Minimal Bullet Journal for Work | Work Planner Setup

[@20src13]

You are not crazy. I’ve gone back and forth between paper and digital and everything in between. Love paper and pen, but then think “the digital is so much quicker” but then using digital I think like you “writing this stuff out just makes me feel like I know what’s going on in my work” So no, you are not crazy, unless we all are :)

[@berneserainbow1407]

😀 My thoughts exactly.

[@amandafoster2433]

I just discovered this channel and it is a gold mine of useful information! I've dabbled in bullet journaling off and on for five years or so. The rolling weekly spread for both professional and personal stuff was my go to for a year and a half. For my old job, I knew the processes so well I was able to rely on my Gmail and a few tracking spreadsheets. Since I started my current job, it has been full on survival mode with a lot more meetings throughout the week, learning new processes that are more complex, and trial and error for keeping things organized. Microsoft To Do seemed to work for a while. In the last 6 months, I was given a new assignment to take over an area from a colleague who accepted a promotion, received some high priority projects involving a new tool my whole team has never used before, and given part of an additional area from another colleague who started maternity leave. Needless to say, I've been struggling and digital organizing systems just don't seem to work anymore. I've gone back to a paper notebook a couple weeks ago and I already feel like I'm more relaxed. Your work bullet journal has definitely given me some ideas that I'm going to try as I go along. Excited to see more videos!

[@kathiwilson4082]

I understand what you mean when you say - “totally disconnected”. I also tried a digital planner and experience much the same feelings. I thought I was crazy because it wasn’t working for me and I didn’t know why. When I stopped fighting it and returned to a paper planner I felt like I was “home”, something about writing things down and making lists gave me an ownership feeling. Never looked back, and have been writing and making lists ever since! 😊❤

[@berneserainbow1407]

I tried digital planning this year , set it all up etc. But I don't feel drawn to it. In fact I have hardly used it. I'm thinking about going back to a pen&paper planner. Just not sure yet, what's it going to be and look like.

[@ThoughtsAlongLifesHighway]

You always have such great ideas. I love your approach to project management.

[@JunieOutdoors]

I’m a project manager too and this is the exact reason I moved to the sterling ink common planner last year. My monthlies and weeklies are already drawn but all the notes pages are numbered blanks that serve every purpose under the sun, daily logs, rough drafts of timelines, meeting notes, etc. then I have my reference and I can synthesize what is for every other member of the team in the digital tools that everyone can see. Your process chart with timeline dates is genius. I’m definitely going to use it as inspiration.

[@monicaphillips1567]

Totally feel you when you are talking about "having your arms around what you need to be doing". I tried your OneNote workflow and could not get into it because I felt totally disconnected from my projects and work flow. I am now looking for a paper-based project management system and work journal so your video came just at the right time!

[@itziagonzalez7487]

I got motivated to use OneNote thanks to you, and that change my work style. I'm more focused on goals now. i used to spent so much time setting up planners for work and nothing really helped my goals. In my case I don't use it as a planner, I use One note as my personal assistant. Everything I need to remember is there, every important task and information is there. But...I still use my paper planner, is simpler and more focused on due dates and important projects, this has helped me so much in my work. I'm less stressed and I still have the chance to setup my planner which I love. Everybody is different and that is perfectly ok. Thanks for your videos, you are a great content creator for planner lovers!

[@PersonalizeMyPlanner]

I love your layout for the JET and Core Team meetings. I work full-time as a cancer researcher, but also have lab manager duties. This layout style would be PERFECT to help me stay on track. Thank you for sharing your brilliant ideas with us! ❤❤❤

[@rubysparks4915]

I use an A5 Common Planner for work, though I have discovered it works 75% of the time for me. I love having the week horizontal on one page with a page free for notes. However, on busy weeks, only having one pg doesn’t work so I end up using post-its and scrap paper too. I used to use a Kinbor A5 which worked fantastically, but I really like the week laid out for me to write down must dos for each day. I use the monthlies but more for days off, future planning, meetings, or my coworkers’ schedule (we have a work Google calendar but since I’m in my planner all day, it’s easier for me to look in there). I have gotten an A5 undated planner from PaperTess Designs for 2025 that I feel encompasses what I need: monthlies, the week horizontally on one page, and a daily page for all seven days. I’ll only need to use 5 pages so the extra dailies will be used for brain dumping and/or notes each week. Will I ever use anything you showed in this video? No. Did I watch it because I love seeing other people’s needs and ideas? Yes.

[@Texaschik01]

I so admire your ability to shift quickly to a new system. Unfortunately, I at times just quit all together when it's not working for a short period 😅.

