Productive Pixie: 2021

Are you ready to improve your life? I'm sure you are, and with the new year coming up fast, now is the time to prepare to do it! Sometimes, you know that you want to improve your life, but you don't know how to do it. Today, I'm going to share with you five simple rules to follow this year for amazing results in your life!

5 Life Rules to Follow this Year for Amazing Results

Side Note - This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you buy something from one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. For more information, you can read my privacy policy. Thank you for supporting my blog. :)

Updated for 2024

If you are just barely getting into personal development information, and you aren't doing any of the suggestions on the list already, then it will probably be hard to start all ten of these suggestions at once. I recommend trying out one or two at a time, and seeing which ones help improve your life.

In my bullet journal, I created a "Life Lessons + Rules" layout, and on this layout, I write down the rules that I have set for myself in my own life. One of my favorites is "class over crass". It's short and easy to remember! I recommend making or finding some of these sayings for yourself. They will help you remember what you are working towards.

Today, I wanted to share some of the life rules I wrote on my list this year with you, and a few others that I follow!

If you want, as you read this post, you can create your own "Life Lessons + Rules" bullet journal layout to write down the life rules you like!

5 Life Rules to Follow This Year for Amazing Results

1. Accept That Changes Will Happen

Just look what happened with the pandemic! Many of us had to go into quarantine, and I'm sure that the people who accepted that change happens and were prepared for it, adjusted easier than the people who were not prepared at all.

In 2020, I only completed 12/21 of my goals. That is probably because I lost sight of my goals when the pandemic hit.

Now this doesn't mean that you need to rack your brain for every worst possible case scenario, and then prepare for it, but it does mean that you should accept that things aren't always going to work your way, and you should be prepared for setbacks.

There will be setbacks. There will be problems. There might even be roadblocks!

When you accept that changes to your plans will happen, you will be better equipped, and more prepared to handle the challenges, even if you are only more prepared mentally.

Here are a few ways that you can accept changes will happen...

Work on changing your mindset
When something isn't working, and you've tried a few times, change your methods of reaching that outcome
Use daily affirmations like "I can figure out anything that life throws at me"
Work on having a positive attitude even when things go wrong
Look for solutions to the problem, instead of dwelling on the problem itself

2. Make Your Health a Priority

I've always been someone who has exercised regularly, and mostly that is because I take classes. When the pandemic hit, I had to stop taking those classes. This meant that my exercise regime wasn't automatically built into my weekly schedule.

After a week or two of doing barely any exercise, I created my own workout schedule that I stick to even though I am able to go back to classes in-person again. I found out that I love running, and I was able to run a half-marathon using just an app, hard work, and my own motivation!

Recommended Post - How to Find Time to Exercise More + Stay Motivated

When you make your health a priority, you are making yourself a priority! If you haven't made yourself a priority in the past, or you feel like you never have enough time for yourself, then you should make your health a priority.

But being healthy isn't just about exercise. It's very important to eat healthily too, which is something I am going to tackle this year. I already eat pretty healthily, but I can do better.

Side Note - Don't forget your mental health is important too!

Here are a few ways you can make your health a priority...

Read books on health
Cut out eating junk food
Create and stick to a workout schedule
Hire a personal trainer
Level up your workout gear if it will make you more motivated

3. Save Part of Everything You Earn (Invest in Yourself)

Finances. Finances. Finances. Money is necessary, but a lot of times it seems like you can never have enough. Here is my challenge to you for this year: invest in yourself. Yes, you need to invest in yourself, and your future.

This means saving part of everything you earn and setting it aside for yourself. Trust me, you'll thank yourself later!

The best way in my opinion to do this is to save a certain percentage out of every paycheck. Do this first before you start paying off everything else, and buying who knows what. It might be just 20%, but that is still $200 dollars saved out of every $1000.

Plus, if you have any problems with overspending or maybe a shopping addiction, this will help you because you just won't have the money to spend!

Here are a few ways you can save part of everything you earn...

When you get your paycheck, immediately take out the percentage you are saving
When calculating your budget for the month, take out the amount you are paying to yourself, and pretend like you earn less
Set a budget every month, and stick to it
Only go shopping when you actually need something and don't go shopping just to window shop

4. What You do Daily is Who You Will Become

So many people don't realize that the tiny habits they are doing daily, are shaping who they are becoming. If you come home every night and watch a TV show, then you are going to become a TV watcher.

If you scroll on social media a lot, you probably aren't going to become an influencer (sorry!) 😂, but you will be someone who passively watches other people live their lives. If you waste a lot of time daily, then you will be a time-waster.

You become what you do every day so do what you want to become. If you want to be a writer, then write every day and you will be a writer. If you want to be a dancer, then dance every day. I've heard that it takes 10,000 hours to get good at something, so if you want to master a skill, now is the time to start!

Pay attention to what good habits you are working on creating, and what bad habits you need to eliminate from your day-to-day life.

I've written quite a few articles on this topic, so if you are interested in learning more, you can read the articles below.

Here are a few ways you can work on who you are becoming...

Create a daily routine
Create a morning and night routine
Identify and eliminate your bad habits
Identify who you want to become and then pick daily habits that will help you become that person

5. Always Remember Class Over Crass

As I mentioned above, this is one of my favorite sayings that I wrote down in my bullet journal this year. If you want to elevate your life, then you should elevate who you are as a person, and one way to do that is to be a classier person.

That might sound a little daunting, but I wrote a post about 10 steps you can use to become a classier girl. No, you don't need more money to become classier! Here are the key takeaways from that post, but if you are interested in this subject, I highly recommend reading the entire post.

Watch your posture and how you walk
Watch your language
Cultivate refined tastes
Have a well-put-together wardrobe
Always be learning and be up-to-date
Have interests and at least be passionate about one thing
Always mind your manners
Be punctual and organized
Don't overdo it
Know your worth

The list above is a good start, but below I have a few tips to help you get started. Here are a few ways you can always remember class over crass...

