tasks (4).

Update tasks (4).

Thinking about the next book (4).

After lunch:

Article writing (4).

Letter processing (3).

Updating projects (3).

Blog comments (3).

There are many tasks on this list. Some of these will make sense in the context of the three task types we've discussed, but others can be a bit confusing.

It's best not to clutter up your weekly to-do list with a long to-do list. It is necessary to include only mandatory tasks and current affairs that require additional effort. So as not to feel overwhelmed.

Next to each task is a small number in the range from 1 to 5.

This is an estimate of the level of energy that needs to be expended to complete this task:

(1) a very small amount of energy, and (5) a very large amount of energy.

Schedule all your important tasks for the part of the day when you are most productive.

Responsibility will help you stay focused on the important things. Try to join online with a group of people working in your field to exchange ideas or get feedback. This will help instill responsibility in you, as you will make commitments (to yourself and others) to complete something by the next meeting.

You can take Saturday off, but schedule Sunday night to finish paperwork and process new ideas. Then write a list and use it to check your current activity. This to-do list is the basis for the next seven days.

I hope this example helped demonstrate how to create a weekly to-do list.

Just remember one thing: this list should be a guideline for what needs to be done. Life can always throw surprises at us, so it's best to look at these challenges as useful tips rather than mandatory tasks.

To be honest, life is too short to torture yourself for not doing a couple of things.

Here are some tips on how to properly keep a diary. Use them and increase your productivity!