Hello! Olga Gryzlova is with you again. When I didn't keep any records, it seemed like my life was going chaotically. Then I started writing things down on pieces of paper - it was progress, but unsystematic. And in the end, they gave me my first diary. However, it was very masculine - undated, hourly ruled and with a strict leather cover. No wonder I rarely opened it! Now I have been keeping a special diary for a long time with a simple and cute design, created especially for girls. Below I’ll show you how I run it and share the life hacks that work for me - maybe you’ll like something too!
Why do you need a diary?
When I was not familiar with time management, it seemed to me that the only function of a planner was to write things down. But that's not true!
The diary allows you to:
- Unload your head by transferring things to paper. This way you won't forget about important things.
- Focus on what's most important.
- Go towards your goals.
- Introduce healthy habits using checklists (habit trackers).
- Calculate timing - that is, estimate how long something might take.
- Analyze the past day - what was done, what wasn’t, and why.
- Write down what is important - thoughts, emotions, events - whatever comes to mind!
I advocate paper planning. Yes, there are also electronic applications, but as usually happens, the phone bogs us down with a ton of applications, and we just went to look at our to-do list!
In addition, the paper diary will not run out of charge and information will not be lost.
And it’s also very beautiful and aesthetically pleasing! When you see what beauty others create using ruled lines, drawings, stickers, and inscriptions, you want to do something similar.
This is my personal diary. I prefer to paint over in gray what is done
For what?
Look at your desk or in your bag and look for notes to remind yourself. We're sure there's at least one, but there's definitely one. Or maybe a cross is drawn on your hand? Admit it, how many times have you looked at this cross, but for the life of you couldn’t remember what you wanted not to forget? It is precisely in order not to paint your brush and not clutter your desktop with a million notes, it is better to draw up a daily plan. We can assure you that literally in a month, using our advice, you will not be able to imagine your life without a diary.
Of course, if you have your own personal secretary who monitors the implementation of the plan, then you may not need to create a paper version. But how many of us actually have our own secretary?
With it you can:
- save your time and nerves. There will be no need to call people back and clarify what time the meeting is for or reschedule it because different negotiations were accidentally scheduled for the same hour;
- unload your brain from unnecessary information;
- plan a long-term business several months in advance;
- analyze your effectiveness.
If you still doubt the need for an organizer, we advise you to create a demo version, so to speak, test it on a specific case. Let's say there's a big holiday coming soon - New Year. Agree, there are enough worries: buying gifts, planning trips to friends, finishing what you started before the end of the year, paying off debts and more. Take this and write it down in your notebook. Moreover, write the deadlines, exact dates and times. And follow your notes. After the holiday, check what you managed to implement and how difficult it was.
Diaries are different:
- for personal notes and secrets. Usually girls or young men express what they cannot share with anyone;
- for students. This is very convenient for learning, especially if you divide the pages into 2 parts and take notes on theses in the first, and your thoughts in the second. This helps to correctly perceive and search for information.
- for a housewife. Women constantly have a lot of worries that should be remembered, since no one else will do them, much less remind them. Dates must be indicated large so that they stand out against the general background and urgent dates must be marked with bookmarks, stickers, etc.
- for business people. Well, it’s already clear that without notes it will be very difficult to keep every little detail in your head.
It is the last point that we will especially consider below.
What is the difference between a girl’s diary and a man’s?
First of all, it has a more relaxed format and contains things that bring the girl closer to her goals.
The appearance can be anything, but girls often choose cute and unusual designs.
Pages can be decorated with stickers (stickers), colored pens, highlighters, markers, drawings, and applications.
You can add special checklists that bring you closer to your goals - for example, drink more water, read, eat right, exercise, etc.
Sometimes girls immediately keep diary entries or some notes. It can be convenient!
A typically feminine diary with stickers and habit and water trackers from @remarklee.official
A man's diary is usually strict, boring, not formalized in any way and contains entries only about business.