Think twice or even thrice about saying something you will regret later
Surround yourself with classy people whom you admire
Watch and consume entertainment with classy people, and then use those people as role models
If you mess up, just keep trying

5 Life Rules to Follow This Year for Amazing Results

Now, before you dismiss all of the tips in this article, and click on a new article, I want you to think about how your life would change if you actually followed the advice in this article.

If you actually started out the year with a blank slate, and nothing to hold you back from where you want to end up. If you actually made your health a priority. If you actually paid off all of your debt. If you actually created a daily routine that you love... you probably see where I'm going with this.

So many people read tons of personal development articles, and books, and then they never follow any of the advice!

Decide which one of these life rules you are going to follow this year right now. Don't put it off, or you'll probably never pick one.

Accept that change will happen
Make your health a priority
Save part of everything you earn
What you do daily is who you will become
Always remember class over crass

Make sure you come back in two weeks to read the next article I post because I have five more life rules to share with you that are just as important as these ones! I just didn't want to make this article more than 3000 words so I am cutting it into two posts.

If you liked this post, you should definitely check out the other posts linked below!

Thank you so much for supporting my website by reading this article! I hope you have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holiday, and a wonderful New Year! Talk to all of you next year!

Share this post to help other people improve their lives. Thank you! :)

December 18, 2021 No comments

The new year is right around the corner, and with that comes a new start, a fresh start. Tons of people set new year's resolutions around this time (probably you too), but few people actually achieve the new year's resolutions they set. What makes you different from the majority of people that set goals?

How to Set New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Achieve

Updated for 2024

Think about this for a second... so many people set goals, but a lot of them fail to reach their goals. This means, if you actually want to succeed and reach your goals, you need to do what people aren't doing. Sure, you can set goals just like everyone else, but you need to take a different approach to reaching your goals than the crowd.

A few moments ago, it occurred to me that I have been writing about goal setting, productivity, and personal development for quite a while now, but I've never actually written a post on how to effectively set new year's resolutions.

I decided that it is time to change that so today, I've put together these tips you can use to create your new year's resolutions!

How to Set New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Achieve

1. Review Your Goals From Last Year

First things first. How did you do on your goals last year? I start every year by going over how my goals (and my life in general) went the year before.

If you didn't reach any of your goals, last year, then this year you should take a different approach to reach your goals. If you didn't even set any goals... then I'm happy you are reading this article! I hope you will set some goals this year!

Rate how each of your goals went on a scale of 1-10 or use another rating system so you can get an overall feel for how you did. Keep in mind what went on throughout the year, and don't beat yourself up, if you did not do very well.

In 2020, I only completed 12/21 of my goals, but I'm okay with that because there was (and still is) a pandemic going on! This year, I am doing much better on my goals!

In a few weeks, I am going to write a full post on how you can do an end of year review, but until then, you can read My 2021 Bullet Journal Setup Part 1 to see a picture of my 2020 year in review, and a broad overview of how I do a year in review.

2. Plan Earlier

Did you already start planning for your new year's goals? I sure did!

I started thinking about my goals for the new year a month or two ago because we are in quarter four of this year.

Have all of your goals written down before the new year hits, and have a detailed plan for each goal. You need to have as much time as possible to reach your new year's resolutions!

If you plan ahead, you will be more prepared to reach your goals, once the new year hits, and you may even have enough time to get a head start on your goals. This is especially helpful if you want to try and create habits in the new year, which leads me to my next tip.

2. Do a Trial Run of Your Goals + Habits

You might set a goal to wake up at 5:30 every day, but if you always sleep in until 9:00, how on earth are you going to miraculously start waking up at 5:30 every single day?

Or you could set a goal to read one book every week, but the first week of the year you realize that is just too much work.

You want to make sure that you aren't overloading yourself with new goals and habits. Plus, you want to give yourself some room for error.

You don't have to start your new habits and goals on December 1st, but I would recommend trying out your new habits for at least two days in a row to make sure that they are realistic and manageable.

3. Create Habits Versus Daily Tasks

"This year, I'm going to exercise for 60 minutes every single day." Then you end up exercising daily for exactly a week and a half. During the second week, you miss a day because you aren't feeling great. "Oh well, that goal fell out the window. There is always next year, right?"

We have all heard of this, and we may be guilty of doing this ourselves. Don't set yourself up for failure!

Instead, set of setting a goal to do something every day, set a goal of turning that behavior/task into a habit. This way, you can still miss doing that behavior/task every once in a while, without failing on your goal.

You never know what might happen, so you should leave room in your plans for the unexpected to happen, and then it won't throw you off track.

4. Identify Your Why for Each Goal

A week or two ago, I was looking at my goals to check my progress, and I realized that the goals I am probably not going to complete this year are the goals that I have little to no motivation to complete.

This year, I am planning on making a list of the reasons why I am trying to reach each of my goals. This will not only allow me to discover if I actually want to reach a goal, but it will also remind me why I am trying to reach a goal when I am lacking motivation.

Knowing the why behind each of your goals is very important!

5. Set Positive Goals that are Life-Changing

Does this tip sound a little weird? Yeah, I'd think so too! Let me explain.

Say you have a goal to lose 15 pounds. What happens after you reach that goal? Is that just the end? I'd say that this is a negative goal because it doesn't actually help you change as a person. It doesn't make your life any better because after you hit your goal there is no lasting change to your lifestyle.

You could be exercising ten hours a week, and you might still not hit that goal, even though you put in all of the effort to reach the goal.

Instead, in my opinion, it is better to create a positive goal that will help you create a better lifestyle. Such as eating healthier or creating an exercise routine. These goals would have to be more specific though, of course!

Think about it like this. If you train for and then run a marathon, are you just going to stop there or are you going to continue running afterward? Most people would probably continue running afterward because they like to run.

You want to set goals that will benefit your life going forward. Going back to the goal of losing 15 pounds, you might lose the 15 pounds, and then afterward go back to your old ways of eating, and exercising. You might gain the 15 pounds right back again!

That is not a life-changing goal, and ultimately it did not do anything for you. Let's stay away from goals like that!

