Find What Works For You
Nedra Glover Tawwab from Nedra Nuggets
Find What Works For YouExploring simplified systems with resources that are already available to us
I used to be a person who thought that if I bought the best planner, my life would be better. I believed I just had to keep searching for the perfect planner, and everything in my life would fall into place. For years, a friend and I would have planner parties. We would buy stickers and cute pens and map out our year month by month. After our first party, I even designed my own planner called The Empowered Planner (there were only two editions, and it’s now out of print). I loved it, but as my life got busier, I found that I couldn’t really keep up with my planner. It no longer worked for me. Nowadays, I just use a pen and a simple notebook. In the morning, I read something light and nourishing, like poetry or a book with really short chapters. Then I sit there with my notebook and jot down any thoughts that come into my head. That list has things like:
One day as I was sitting there, I started planning holiday activities. I went holiday by holiday, creating lists of what I wanted to do. These lists are something like a planner, but they’re more free-spirited. I do jot down what I need to do that day, but also other random thoughts as well. It’s a simple practice without any bells and whistles, but I have liked getting back to the basics. I now use my Google Calendar to capture all of my dates and appointments instead of putting that stuff in a planner. Between that and my notebook, life feels easier because I have everything in a place that is portable and multi-purpose. This may not work for everyone, and there will likely be a time in my life when I get back to using my Passion Planner (shout-out to them, I love their planners), but for now I’m using what I have, and it works for me. The point of this is, sometimes we think we need a fancy gadget to get something done, when there’s something really basic we already own that will get the job done.
Adulthood can be so busy, and we can get caught up trying to experiment with new systems and tools in the name of optimizing our lives. Sometimes that’s ok, but sometimes we’re just overwhelming ourselves. There will always be something new. We need to lean into what is already working for us and not buy into the concept that we should always be striving for something better. Journal Prompt
A Few Things That Caught My Attention This Week
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