A typically masculine way to design a diary @tonya_plans
Personal experiences and feelings
This is an equally important block that allows you to better understand yourself, your actions and actions. Most often, such entries are started by young girls who are overwhelmed with feelings. What does this mean:
- The need to deal with yourself.
- The need to speak out. Not everything can be said to a friend or mother, but the paper does not blush and will endure everything. This is associated with growing up, the first feelings that are not only difficult to understand, but also impossible to express. The diary does not correct, does not criticize, it allows you to be yourself.
- And some people just like to write. It's interesting and enjoyable. And then, after some time, you can re-read your story.
Why a diary?
There are also weekly journals where, on the spread of the notebook, you see the entire week.
Visual difference between a diary and a weekly planner
However, there is very little space to record one day's activities. That’s why I love the diary - because on its page you can write out your day in detail, mark important tasks, write the results of the day and much more (see below).
Do it
If you don’t like to make plans for the future, but always write down your upcoming tasks, then the Do it app will become your indispensable assistant. Here all tasks are planned only for the current day and the next. Nothing except. The app's interface is as simple as its function. It looks like a simulator of two pages of a notebook. On the left side are tasks for today, on the right - for tomorrow. With the same simplicity, you mark completed tasks (they are simply crossed out). Everything is clear and very simple. Download the application for iOS, for Android
What to write in your diary: 7 ideas
What is usually written in diaries, besides the date and day of the week? I've collected a lot of ideas for you.
To-do list:
- those that are time-based;
- important - usually there are no more than 3 of them;
- “frog” is a small but unpleasant task that would be good to do at the very beginning of the day;
- “elephant” is a piece of a very important and big matter;
- chores (many people don’t write them down);
- additional matters (optional).
Trackers:
- habits (reading, sports, meditation - whatever)
- water
- steps
Menu for the day - it is useful to plan what you want to eat if you need to lose weight.
Results of the day:
- productivity (usually rated on a scale, for example, from 1 to 5);
- main events of the day;
- cash balance (how much received, how much spent);
- gratitude practice (find several moments of the day for which we are grateful - from 1 to 5).
Reward for the day if all plans are completed.
Notes so as not to forget some facts and events.
Dream diary (in the morning, immediately after waking up).
There is still a lot that can be included, but, alas, not on one page.
What if things don't get done?
If you are just starting out in planning, then this cannot be avoided. Not everything will work out the first time. The main thing is to understand the reason as quickly as possible. I will highlight a few common ones:
- You write down everything, not important tasks. Because of this, we do a lot of unnecessary things, get tired quickly and lack motivation. Learn to separate the necessary from the unnecessary and start the day with big things.
- We pose abstract tasks that we ourselves do not understand. Make entries in your diary clearly and clearly, as if you were writing them for a child. It will be easier for the brain to cope with such matters.
- Tasks that are too big to break down. Try to write down small steps, distribute them over days and complete them in order.
Samples of how to fill out a diary - 9 photos
Keeping a diary according to the method of Gleb Arkhangelsky:
Diary divided into rigid and flexible tasks:
@idiary.kz
There is an interesting division of work and personal tasks on the 1st page, and in addition, there is an hourly plan for the day:
@tonya_plans
A very visual way to organize tasks tied to one place, for example, home, work, etc.
A sample of filling out a typically girly diary (but feminine does not mean ineffective: look how many different things fit in)
How to keep Stephen Covey's diary for a girl - here is one example of filling it out:
This notebook is typically feminine. The fields here are small, but a lot of information is included, the emphasis is on body health: there is a meal planner, a water tracker, and workout instructions:
Another example of filling out a planner aimed at the female part of the population:
An example of how to correctly fill out the Diary of a successful woman from Sofia Timofeeva:
General recommendations
To effectively journal, follow these tips:
- use bookmarks;
- fill out all pages yourself;
- write down one saying of great people every day;
- highlight important matters with color;
- break complex, voluminous tasks into parts and separate actions;
- reflect ideas and contacts on paper immediately, without putting them off for later;
- When purchasing a new diary, transfer important information from the old one;
- distribute tasks wisely and consistently;
- Schedule unfulfilled tasks for the next day in the first lines;
- leave room for adjustments.