7. Look at the Bigger Picture

When setting your goals for the year, you should refer to your life goals, a vision board, a bucket list, or even your 5 or 10-year goals.

This will help you set goals that are in tune with your long-term goals, and will ultimately help you create the life you want!

Don't just focus on the year ahead, look at what you did last year, and what you want your life to look like in the years coming up. Where do you see yourself in five years? Where do you see yourself in ten years?

The goals you set this year should help you reach the goals you want to achieve in the future.

8. Have a Plan

Of course, I couldn't do a post about setting new year's resolutions without mentioning the most important step! You NEED to have a plan!

I modify my plan basically every year because I want to try new methods to see what's best. You can check out my goal planning for 2021 and 2020 below.

How I'm goal setting for 2021 will be posted on my blog probably a week or two after Christmas! I'm super excited about this post because I have some new ideas I want to try out for the next year!

For most of my goals, I try to break them up into twelve parts, and then I do one part each month.

Every so often, you should also do a check-in on your goals to see if you are on track to reach your goals.

9. Modify Your Goals Over the Year + Change Them if Needed

For 2021, I set a goal to practice for a test I had to take five times a week until I took the actual test. At the beginning of the year, I realized that doing five shorter practice tests every week takes up a good deal of time. I was starting to lose motivation to work on that goal. Then, I learned that I did not even need to do the test.

Instead of counting it as a failed goal, I switched the goal to one that I can actually (hopefully) achieve!

If you realize that you have a goal on your list of new year's resolutions, that you no longer want to/need to/have the motivation to reach, then change your goal! There is no reason to reach a goal that you don't really want to complete.

January 1st is just a day. Nothing more than that. If you mess up on one of your goals, it is okay because there is still tomorrow and next year.

I set 22 goals at the start of the year, knowing that I probably wouldn't complete all of them. I'm on track to complete around 19 of them. Life changes. Your goals change. Your priorities change.

Set the goals you want at the beginning of the year, but know that your priorities might change during the year.

10. Read Your Goals Daily

Lastly, you should have all of your goals listed somewhere where you can read them daily. If you don't want to have to read your goals daily, try to read them at least every once in a while. I have all of my goals written in my bullet journal, so when I'm flipping through it, I can read all of my goals.

You might want to put yours up on your mirror, your fridge, or framed above your desk. The more you see your goals, the more you will be reminded to work towards them, and the more achievable they will be.

If you want, you could even have your goals for the year listed as already being completed. Then you could use your list of goals as affirmations you say daily.

How to Set New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Achieve

Good luck with your goals this year! I hope these tips help you set goals that you will achieve! Setting and reaching goals is a lot of hard work, but it is worth it. Even if you didn't reach your goals in past years, you can still reach your goals this year!

If you liked this post, you should read these ones too...

I hope you have a productive week and a wonderful new year!

Share this post with your friends! Thanks. :)

December 11, 2021 No comments

Habit trackers. One of the best parts of using the bullet journal system, right? Well, that is if you can stick to the tracker long enough to make the habit stick. Sometimes, bullet journal trackers and collections can be super hard to stick to. When you make the layout, you are really excited to use it, but then somehow your motivation wears off, and the page ends up unused, and the habit is never mastered. Today is the day to change that!

How to Keep Up With Your Bullet Journal Trackers + Collections

Updated for 2024

I've been bullet journaling for a while now (I started in 2018 to be exact), and one aspect of the system that I have struggled with and many other people have struggled with is... keeping up with habit trackers.

I'm sure we can agree that making habits are hard, but it's even harder when you can't seem to keep up with the tracker that is supposed to be helping you make your habit.

If you have been struggling to form habits, you may want to read the following articles because there are many other ways to create habits besides using a habit tracker.

Like I said before, I started bullet journaling in 2018 so I've made a lot of habit trackers, and collection layouts, and I've learned a thing or two about how to keep up with habit trackers and collections that I want to share with you. Let's get right into the tips!

How to Keep Up With Your Bullet Journal Trackers + Collections

1. Make a Habit of Using Your Bullet Journal

Let's start with the easiest tip for keeping up with your trackers and collection layouts. You need to use your bullet journal on a regular basis!

When I was having trouble using my bullet journal on a daily basis, I made using my bullet journal one of the habits I was tracking, so I could see just how often I opened up my bullet journal. If you love filling in the squares on your habit tracker, then this might be the push you need to get your other habits done! Of course, this isn't going to help you, if you never use your bullet journal at all.

Recommended Post - How to Easily Stick to Using Your Bullet Journal Right Away

Here are a few quick tips to get into the habit of using your bullet journal. If you want more, you can read the post linked above.

Incorporate bullet journaling into your daily routine.
Keep your bullet journal in an easily accessible location.
Carry your bullet journal around with you.
Add an alarm to your phone to remind yourself to use your bullet journal.
Don't force yourself to use your bullet journal.

2. Use Tabs

Okay, so now you've set up your bullet journal, and you have a TON of collections and trackers. Now what?

Go through and put tabs on the pages that you want to use regularly. Ideally, you would only put tabs on the pages that you use on a daily or almost daily basis. If you add tabs on almost all of your pages, it's not going to be much help to you, so be very selective about which pages you add tabs to.

I add pages on the trackers that I use daily, like my gratitude layout, and my mood tracker. These are layouts that I use almost daily for the entire year.

3. Use a Monthly or Weekly Bullet Journal Catch-Up

What about the bullet journal layouts that you don't use on a daily basis? It can be hard to keep up with all of the trackers and collections in your bullet journal, so what I recommend doing is a regular bullet journal catch-up.

It could be weekly, monthly, or every couple of days. Whatever works best for you!

Schedule around fifteen to thirty minutes into your day for catching up on your bullet journal. When you do a bullet journal catch-up, I want you to flip through every page in your bullet journal, and check to see if it is up-to-date.

There is a catch though... if a layout didn't work for you, or if you no longer need the information on that layout, then don't bother to fill it out. Just leave the layout blank!

Yes, it might take a long time if you have filled up your entire bullet journal, but it is the easiest way to make sure you don't forget about something in your bullet journal.

