Tutorial: Organize Your Days Binder

People are always asking me how I get so much done in a day, and the answer I always give them is “Mental Illness.” Funny because it’s true. But my mental illness is, in many ways, a real blessing (if you don’t notice the panic attacks and agoraphobia). I know a lot of women who work really hard at being as organized as I am in my (fits of) sleep. In between waking up and checking emails. That’s one of my things. The checking. Of emails. It never ends.

Anyhoo, all that weird oversharing to introduce my latest organizational wonder. My daily task flip chart. When I was working at a mergers and acquisitions firm I had lists and calendars and a daily agenda. Each project had so many moving pieces that the only way to stay on top of it all was to dedicate each task to a specific day. So I’ve taken what I learned in the corporate world and applied it to my blogging world. In blogging you can spend as much or as little time as you want, but if you’re aiming for a career at it then the tasks can be overwhelming. SEO, tagging, viral marketing, social media, photo editing, guest posts, blah blah blah, it’s enough to make you cry. Or ignore it altogether as I’ve done for ages. But by dedicating each task to it’s own day, you’ll be amazed at how much you can do.

First, the calendar.

You’ll need a binder, a bunch of sheet protectors, some tabs if you want em, and about 9 inches of ribbon.

Use hot glue to stick one end of the ribbon to the front cover of the binder. Then bend the binder over and glue the other end of the ribbon to the back cover. Both pieces of ribbon should be glued to the outside of the binder, so that you’ve made yourself an easel with the binder stuck inside out.

Because these great tabs were on clearance, I snapped them up and used them to label each page protector. Then I set about gathering all my lists and ideas and dividing them out by the day. Monday is my writing day where I write and schedule all my blog posts for the week. I’ve also made a note of specific linky parties I want to participate in, and chosen a couple of sites I want to submit my posts to. Tuesday is twitter day where I spend time trying to gain followers and organizing lists. Wednesday is SEO day where I spend time in the archives and learning more about what search engines are looking for. You get the picture. Instead of being overwhelmed by all the many things that need to be done at every moment, I can relax and just think about what needs to get done today. If I miss a day, it’s not the end of the world, but on the days I am working, I’m far more productive because I can just focus on what’s in front of me, instead of bearing the weight of everything that needs to get done, ever.

Maybe now I’ll be able to get more than a fitful nights sleep.