Managing My Chaotic Life - Thank the Gods for Google Calendar and Bullet Journals
In case I've scared anyone off, thank the gods is not a statement of personal belief.
With all of the chaos that is my life, school, 2 special needs kids and a baby, single parenthood, parenting with an ex husband, ADHD, and future planning, I am highly dependent on tools to help me remember and succeed.
Two key tools in my collective are my Google Calendar and my Bullet Journal.
Electronic and Paper
Calendar, Notepad and Journal
Variable and Fixed
They meet all of the above. Thank goodness. Without them, I would be completely lost. I have ADHD as well, which means my working memory and executive function are limited. (Later Post)
I need reminders for where and when I need to be places, and what I need to do when I get there.
I need visual, colorful reminders. I need timers that bing.
I also need to be able to go back and look at whats been done.
So for my Google Calendar:
It is linked on my laptop, Ipad and Phone.
I have color coded independent calendars for myself and each child.
I also have a calendar for All of the kids together, and a calendar for my school.
My ex husband shares the kid calendars, but has no access to mine.
My ex and I also have a shared calendar for personal things that may impact the other. For example, if he has an appointment that might conflict with his time with the kids, or if I have an event he needs notification of, such as when I have to travel for school.
This limits the amount I need to talk to him about scheduling. It is my responsibility to put sufficient detail (Who what where how when why) into the calendar events, and his responisilbity to check enough to know what's going on. I also put events in the calendar, such as when MadBaby said his first word ("Mama"), or when MadStyle broke her foot.
As you can see, we are a busy family, even without taking into account that MadStyle was home the Thursday and Friday because her foot hurt too much following it's break.
It also gives me a searchable record to see what's been happening, or when the next doctor's appointment or midterm is.
My Bullet Journal
Each week, I create a standardized weekly layout. In it, I have a Weekly Task List, Daily Grind Checklist, Upcomming Events List that are visible for each day. I also have a space for each day that holds my schedule and appointments, tasks, notes from that day, things such as voicemails, events or occurances the kids have done, playdates etc. I also have many more custom pages that I will go through later.
I'm not going to post a picture now, it gets pretty messy. I consider it my long term record. I hold a bullet journal for 3-4 months, a school semester or until its either full or broken. ADHD comes into play there too for me.
As we get to know eachother, I'll post my prettier pages for my bullet journal and more details. I plan on doing many posts on the fabulousness of these journals.
With all of the chaos that is my life, school, 2 special needs kids and a baby, single parenthood, parenting with an ex husband, ADHD, and future planning, I am highly dependent on tools to help me remember and succeed.
Two key tools in my collective are my Google Calendar and my Bullet Journal.
Electronic and Paper
Calendar, Notepad and Journal
Variable and Fixed
They meet all of the above. Thank goodness. Without them, I would be completely lost. I have ADHD as well, which means my working memory and executive function are limited. (Later Post)
I need reminders for where and when I need to be places, and what I need to do when I get there.
I need visual, colorful reminders. I need timers that bing.
I also need to be able to go back and look at whats been done.
So for my Google Calendar:
It is linked on my laptop, Ipad and Phone.
I have color coded independent calendars for myself and each child.
I also have a calendar for All of the kids together, and a calendar for my school.
My ex husband shares the kid calendars, but has no access to mine.
My ex and I also have a shared calendar for personal things that may impact the other. For example, if he has an appointment that might conflict with his time with the kids, or if I have an event he needs notification of, such as when I have to travel for school.
This limits the amount I need to talk to him about scheduling. It is my responsibility to put sufficient detail (Who what where how when why) into the calendar events, and his responisilbity to check enough to know what's going on. I also put events in the calendar, such as when MadBaby said his first word ("Mama"), or when MadStyle broke her foot.
As you can see, we are a busy family, even without taking into account that MadStyle was home the Thursday and Friday because her foot hurt too much following it's break.
It also gives me a searchable record to see what's been happening, or when the next doctor's appointment or midterm is.
My Bullet Journal
Each week, I create a standardized weekly layout. In it, I have a Weekly Task List, Daily Grind Checklist, Upcomming Events List that are visible for each day. I also have a space for each day that holds my schedule and appointments, tasks, notes from that day, things such as voicemails, events or occurances the kids have done, playdates etc. I also have many more custom pages that I will go through later.
I'm not going to post a picture now, it gets pretty messy. I consider it my long term record. I hold a bullet journal for 3-4 months, a school semester or until its either full or broken. ADHD comes into play there too for me.
As we get to know eachother, I'll post my prettier pages for my bullet journal and more details. I plan on doing many posts on the fabulousness of these journals.
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