4 Top Tips for Effective Journaling & List Making.

This particular post is personal for me, I’m an extroverted thinker and introverted sensing type for all of the salt sprinkled Myers Briggs peeps out there! The complaints I’ve received about the length of my voice-notes is definitely leaning more towards awkward reprimands than jestful commentary.

If 2020 has taught me anything, it’d definitely be that dutifully minding ones business can keep an individual efficiently organised and resourceful during difficult times. This might make the impact of external stressors more manageable and navigable for oneself, those in the immediate circle and beyond. Toilet tissue anyone?!

Whether you’re a To Do List type, a journal hoarder or have an embarrassingly intense amount of post it notes strewn across your home or studio… Here are some tips I found that drastically improve the method of processing strategies and thoughts.

Make it Make Sense…

  1. Primary Goals
  2. Daily Goals
  3. Detailed Lists for Structured Strategy
  4. Main Journal

Primary Goals

Amaechi – “Nobody Knows Tomorrow.”

igbo language.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who can confidently attest to the daunting feeling of future uncertainty that has recently crept up on us as a global society. To some planning too far ahead is a sign of delusion, leaning towards the assumption that others are trying desperately hard to make predictions, rather than take everyday as it comes.
I believe that a healthy balance of looking forward whilst remaining practical and present, keeps an individual prepared but realistic in their personal endeavours.
Whether it’s passing a driving test, getting a new job, starting a new business or travelling around the globe; having a short list of primary goals kept to at least five points, can help manage time more effectively.

Daily Goals

Whether you make this a time-stamped routine with intervals for downtime or a more generalised format with loose words and titles; the Daily Goals should include the types of activities expected to be undertaken whilst working towards the Primary Goals.

  • Wake / Meditate / Breakfast
  • 1hr Job Search
  • Reading
  • Lunch Break
  • Mock Theory Test

Detailed List for Structured Strategy.

If this just isn’t enough for you so far and you just cannot figure out a way to get going with the short lists and notes already taken, why not make a detailed list of the former as a step by step strategy planner?
Want to apply for a new job? Lets break it down below:

  • Choose desired Job position
  • Open all CVs and Edit
  • Update Cover Letter
  • Check & Edit Linkedin page
  • Search & Save Linkedin Jobs
  • Search & Save Jobs found via Search Engine
  • Order Vacancies according to Favourites / Easy Apply / Cover Letters & Application Forms
  • Finalise CV
  • Complete 5 Applications
  • Send CV to 20 open Vacancies

This method can be applied to any of the Primary Goals set for the year.
Try it and see.

Main Journal

What about all of my thoughts ?!” I hear you plead. We leave the best to last, no?
A decent sized reflective journal for note-keeping progresses, downfalls and questions yet to be answered, is ideal for those who tend to find themselves naturally pondering on the macro and the micro – in detail, sometimes to their own detriment.
Talking therapy is a great step forward and whether you have or have not taken this up already, journaling your thoughts is a brilliant way to offload, taking the burden off that rather interesting muscle squished inside your skull.

Personally I try to keep these as short as a brief paragraph or as long as a full page max – in order not to get too preoccupied with lamentations and to keep grounded in the present.

What do you think? Have you tried these already? Or do you have any suggestions or tips you use regularly with success? Let me know in the comments below.

Till then Happy Organising!

Obui Amaechi Matte Black Point Pens – £4.99

Follow:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *