How to Use Daily Notes to Stay Organized + Free Printable!

I love staying organized. And one of the ways I stay organized, day in and day out, is by using lists. Or, daily notes. In my bullet journal from work, I copy the same layout for my daily notes page every single day and use it to record my to do list, my schedule and meetings, as well as a few other tasks (like scheduling social media, posting blogs, etc.) 

Not everyone can use a bullet journal. It's just too much for some people. And it doesn't work for everybody. If you're one of those people, I've created a free daily notes printable that you can use instead--so you can test the waters of daily notes, see if it works for you, and then invest in starting a bullet journal. 

How do I use daily notes? Here's how: 

• I write a to do list for every single day in the To Do section. This is where all my tasks go. If I end up needing more room, I start a list on the next page, but I try to prioritize what I list as an actual To Do. As well, any tasks that I need to get to, but don't have time for today, I put in the Remember for Tomorrow section. 
• I track my water intake and FitBit steps in habits, as well as things like whether I've scheduled social media. 
• In the schedule, I highlight the hours I work, add in my meetings and hourly deadlines, and then note Forrest's approximate bedtime. 
• I use the Meals section to write my meal plan for the day. 
• At the end of the day, I write three things I'm grateful for without fail. It's a good opportunity to reflect on my day and see what I've accomplished, as well as what has gone my way. 

How to: Stay Organized

I love being organized. I have a knack of being organized even in the middle of chaos: I know where everything is; I can remember each piece of clothing I own and Forrest owns; and even if everything is a mess, I can find everything. In a perfect world, my house would be as gorgeously organized as a fancy lifestyle blog. The reality is, sometimes that's not always practical. I have no own methods of staying organized. Here they are. 

1. Find Your Own Way. 

There is lots of advice out there for getting, and staying, organized. But the truth is--some of it won't work for you. Some of it will. And some of it, you might need to alter to make work. Don't worry about sticking to the way someone else does things. 

2. Throw Things Away

Throwing out things I don't need or use is the number one way I stay organized. At least once a week, I go through my kitchen and office and throw things away--junk mail, magazines, catalogues. One thing I often have to force myself to do is throw away notepads and notebooks that are just cluttering up my house and getting in the way. I like this checklist. 

3. Declutter

Put everything in its place. It's easy for stuff to pile up--my china cabinet in my kitchen is the most cluttered, awful space and, a piece of advice, don't open the drawer. Step number 1 for getting organized is decluttering: get things put away, put in bins, and organized and cleaned up. Get rid of anything you don't need. 

4. Start a filing system to clean up your important documents.

I used to keep everything in binders--but those rapidly take up space. Now that we have Forrest, a house, and two cars, I have all kinds of stuff I need to keep track of, especially of the paper variety. I use a simple, place filing cabinet, but I know soon I'll need to expand to something larger.