Planner fail and trying GTD

So my planner system has changed a little bit….actually a lot since my last planner set up video. Actually I changed it soon after doing the video because I was experiencing planner failure. I wasn’t getting things done, I wasn’t inspired to look at my planner, and I was realising that certain things that I was looking for I hadn’t documented in my planner. I hadn’t written down things that I should have, or hadn’t written it clearly enough for me to quickly retrace it. I thought I had made things easier by removing a bunch of sections, but that wasn’t the answer.

Around the same time I was getting my A6 Mulberry planners in, and looking more into the GTD system. I haven’t finished reading the book yet, but from what I had gathered from youtube videos, articles, and blog posts, I made an initial set up in my Mulberry.

And I liked it! I thought that I was a person who would hate having my to-do’s separated from my calendar pages, and I still am hesitant about it (old habits die hard), but actually, if I did it right, I was more productive.

Of course I had to ask myself: why did it work?

I think it is because I get so frustrated seeing tasks scheduled which I didn’t complete or wasn’t able to do on that day. My life/ work/ schedule is very unpredictable (and I have a problem saying “no” to people”. So things come up, and then I get anxious and demotivated because I see all these to-do’s that I planned which I hadn’t accomplished. Having the to-do’s on a separate part, and divided into categories means that when I all of sudden have that unexpected free time, I can look and see what tasks I can do on my phone, or fine tune a project, or whatever! lol

Another thing that I really like about this is the capture part. I REALLY NEED THIS!!! A place where I can just brain dump! And I do this in a bullet journal way. The only problem with this part of the system is that sometimes I get my ideas on my bike, or in the shower and then it’s forgotten by the time I’m at my destination or out of the shower… how to solve that problem? Ideas are welcome!!!

In conclusion, I will be trying to finish reading David Allen’s book and incorporating his system for 2016 planning needs. I will be sure to do a blog post on that in the near future.