4. Accept That You Won't Use All of Your Trackers + Collections

I have some almost empty pages in my bullet journal. Yep, you heard that right! Even though I'm a bullet journal ~~expert~~ blogger, I don't have a perfect bullet journal. Sometimes, I make a layout, and then I try it out, and it just doesn't work. Or maybe, I just hate how it looks. 😂 Either one and the layout ends up being blank and unused.

That's perfectly fine. If you find that a tracker or collection layout is of no use to you, then don't try and force yourself to use it.

Going along with that, you might decide that you don't even want to create the habit you are trying to create. Sometimes, it's not the layout, it's the habit itself.

If you are trying to fill in all of your trackers, just for the sake of filling them in, then you are probably using the bullet journal system for the wrong reasons.

5. Keep the Layout as Simple as Possible

You knew this tip was going to be on the list, right? I know, this tip is in pretty much every blog post that is offering advice for bullet journaling. It works though! I know from experience because when I started bullet journaling, I didn't follow this advice, and I stopped using my bullet journal after just three months.

Recommended Post - Why I Stopped Using a Bullet Journal

Luckily, I figured out what I was doing wrong, and I tried bullet journaling again. If I hadn't, I probably would not be writing this post right now and I would not be sharing this information with you!

When I first started bullet journaling, I was tracking "all the things", including things I didn't need to track, and it didn't help me. When I started using a bullet journal as a tool to become a better person, instead of just copying everything I saw online, my bullet journal started working for me.

Keep your habit trackers as simple as possible, especially when you begin because you don't want it to be a lot of work every day.

Also, try and use as few colors as possible, when you are color-coding, or else it will get complicated, and you will have to pull out sooo many pens every time you fill in that tracker. Not ideal at all!

6. Try a New Layout

Maybe it's not the habit. Maybe it's the habit tracker. If you are having trouble creating a habit, then maybe you need to try out a different layout. Okay, that's a lot of "maybes". Let me illustrate this with an example.

If you are trying to go to bed earlier, then you might track certain sleep statistics: when you go to bed, when you wake up, and how many hours you slept for. If you track all of this, it might be too much work, so instead, you could try just noting what time you go to bed at.

After you have the habit of noting what time you go to bed, you can add in what time you wake up, and then how many hours you slept.

There is no shame in leaving a layout partially blank if it is not working for you. That doesn't mean that you failed or that you just can't create a certain habit. Just switch up how you are trying to create the habit and then try again!

While we are on this topic, it is also a good idea to switch up your layout designs every once in a while, so you don't get bored and lose motivation to use your bullet journal. It doesn't have to be a totally new design. You could just change the colors, add some stickers, or go black and white for a month.

7. Find the Right Time to Fill in the Tracker

This is one of the most important parts in the equation of keeping up with your bullet journal trackers and collections.

I find it most helpful to fill in trackers and collections right before I go to bed. If you wait to fill in all of your trackers in the morning, then you will probably forget something, especially if you are tracking the habit for a long time. The days start to blend together!

Some trackers, you may want to fill in right after you do the task if you have to remember complicated information for it. When I was tracking my time, I checked my bullet journal almost every hour.

It's easier to tie a new habit into an already existing habit, so you might want to check your bullet journal right after every meal. You won't forget about using your bullet journal unless you forget to eat! 😂

8. Don't Expect Perfection

When I am tracking something in my bullet journal, such as time spent online, I don't expect it to be perfect down to the minute. Sometimes, I forget to turn a timer on, when I turn on my laptop. Sometimes, I use my phone for just a few minutes, and I don't write it down.

The trackers in your bullet journal are just a tool. It helps give you the bigger picture of how you spend your life. Don't bother to obsess over the details of whether you went to bed at 9:07 or 9:10. Looking from a different perspective, it doesn't hurt to be off by three minutes.

You might forget to use your bullet journal some days, and that is okay. Estimating is very helpful for filling out trackers and collections, especially when it relates to time.

If you don't feel like estimating though, it is okay to leave a spot blank. Sometimes, you might not want to use your bullet journal because of all of the work you know you need to do on a tracker. Instead of trying to play catch up, you can just start over anew and pretend like the blank spot isn't there.

9. Have All of Your Trackers in One Place

If you are still having trouble with keeping up with all of your bullet journal trackers and collections, then it is time to look at the setup of your actual bullet journal.

Are all of the habits you are trying to track on one page or on multiple pages? Are your collection layouts located next to each other or are they sprinkled in between all of your other layouts?

If you are having trouble finding your bullet journal trackers and collections in the sea of all your other layouts, then I would recommend putting all of your trackers and collections in the back of your bullet journal.

Make all of your bullet journal trackers and collections easy to use and easy to find and you will be more likely to use them.

10. Make a Bullet Journal Routine

For this tip, you can add a new layout to your bullet journal. I know what you are thinking.

"What?!? Another bullet journal layout, when I can hardly keep up with all of the other trackers and collections I have in my bullet journal!"

Before you give up on this article and click on a new article, that might have better tips than this one, let me at least tell you how this works.

Flip through your journal, and get the page number and title of every tracker that you want to use on a daily basis. Now, make a new index in your bullet journal and write down these layouts and the page number.

You can add other layouts that you want to look at on a weekly, monthly basis, etc. You may want to add a tab to this layout!

How to Keep Up With Your Bullet Journal Trackers + Collections

Keeping up with your bullet journal trackers and collections layouts is going to take some time, but don't give up and your effort will pay off.

I'm on my fourth bullet journal, and this is the first year, where I've been able to consistently use different trackers for months in a row. I'm going to complete my whole 365 days of gratitude tracker this year!

If you liked this post, you can read these ones too!

Best of luck with your bullet journal! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Please share this post to help others reach their bullet journal goals!

December 04, 2021 No comments

You know the feeling when your life seems to keep going faster and faster, and not to mention your to-do list is getting longer and longer? Plus, you keep doing the same old tasks every. single. day. and you never seem to make any headway. It's time to figure out what you are doing with your time so you can get your life back! Use these five bullet journal time trackers to figure out just what you are doing every day!