Important! The brain will work more efficiently and generate new ideas if it is freed from the function of storing information that can be transferred to paper.
Design examples
Many girls confuse a diary and a weekly planner. But you understand that all your daily activities will not fit into the weekly planner! That's why I've put together beautiful diary entries for you.
Bullet Journal style with appliques, stickers and tape.
@seniya_diy
A beautiful to-do list - decorated with colored pens and stickers.
@lorna_art
A good idea is to keep a spread of the month on the 1st page, and plans for the day on the 2nd page.
@bujo.book
A creative way to organize a to-do list in a Bullet Journal type diary.
@seniya_diy
My personal diary, decorated with drawings, stickers, highlighters
@olga.grizlova
Let's start training
Indeed, you have to learn how to properly keep a diary so that it brings benefits and not just takes up space. First, it is recommended to monitor your schedule for a week. That is, you literally fill out the schedule for each day, minute by minute. From the moment the alarm clock rang until you went to bed, you will need to record minute by minute what you did. This will allow you to analyze how much time is spent on unnecessary things.
So, the week has passed. Review your notes and create a graph that shows how much time was spent on each activity. If watching TV or talking on the phone is in the lead, and you complain about the lack of time to clean the room, you clearly need to reconsider your schedule.
How to use stickers, decals
Stickers make your notes beautiful, allow you to remember the events of the day, and remind you of its importance. Therefore, for me personally, it is important to have a lot of stickers in order to find something to suit my mood.
What kind of stickers are there:
- Pictures - on a white or transparent background;
- To do icons are small stickers that can be used to beautifully mark things on the list;
- Highlighters are transparent stripes that highlight the words underneath them;
- Decorative tape is paper strips with designs rolled into rolls. You can use it to paste over the edges of a diary, cover up inscriptions that didn’t turn out, and use them to paste notes and photographs.
The main rule is that stickers should not get in the way! Less is more.
Decide on your goals
What do you want to track in your journal: work achievements, study progress, personal plans, travel, business ideas, or all at once? Will it be a creative diary or a list of routine tasks? Once you answer this question for yourself, it will be easier to decide on the format of your bu-jo.
You can fill the journal with anything, as long as it is useful and enjoyable. If you start a bu-jo for personal purposes and are not going to post its photos on social networks, then you don’t have to think about the external design, but if your goal is to become famous on Instagram, then you will have to spend money on good stationery and watch a couple of video tutorials on calligraphy.
How to use highlighters and markers
Naturally, they highlight the text! But there are some subtleties here too.
- Highlighters with thick rods are more convenient for selecting text, while those with thin rods are more convenient for drawing;
- Bright markers may be too harsh on the eyes - I prefer pastel colors, fortunately, now they can be found for every taste;
- The design looks very nice with several colors combined with each other and with stickers;
- I usually highlight the most important tasks of the day with markers;
- Sometimes it’s easier to first paint over some field and then write things in it;
- Choose paper on which markers do not show through.
Gradually increase the list of tasks
Ask your parents if it's worth keeping a diary. Most likely, they will answer that they definitely need to do this. It disciplines, teaches you to set goals and fulfill them. Don't set yourself grandiose goals right away. For example, you cannot immediately say that you will do 1000 push-ups. But it’s quite possible to start with ten and gradually increase the number as you see that there is free time left that can be occupied with something useful. It’s the same with the number of tasks – they need to be gradually increased.
LeaderTask
A simple planner for managing affairs, both work and personal. The application allows you to structure tasks and control their implementation. In the free version, the user has access to the following functionality: adding, editing and marking tasks, access to a calendar for the years ahead and much more. You can run the application both online and offline - everything is synchronized via the cloud. Edits and changes are immediately displayed to the entire group that is working on this task. Download the application for iOS, for Android
