This year has started off as a challenging one for many in the creative community. The current uncertainties, economic, social and political, are bringing additional challenges to our working lives. I have been fining it harder to get into the swing of things, to make plans, set goals and get proactive. It is not that I am not getting organised; I am pretty good at that – but the follow-through is not following through. I am a great adopter of modern technology using an electronic diary/planner and a task list app to set goals and track progress. This should keep me on track. Yet I keep coming back to make notes, lists and plans on paper with pens; usually involving my treasured collection of coloured pens. So when attending development training courses recently where (as an aside) the use of pen and paper was championed I felt I was not be alone in this.
The first option I discovered was the BestSelf Journal which several participants mentioned as having a major impact on their life. The BestSelf Journal is planning and goals journal which includes daily reflections and self-development elements. The journal comes printed with pages to plan each day, each week with a goals and long term planning section. This does come at a cost, on the BestSelf site a journal is £25.85. which would last 13 weeks / 4 for a full year. A cheaper option would be the downloadable PDF sampler which you can obtain from the website via email. However to use this fully you would need to print out a substantial number of pages. The website also has a very useful Get Started section and blog.
The BestSelf Journal is not for me, it seems rather prescribed and ridged. Certain parts such as the gratitudes sections jar which is something some online reviewers have commented on. If you are in need of a disciplined method then this is for you: but that is exactly what my creative self is rebelling against.
This leads me to my second discover: the Bullet Journal.