5 Simple Time Trackers to Get Your Life Back

Updated for 2024

Continuing on in my time-management series, today, I wanted to share with you five different types of time trackers you can test out in your bullet journal to figure out where your life is going.

If you haven't read any of the articles in this series, you may want to read the articles below as well, but it is not necessary.

Your bullet journal can be an awesome tool, and for time-tracking, it is no different. By the way, if you have no idea what bullet journaling is, or you haven't taken the leap to start your bullet journal yet, you can read Bullet Journaling: What is It? to get started.

At the end of this post, I'll share some tips, for keeping up with time trackers, so make sure you stay until the end (or just scroll to the end right now).

I've gained a lot of insight into my day and how I spend my time using these five time-trackers, and you can too! Let's get right into this post!

5 Simple Time Trackers to Get Your Life Back

1. Time Log

First up, is a simple time log. This bullet journal time log is my first attempt at time management, and probably the most in-depth.

I got the idea for doing a time log like this from the book I Know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam.

For privacy reasons, I blurred out most of my time log, but I left a little bit blank at the top so you can see that I only wrote a few words every hour.

I did my time log in hour chunks, but if you want a more in-depth look at your week, you may choose to do thirty-minute chunks or even fifteen-minute chunks. This will be a lot more work though, and harder to keep up with!

I already wrote a whole post about my experience using this time log, and how you can set up one yourself, so if you are interested in trying out this method of time management, then you can read the article linked above.

2. Ideal Versus Real Time Calculator

Sometimes, you know that you want more free time, but your schedule already seems crazy busy, and you don't think you can cut anything out.

That is where this bullet journal layout fits in.

You'll already need data from a time log, so you can either use the one above, or you can create your own version.

As you can see, I made one column for my ideal life, and then one column for my real life. Then I used the data I collected from the week before (the time log above) to create this bullet journal layout.

To make this layout, you need to divide your life into categories. Below are the ones I used.

sleep
exercise
family + friends
blogging
school + studying
eating
church
chores
hobbies
other
total

Then, I wrote down the ideal number of hours I would like to spend on a certain area of my life each week. Please note that some things on this list overlap, such as "family and friends". I frequently exercise, eat, do chores, and spend "hobby" time with people. The "family and friends" section only covers the time that did not fit in any other category such as playing a game or watching a movie.

At the bottom, there is a "total" section so you can see how accurate your time log was, and how much time you missed tracking. Apparently, I missed tracking 16 hours of my life! 😂

3. Color Block Time Tracker

I knew that keeping a detailed time log each week would consume more time than it was worth. For the next month or so, I endeavored to keep a color-blocked time tracker, so I could keep myself accountable, but not have to be so strict.

This method worked fairly well, and it got me to use my bullet journal more throughout the day. It didn't work so well when I didn't use my bullet journal because then I had to guess. Yikes!

I work on my business almost every day, but as you can see in the photo above, I missed tracking how much time I spent on my business for over a week. (Time spent on my business is the dark pink on this layout)

To use a layout like this, all you have to do is...

Decide what areas of your life you want to track and pick a color for each one.
Make a color code.
Make a graph with the days on one side, and the time on the other side.
Fill it in every day!

This layout is obviously not as accurate as the time log, but it will give you a broad picture of what your day looks like. Plus, I can see that I have more free time than I thought I did!

4. Bar Graph Time Tracker

After using the layouts above, I decided that I wanted to track how many hours I was doing certain tasks. I was sleeping around the same amount each day, so I didn't want to track that time anymore.

I wanted to be entirely transparent with this layout, and show you that I only used it for one week. It didn't work for me. Maybe it will work for you, but it didn't work for me, and here is why.

I would lose track of what time I had already added to the bar. At the end of every day, I would put a black line through the column so I could see how much time I spent on each activity throughout the day.

This layout looks pretty, but it was definitely hard to use!

If you want to try out using this layout, here is what I recommend. Write down the minutes of how much time you spent on an activity you want to track, and then transfer it to this layout in a bar format. You could add a box at the top of this layout with that information.

5. Time Tracker on a Weekly Layout

If you have read some of my posts about planning in my bullet journal, then you will know that I am a fan of making very minimalist weekly layouts. On a whim, I decided that I wanted to start tracking how much time I spent using technology.

While using all of the other time-trackers, I realized that I really want to spend less time on technology. It's kind of embarrassing, but as you can see, the first day I tracked my technology usage, I spent more than 8 hours online!

In my defense, I exercise for three hours on weekdays, and I use my phone for running, and my laptop for dance or HIIT most days. I also spent two hours chatting with my family online.

This layout works pretty simply, and it fixes the problems I had with the previous layout. For one thing, I only tracked technology usage, instead of multiple things, so that made it a lot easier!

To use this layout, all you need to do is...

Mark the rows with the days of the week.
Write down how many minutes you did the activity you are tracking daily. (It works best if you write down the time you did the activity right after you do it)
At the end of the day, add up how much time you spent on the activity, and then make a bar chart if you want a visual.

Out of all of these time trackers, this has been one of the most helpful layouts to me! I made a whole layout for tracking my time on technology, but I'll be showing that to you in a future post because I'm going to write a whole post on how you can cut down on the amount of technology you are using... after I cut down on the amount of technology I'm using! Haha.

5 Simple Time Trackers to Get Your Life Back

Time is something you can't get back, so make sure you are using your time wisely! As I sit here finishing up this post on Thanksgiving morning at 7:33 in the morning, I've just realized that I've spent almost an hour and a half writing. You know what?

For me, that is time well spent because I love writing!

Here are a few quick tips on what you can do to keep up with your time trackers.

Check your bullet journal multiple times a day.
Keep your layouts as simple as possible.
Don't track things that are unnecessary.
Switch up how you track your time, so you don't get bored.
If it's not working for you, it's not working for you so try a different layout.
Whenever you do the activity, turn on a timer (I use the stopwatch on my watch)
Don't waste time on your time-tracker. Remember it's just a productivity tool, and it shouldn't take up more time than it is worth!

