Who here has trouble organizing their blog post ideas, craft ideas, etc? I know I do! It seems that I think of things in the shower or getting ready to bed. I used to write it down on a random piece of paper and promptly lose it. And then I found Evernote! J actually told me to buy Evernote for my computer a few years ago. Up until then, I had been using a notebook and was relatively organized. He convinced me that this little app would change my life for the better. He was right!
I now use Evernote for a variety of organization needs. I created a notebook for each blog. I have one for general blog post ideas. I have one for keeping track of monthly goals. I have another notebook for Project Life and one for vacation ideas. I even have one for meal planning. But for this post, I want to highlight my calendar notebooks.
I created a notebook for each year with separate notes for each month.
You'll note notecards for "July Life" and "July Craft." I tried to combine the two notes for the two blogs and I was hopelessly lost within a week. So I try to keep them separate for my sanity. Within each note, I have written each day of the month with the day notation in front. I went even a bit further and separated out the weeks to help see the break points. Each month I go through and write my blog post title on the corresponding day. If the post doesn't exist in some form on the blog, but is only an idea at this point, it gets an asterisk after the title. Once a post is completed, I strikethrough. This way I can see what I have scheduled and what is needed to be finished with a quick glance. No more wading through each of blogs trying to determine what needs to be done. My Evernote method has kept me more consistent with my blogging. I have also cut down on the number of times that I publish a post that isn't finished.
While I use my calendar notebooks daily, I've recently started a separate notebook for upcoming blog challenges. I really want to start participating in these more often, but usually forget until the day they are due. This easy, I'm hoping Evernote can help me work ahead a bit. This notebook will also include my upcoming swaps and blog hops.
I have seen many bloggers that keep a paper notebook or a Filofax for their blog organization. My thought is: whatever works for you! I've found that Evernote is my best friend. I don't know how I would blog without it at this point.