How to Stay Productive and Organized (My #1 Secret!)

Today I am sharing my #1 secret for how I stay organized and productive! I have one main strategy that keeps my life organized and maximizes my productivity. This method is easy to start and completely customizable to your life and style!

From school, work, and my personal life, I have many areas of my life that I am required to juggle on a daily basis. This is certainly not an easy task to do, but in the past few months I have been able to find my rhythm that allows me to stay organized while getting more stuff done! The good news is that I only made one simple transition that has completely changed how I stay productive and organized.

Disclaimer: I need to preface this post by saying everybody is different. We all have different methods of being productive. This process to stay productive and organized has worked really well for me, but it may not for you (and that’s okay!). Even if this method isn’t for you, I hope you find some motivation in this post to find a process that works for you!

My Secret to Organization and Productivity

In September 2020, I made the transition to using the bullet journal method. While I was nervous by this switch, it has been one of the best decisions of my life! I have truly noticed an increase in my productivity and organization since starting my bullet journal!

Now you might be asking what is a bullet journal? In short, it is a method of combining things like planner, lists, schedulers, trackers etc., into a single notebook. This is a loose explanation because you can make a bullet journal into exactly what you want it to be. Instead of buying a planner or notebook with pre-made layouts, you create all of the spreads yourself in an empty notebook.

The beauty of creating all of the spreads yourself is that you are able to customize your journal to exactly what you need it to be!

How I Use My Bullet Journal

I use my bullet journal for every aspect of my life – school, work, and life. Some people like to have separate planners/notebooks for different areas of their life, but for me I prefer to have everything in one place. Having literally everything in one a single notebook makes it easy to access. Instead of having sticky notes filled with lists and ideas all over my work space, everything is easy to find because I know exactly where it is!

Another benefit to having everything in my bullet journal is that when I am planning each week, I can easily see what I need to do each week for the different areas of my life.

My Favorite Bullet Journal Spreads

I use a variety of spreads in my bullet journal for a variety of uses. Below are some of my favorites to optimize productivity and organization.

• Monthly Overview – Being able to see the entire month laid out in front of you is incredibly beneficial. I write all of my assignment due dates, content releases, and events in my monthly overview. It is so convenient seeing everything laid out for the month!
• Brain Dump – Having a page solely dedicated to writing down ideas and thoughts has done wonders for my mental state. Physically writing down ideas allows me to not stress about trying to remember them. If I have an idea for a crochet design, I quickly jot it down and then I am not constantly thinking about the design idea for fear of forgetting it.
• Monthly To-do List – This is a great place for me to write down everything I need to do that month. Then when I am planning the week, I can reference this list and add some of those tasks to the week!
• Weekly Spread – The weekly spread is my most used spread in my bullet journal. I reference this page multiple times a day! Each day of the week has its own column and I can divide up all of my tasks for the week within those days.
• Goals – At the beginning of my bullet journal, I included a spread for goals I wanted to achieve in 2021. I love looking over this list and seeing how I am doing at accomplishing my goals!

If you would like more bullet journal inspiration, check out my Pinterest board HERE.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my process to stay organized and productive! Let me know if this has helped you in the comments below or on Instagram!

xo, Grace