Using these time trackers, you can become more aware of how you spend your time, and then you can cut out your time-wasting bad habits!

If you liked this post, you should read these ones too!

I hope reading this article was worth your time! Have a productive week!

Save this post so you can try out each time tracker!

November 27, 2021 No comments

How would you like to get an extra hour in your day? Well... sorry I can't give you an extra hour in your day. But I can help you figure out what tasks you should remove from your life to get back the hours in your day so you can live the productive, wonderful life you have always wanted to! Stop wasting your life on these 11 time-consuming tasks right now!

Stop Wasting Your Life on These 11 Time-Consuming Tasks

Updated for 2024

A while ago, I wrote an article on how I figured out where all of my time went. You can use this same method to figure out where all of your time goes too. This strategy gave me great insight into how I spend my time so if you haven't read that article, I would recommend reading it before you read this one.

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about time management. Somehow, at the end of the day, I always end up feeling like there wasn't enough time in the day to get everything done. I'm sure you know what this is like!

You wake up early in the morning, you work out, eat a healthy breakfast, cross items off your to-do list all day with a few healthy breaks, and you still don't finish your to-do list. You can't add an extra hour to your day, so something has to go.

I know that I spend a lot of time using technology, so I'm working on cutting that time down, and I'm planning on writing a whole post on how I'm doing that. You might already have an idea of what you spend a lot of time on, but here are a few other time-wasters that might be sneaking into your day!

Let's get right into the things that you can remove from your life to create extra free time!

Stop Wasting Your Life on These Time-Consuming Tasks

1. Duplicates

This is a big one for me, and it probably is for you too, even if you don't think it is! How many times a day do you check your email or social media?

You probably are just checking to make sure you don't miss anything, but how often do you actually get an email that you need to respond to ASAP? And.. how many times, do you just waste time looking at other things, when you open that app to check?

The best way to cut down on checking is to turn off the notifications for emails and social media, and then just check once per day (or less if you can!).

Batch any task you can, and it will seem like you have less to do every week!

A duplicate in your life, may not seem like a duplicate. For example, I enjoy reading the news almost daily (I'm cutting down on this!) so I can stay informed. That seems like a good thing, right?

Well, the thing is I also receive a weekly newspaper that I read every week too. This is a duplicate. I've realized that I enjoy reading the newspaper I receive to my house more than I enjoy reading the news online, and when I read the news online I get sucked into spending more time online than is ideal.

Identify duplicates in your life and then cut down on them!

2. Obsessing About the Past or the Future

Do you really want to spend your life obsessing and being stressed about what is to come, and feeling regret over your past mistakes?

Nope! That doesn't sound like a fun life.

You should plan ahead. "Wait... didn't you just say to not obsess about the future?"

Yes, I did! Planning ahead will help you not be stressed about the future because you will have clear guidelines about what you are going to do. You don't have to be afraid about things you already know.

Your past does not define who you are. You define who you are. Yes, experiences shape who you are, but ultimately, you get to decide what your life will be like, so make it one that you are proud of!

3. Procrastination

Did you procrastinate today? Not going to lie, I procrastinated yesterday!

You probably procrastinate without even realizing it. Yesterday, when my alarm went off, I got out of bed, I turned it off... and then (surprise! surprise!) I went back to bed.

Technically, I didn't have an early morning class, so I didn't need to wake up at 5:30, but I still could have gotten a head start to my day.

Procrastination is a SUPER hard habit to break, so if you have the bad habit of procrastinating, don't be hard on yourself. The number one thing you can do is to recognize why you are procrastinating, and then remove that roadblock.

You can stop the habit of always procrastinating, but it will take some time!

Just one more note about procrastination: Everyone procrastinates sometimes, just on different things. You can't entirely remove procrastination from your life, but you can cut back on how much time you spend procrastinating.

4. Other Peoples' Priorities

This is YOUR life. No, I don't mean to sound selfish or self-centered, but you can't be a people-pleaser all of the time. Everything shouldn't be centered around you, but you shouldn't be always putting other peoples' priorities above your own.

When you give service to other people you benefit because when you do something kind for someone else, it makes you feel good, and it makes you a better person!

With that being said, you should decide who is most important to you in your life, and then you should prioritize those people over everyone else.

Make the decision to put yourself first every once in a while though so you can achieve your goals!

5. Things You Don't Actually Need to Do

Priorities. Priorities. Priorities. This point is very similar to the one above, but this one is about having your own priorities straight.

When you are about to do something you don't necessarily need to do, ask yourself why you are doing it.

Does doing this task bring you happiness? Joy? Are you just avoiding doing another task?

Binge-watching a TV show may be enjoyable in the moment, but it rarely is afterward, when you think of everything else you could've done.

If you are reading a personal development book because you want to be a better person, but the book isn't interesting and you are struggling to get through it, you can just read a different book. You don't need to read the boring book!

Sometimes, after you set a goal, you may feel like you can't change it, and that it is set in stone. This is not true! If a goal isn't working for you, then you should change it. It's time-consuming to work on a goal that you don't even want to achieve.

6. Getting Distracted

Distractions are everywhere! At this moment, I am thinking of opening up a new tab on my computer so I can work on a new blogging project... but I told myself that I would finish writing this article first so that is what I am endeavoring to do.

Do whatever you can to remove distractions from your life so you can more clearly focus on what really matters to you.

At the end of your life, it isn't going to matter to you what is happening in the news, how many likes you got on social media, or how many new emails you have. Why then, does all of this matter to you right now?

7. Indecision

Indecision is simply another form of procrastination. The best way to get rid of indecision is to decide in advance so you don't have to decide when it really matters. It's probably pretty obvious (since I blog about bullet journaling), but I love to plan in advance! 😂

I plan out my goals for the year, I plan what I'm going to wear, I plan out my weeks, and I even plan out my plans.

Recommended Post - Never Wear the Same Outfit Twice With This Free Formula

When I plan ahead, I'm not caught up in second-guessing my decisions because I already decided. Everything I have planned ahead, I don't have to think about getting done.