[@LoriGeorge0628]

OMG those templates you keep in the back are GENiUS! You should sell them!!! I will be your first customer!!! Name your price!!! 😉

[@ziggy2255]

I cant say or hear "pivot" without thinking of Friends 😂

[@constanzekubisch165]

Same 😂

[@Geemeel1]

What a great, insightful vid. Thanks for this, if you were in my country, I would hire you today!! What a talent you have 🙌🏽👏🏾

[@vicki5878]

I've tried different digital tools, but pen and paper have always worked the best for me.

[@roslynnpieters4969]

I think I've rewatched this video 10 times 😂 even taking my own notes from your older videos to see where your set ups have evolved over the years. (Thank you for that.. I can binge the same videos because I learn so much all the time - especially when I feel like I need a change.) I've used One Note for Meetings for years and with the new Office apps, the digital landscape changes so quickly, I kept jumping between To Do and the One Note tasks you recorded last year. I think it lasts abouts a month before I just go back to my A5 rings because I prefer writing. I still use One Note to capture meeting notes into it's final draft. I've been contemplating the bullet style but the time to. Set it all up is giving me anxiety - because I feel like I won't keep it up and will just get irritated halfway through the second week when I want a certain page in a certain place, This B5 has however motivated me to set up my B5 rings for work. It's slimmer than my A5 and live the space. Do you still use a combination bullet and rings for work? Thank you for being inspiring, all the way from South Africa.

[@berneserainbow1407]

I love OneNote dearly. It's a great tool and I use it almost daily for various things. E.g. I have a list copied from the internet with journaling prompts, which I use in my daily journaling. My reading journal, recipe book, ideas for day trips etc. are all in there. However my plan to use it as my digital planner hasn't been working very well for me so far.

[@selbarton]

I never lasted super long in OneNote or Notion as my planner. I coordinate things going on and storage/organization in both still, but I needed a paper planner. Using Penly with a digital planner that looks like my paper planner and a stylus that is very much like a pen, I can feel like it's my paper planner. I have the paper planner in case that changes or I need to do it before putting it in the digital planner, but I had to reduce a lot of weight from my bag, and that was the first change I made. I spent the last 3 months moving myself into my digital planner to make sure it was going to work comfortably. And the first month I was trying to figure out what to not carry in paper it was so bad in Samsung Notes and a couple other apps. But once I started in penly and started altering pages in more details and got a stylus with finer detail, it started falling into place. I think it is just a matter of feel and season. I am already setting up template pages for the 2025 planner so when I hit the busy season for my job I will be able to copy paste rather than print double sided, trim, punch, and insert pages for months, weeks, and dailies, finances, hour trackers, habit trackers, etc. It also saves turning each month into a pdf so I had a copy of those pages available rather than carrying it physically. I spent a lot of time on happy downloads where the planner with penly comes from getting same stickers and figuring out how they would work for icons and such. So it has plenty of options that make it feel more like a paper planner than the others have.

[@TheLynnepooh]

I’m starting a new job in a month. I’m going to implement your agenda tracker

[@lovendrins]

Hi Annie, how would you deal with meeting notes when you have 30min-1 hour meetings? We are not allowed to attend meetings with our laptop/mobile... Would you include these meeting notes in your daily logs? Would you have a dedicated bullet? Would you rather use your inbox? Any other idea? How would you reference those meeting notes to find them easily? Maybe you already explained this in another video ☺ Thanks!

[@PlanningAnnie]

@@lovendrins I use the daily log for meeting notes. After the meeting (as soon as I can) I capture any action items. And I use numbered pages to make future references if needed. Hope this helps!

[@Quinkerbell_3604]

I tried to use OneNote and it is good to have my notes inside my laptop. But something about the typing meant that I wasn’t connecting with the notes I was taking. For presentations and project planning, the OneNote is great. But for day-to-day meeting notes, the standard notebook works better for me.

[@TheLynnepooh]

I use a spiral notebook to take notes then transfer to OneNote to keep and organize

[@christinemcgregor9970]

We have OneNote at work for regular property note updates but I really have fallen off updating it regularly and I have to get back on the weekly train, along with my monthly mileage reimbursement and corporate card reconciliation. My biggest problem the past couple of months is I've been making more lists (brain dumps) of things that must get done but I have too many things going on. I keep moving the same things forward and forward and by the time I'm getting to them they are bigger issues. I've been scheduling Fridays as catchup days but it seems as my boss says I have too many aspirations for a highly productive day and it seems to become hijacked by other people's emails and their projects looking for progress updates. I am a heavily paper and pen person as I find it helps me remember things more than putting things in digital lists or apps. I've been trying to be better about my projects and follow ups and working backward from the due date like your jet meetings. I just have to really stick to the schedule. I have so many things to work on but I have to resolve it as I feel like I'm working really hard but not seeing much reward. Your videos are great! So glad I found you.

[@shel_loves_paper9629]

Is anyone wearing multiple hats such as AR, HR. I am having some difficulty vacation tracking (using excel vs paper) and feeling confident everything is up-to-date. AR paper or excel? Thanks for any ideas