Switching From a Bullet Journal to a Blue Sky Planner for Work

Blue Sky Planner

I started out using a Bullet Journal for Work almost a year ago, and I loved it. It worked, as I had a lot of tasks // issues to stay on top of. My system of using the ARC planner as a Bullet Journal evolved over time and got better and more efficient for my purposes.

Then, early this year, I experimented with using a more traditional planner because I needed to be able to see months for the year in advance. I tried the Sugar Paper Planner and continued to use it for a few months, but ultimately, the line spacing was too small for my writing, so I went back to using my bullet journal.

Sugar Paper Planner

And then in August, with all the “back to school” planners coming out, I decided to try another traditional planner. I assessed my must haves:

  • A Monthly overview – almost every planner has this.
  • No daily layouts with time of day – I track appointments on a digital calendar, so this is unnecessary.
  • Small size, but not too small – with traveling a few times a month, a big letter size planner just felt unnecessarily bulky in my bag.
  • Enough space in the daily view to write out my task lists.

I settled on a Blue Sky Planner which is a traditional planner with a monthly overview and a horizontal unlined daily section. Specifically, the Ashley G White Feather Blue Sky Planner. And it’s working like a BEAST!

Blue Sky Planner

Here’s how I use it …


Monthly Calendar

bluskyplanner2

Like before, this is my future planning section for travel and days off work, highlight the dates and put where I’m going (city, state and name of facility). I keep a small post-it note on the month and write in any un-confirmed travel plans there, before they make it to my calendar (otherwise, things get messy as dates get postponed many times).

I also have a paper-clip holding all the previous pages up to the month that I’m in so the planner opens to it automatically. Of course – I make sure it’s a “cute” paperclip. This might be a work planner, but there is some room for personality. I also stick a paperclip on a few of the upcoming months – so I can find them quickly.


Dailies

Blue Sky Planner Daily

The dailies are for tasks and items that need following-up. I write them on the date started and highlight date due or to follow up – and if there is no due date, I make up one. I can see a week at a time, so only if tasks don’t get done in that week, will they get transferred to the next week (and I write them in red ink with the number of times they have been transferred). The Blue Sky Planner has a ribbon and I use that to hold the place of the current day, making it super easy to get to it.

I try to color code – usually red ink is used for tasks that get transferred from one week to the other, blue ink is for tasks that I’m waiting on a response for and black if for tasks that I need to do. I highlight travel dates on the dailies as well – just a stripe running down the side.

Post-Its

I already mentioned I’ll use a small post-it for unconfirmed travel dates which I stick on the monthly. But I also use large post-its for notes on the right side of every page. These are for meeting or audit notes, or notes on things I want to bring up in upcoming meetings.


That’s how I’m organizing my planner these days. Do you use a traditional planner, bullet journal, or are you completely digital?

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