8. "Multi-Tasking"

Ah, one of the best ways to be more productive, right? Wrong! Okay, well partially wrong. It depends if you are doing real multi-tasking or fake multi-tasking. If you are trying to do two tasks at once, that both require your brain, then you are not multi-tasking.

You are switching between tasks, and so it will probably take you longer to finish because each time you switch tasks you have to refocus.

Recommended Post - Secret Sneaky Ways You Can Actually Multi-Task

I have a whole article written on multi-tasking, so if you want to dive deeper into how you can actually multi-task, then I suggest reading the article above.

9. Not Taking Breaks

Whether you like it or not, you are going to take breaks. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Taking a break will actually aid your productivity.

The only problem is when you take unplanned breaks. Take this scenario for example. Imagine you skip eating lunch, and you work six hours straight.

When you finally take a break for lunch, do you think you are going to go home and eat a healthy meal? Or are you more likely to head straight to your favorite fast food restaurant because you need something to eat "right now"?

Conversely, taking unplanned breaks isn't going to be as healthy for your productivity as taking planned breaks is.

10. Not Being Organized

Having a stress-free happy life starts with having an organized living environment. Have you ever lost something that is super important to you?

It was probably stressful, and time-consuming to find it, and maybe if your house was cleaner, it wouldn't have gotten lost. I've lost things before too so I'm not blaming you if you have had this happen to you!

When you have an organized living environment, it is much easier to also be less stressed. Having less clutter leads to a less cluttered mind.

11. Planning But Never Taking Action

Lastly, I wanted to touch on planning but never taking action. AKA dreaming. Planning is a wonderful tool, but if you never take the time to actually implement your plan, then all of your work is for nothing. It's actually time-wasting.

If there is a large goal you want to complete, you should go for it! Think about where you would be right now if you had started on that goal last year. You can never plan for everything!

Stop Wasting Your Life on These Time-Consuming Tasks

If you have gotten anything out of this post, I hope that it is: you should focus on your goals and what you really want out of life. When you focus on your goals, these time-consuming tasks fall to the wayside because you'll see that they are just what they are: time-wasters.

If you liked this post, you will enjoy reading these ones too!

I hope you have a productive week and kick those time-wasters to the curb!

Share this post so your friends can stop doing these time-consuming tasks too! Thank you for supporting my blog!

November 20, 2021 No comments

"I'm just so busy. I don't have any time to do that." This is one of the biggest complaints you will hear people use when explaining why they don't use a to-do list. The truth is using a to-do list can really create extra free time for you because you already know what you are going to do. Start organizing your life quickly with these Alastair weekly bullet journal layouts you can make today!

Organize Your Life Quickly With These 7 Alastair Weeklies

Updated for 2024

If you don't know what you are going to do, it will be harder for you to do it. You might even procrastinate. It's a no-brainer that a to-do list can be a big help!

I've fallen into the trap of not making a to-do list, and not doing weekly planning because it took too much time, and you know what?

I felt overwhelmed, and I wanted to procrastinate because I didn't know exactly what I was supposed to do, and I felt like my to-do list (the faulty one in my head) was wayyy too long! It's a horrible feeling!

Now, I do weekly planning every week because it sets me up for success in the week to come. I make pretty minimalist layouts so if you are expecting fancy layouts, then this is not the blog post to read. First and foremost my bullet journal is for planning, and second, it is for creativity.

For my weekly layouts, I always make them minimalist because I'm only going to be using each one for a week anyway. As you may know, I started using the Alastair method to plan my week a few months ago, and I am still loving it! I still find it a very efficient and practical way to plan.

I wrote an article about using the Alastair method in August, and that post has been popular recently, so I wanted to write a follow-up post, and share some inspiration for different types of layouts you can make in your bullet journal with the Alastair method.

Plus, I wanted to give all of you a peek into what my weekly planning looks like! Right now, I am not using monthly or daily layouts, so this is my main method of planning.

Let's get right into it!

Organize Your Life Quickly With These Alastair Weeklies

1. The Original Alastair Weekly Layout

In the picture above, you can see the first Alastair weekly layout I ever made. I made this layout in the middle of the week because I was really excited to try out the Alastair method!

If you don't know how the Alastair method works, you can read the article I wrote about it here, and the article by the creator of the Alastair method.

For those of you who don't have much time though, here is a quick breakdown of the Alastair method in a nutshell:

You have a column on one side of the page with the days of the week at the top.
Your to-do list is written next to the column.
Then each of your tasks in your weekly to-do list is assigned to a day.
If you don't do a task on the day it is assigned, then you can migrate it to the next day.
You can track habits by assigning it to every day of the week.

Basically, you can do a lot of things with this layout! Can you add a gratitude tracker? Yep! Can you plan for the week after that? Yep! Can you plan your week quickly? Sure thing!

For each of the following layouts, I will show you the changes I made to adapt the Alastair method to my needs for the week. You may want to try some of these adaptations on your own weekly Alastair bullet journal layout!

2. To-Do List Alastair Weekly

This layout is very similar to the first layout I made. After the first week of using the Alastair Method, I realized that I needed a two-page layout because I have a lot to do! Usually, I use around a page and a half every week.

The main difference between this layout and the first Alastair weekly I made, is that after I finished a task entirely, I would cross it out. This made it quite a bit easier to see what tasks I had actually completed, but it did make the layout more cluttered.

The dots on this layout symbolized which days I needed to do the task, and then I put an X if I did it on the day I needed to. I crossed out the task entirely if I completed it.

At the top of the layout, I used mini calendar symbols to show the places I had to go for the week. This was during quarantine, so I was doing almost everything from home!

All of the habits I am trying to maintain are mixed up with my tasks for the week. I realized that it would be easier to have all of my habits and all of my tasks separated.

3. Progress Bar Alastair Weekly

I liked being able to see which tasks were entirely completed, but crossing out the entire task made the layout look too cluttered, so I decided to add a progress bar. This is one of my favorite adaptations I have made to the Alastair system.

I can see at a glance which tasks I have completed, but I can also mark off tasks that I have started.

This week, if I worked on a task on the day I had it assigned, I would put a line through it. I find this method to work pretty well because I want to connect the lines each day!

4. All Appointments in One Place Alastair Weekly

That is a long name for a bullet journal layout! As you can tell, I'm not very good at naming them. 😂

This week, the world had started opening up again, so I had quite a few places to go. I thought it might be easier to have all of my appointments in one place so I put them at the bottom of the second page of my Alastair weekly layout.

Also, I wanted to try something different from the progress bar because I had been using it for a few weeks. I find that after using a very similar bullet journal layout for a few weeks, I become bored with it, and then it doesn't work as well for me. (I went back to using the progress bar later in the year.)

Instead of the progress bar, I highlighted the entire row when I had finished the task. This definitely makes it easy to see at a glance what tasks you have completed!

This layout looks very similar to the layouts above, which is why I am just showing you a close-up of the bottom of the layout.

5. Planning in Advance Alastair Weekly

This week, I tried something a little bit different because I didn't use a progress bar or highlight the tasks that were entirely completed.

At the beginning of the week when I wrote out my entire to-do list I put boxes on the days that I wanted to complete certain tasks. If the task could be done any day of the week, then I didn't add any boxes.

I knew that the week afterward was going to be very busy and I had extra room at the bottom of the page, so I made a quick weekly plan with the main tasks I wanted to complete the next week. This way, I didn't forget to add them to my next Alastair weekly.

6. Divided Alastair Weekly

This is where my weekly Alastair layouts started to get a little fancier! It is very easy to see that this week, I decided to divide up my weekly tasks into four sections.

These are the sections I decided to use...

Habits
School
Business
Other

I really enjoyed using this layout, but it took a little more time to set up, than the other layouts in this post. At the bottom, you may notice that I wrote week 42/52 + 9/18. The first set of numbers is the number for the week in the year, and the second set of numbers is the week for the school semester.

I like knowing what number week it is in for the year so I can keep in mind how far along I am on my yearly goals. As a school student, it is also very helpful to know how many weeks I have left in the school semester!

Also, I started using the progress bar again on this layout!

7. Routine + Tasks Alastair Weekly

This is the Alastair weekly bullet journal layout I am currently using. I really wanted to simplify my bullet journal layout this week, so I decided to put all of my routine tasks that I do almost daily on one side, and then I put all of the rest of my tasks on the other side of the page.

If I do the task almost every day, then I put it on the routine side. If the task has multiple parts, but I can do it any day of the week, then I put it on my task list, with a mini progress bar.

This is one of my favorite Alastair weekly layouts I have made so far this year, but I'm not certain if it is because it works well, or if I just like how pretty it is! 😂

Organize Your Life Quickly With These Alastair Weeklies

I hope this gave you some insight into my weekly planning, and maybe some bullet journal inspiration as well! It might be easy to think that bullet journalists find the perfect weekly layout, and then it works for them for a long time, but that is not the case.

I change up my bullet journal weekly layout almost every week because I know if I don't, I will become bored with it, and I won't want to use my bullet journal. If you want to see more of my weekly layouts, just leave a comment below!

On another note, my blog was ranked 50th on the list of top 100 productivity blogs by Feedspot so if you are looking for some new blogs to read, check out the list and follow my blog over there while you are at it!

If you liked this post, you can read these ones too!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and you will try out making an Alastair weekly layout!

Save this post for later!

November 13, 2021 No comments

5 Life Rules to Follow This Year for Amazing Results

1. Accept That Changes Will Happen

2. Make Your Health a Priority

3. Save Part of Everything You Earn (Invest in Yourself)

4. What You do Daily is Who You Will Become

5. Always Remember Class Over Crass

5 Life Rules to Follow This Year for Amazing Results

How to Set New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Achieve

1. Review Your Goals From Last Year

2. Plan Earlier

2. Do a Trial Run of Your Goals + Habits

3. Create Habits Versus Daily Tasks

4. Identify Your Why for Each Goal

5. Set Positive Goals that are Life-Changing

Does this tip sound a little weird? Yeah, I'd think so too! Let me explain.

7. Look at the Bigger Picture

8. Have a Plan

9. Modify Your Goals Over the Year + Change Them if Needed

10. Read Your Goals Daily

How to Set New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Achieve

How to Keep Up With Your Bullet Journal Trackers + Collections

1. Make a Habit of Using Your Bullet Journal

2. Use Tabs

3. Use a Monthly or Weekly Bullet Journal Catch-Up

4. Accept That You Won't Use All of Your Trackers + Collections

5. Keep the Layout as Simple as Possible

6. Try a New Layout

7. Find the Right Time to Fill in the Tracker

8. Don't Expect Perfection

9. Have All of Your Trackers in One Place

10. Make a Bullet Journal Routine

How to Keep Up With Your Bullet Journal Trackers + Collections

5 Simple Time Trackers to Get Your Life Back

1. Time Log

2. Ideal Versus Real Time Calculator

3. Color Block Time Tracker

4. Bar Graph Time Tracker

5. Time Tracker on a Weekly Layout

5 Simple Time Trackers to Get Your Life Back

Stop Wasting Your Life on These Time-Consuming Tasks

1. Duplicates

2. Obsessing About the Past or the Future

3. Procrastination

4. Other Peoples' Priorities

5. Things You Don't Actually Need to Do

6. Getting Distracted

7. Indecision

8. "Multi-Tasking"

9. Not Taking Breaks

10. Not Being Organized

11. Planning But Never Taking Action

Stop Wasting Your Life on These Time-Consuming Tasks

Organize Your Life Quickly With These Alastair Weeklies

1. The Original Alastair Weekly Layout

2. To-Do List Alastair Weekly

3. Progress Bar Alastair Weekly

4. All Appointments in One Place Alastair Weekly

5. Planning in Advance Alastair Weekly

6. Divided Alastair Weekly

7. Routine + Tasks Alastair Weekly

Organize Your Life Quickly With These Alastair Weeklies

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