Productive Pixie: 2020

Well, it's the end of the year and 2020 sure went by fast for me! It's time to start planning for 2021 and I'm going to be starting a new bullet journal. Before I do start a new bullet journal though, I can evaluate which bullet journal layouts from my 2020 bullet journal were most helpful and effective. Basically, these are the layouts that helped me to be productive in 2020!

My 10 Most Helpful Bullet Journal Layouts of 2020

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Updated for 2024

Before we get into the actual layouts that helped me to be productive this year (they might help you to be more productive too!) you might want to check out the post How to Migrate to a New Bullet Journal, which contains tips that will help you smoothly transition into a new bullet journal.

First off, if you are interested, here are some specifications about the notebook I used for 2020, and the bullet journal supplies I used this year. If not, you can skip ahead to the subheading that says, "My 10 Most Helpful Bullet Journal Layouts of 2020".

What Bullet Journal Did I Use For 2020?

For 2020, I used the Minimalism Art Journal in the pink shade, and in the beginning, I really loved it because it has nice smooth paper, the dots aren't too light or too dark, the cover didn't get dirty and it was nice and hard, and it came with a good number of pages.

Sounds pretty good, right?

Well around halfway through the year, the binding broke in the middle of the notebook. It was fixable, with a bit of tape, and didn't bother me that much, but I wanted to be entirely transparent about this, especially since I didn't carry my bullet journal around very much.

I still think it is a great notebook, especially for under $10, but it is something to keep in mind if you are planning on trying out a Minimalism Art Notebook for 2021.

My 2021 Bullet Journal

I haven't received it yet, but for 2021, I am going to be using a Scrivwell Dotted A5 Hardcover Notebook in pink. :)

This notebook is a little bit more expensive than the Minimalism Art Journal, but it comes with 120 GSM paper, two ribbons, 208 pages, and a pocket in the back. I am excited to try it out and I am going to be giving a more in-depth review once I get the notebook and start setting up my layouts for 2021!

My Favorite Bullet Journal Supplies for 2020

This year, I didn't use washi tape very much but instead, I used a lot of different pens and brush pens, which really improved my calligraphy.

Here is a list of my favorite bullet journal supplies and my essentials.

Crayola SuperTips - Crayola SuperTips are used on almost all of my spreads! They are great for beginners, really affordable, and there are tons of colors. If you are looking to buy some markers to use in your bullet journal, then I recommend these ones.
Ecoline Brush Pens - The Ecoline brush pens are the newest addition to my stationery collection and I really like them, but they are on the pricey side. The ink is really smooth and juicy though. :)
Black Sharpie Pen - If you have read probably any of my other posts, then you will know that I always use a black sharpie pen for writing in my bullet journal.
Tombow Fudesonuke Brush Pens - Another great option for beginners, the Tombow Fudesonuke brush pens come in a two-pack: one hard tip, and one soft tip. I used the hard tip Tombow Fudesonuke brush pen for the calligraphy on this layout.
Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens - Even though these ones are a little bit expensive, they are double-tipped: one side is a brush tip, and the other side has a regular pointed tip, making them good for multiple purposes.
Zebra Mildliners - The Zebra Mildliners are also dual-tipped: a regular pointed tip, and a chisel tip. I bought them for color-coding, but I use them in my layouts too.
White Gel Pen - I use a white gel pen to mark out any mistakes I make on my layouts, and while it is sometimes still a little bit noticeable, it doesn't bother me.
Mechanical Pencil - I sketch in my layouts with a mechanical pencil first, and then I use ink afterward. Plus I use a pencil to sketch drawings in my bullet journal.
A Ruler - The stencil was used to draw all of the numbered circles.

That was a longer tangent than I thought it would be, but now it's time to get into the 10 layouts that I found the most helpful in 2020. :)

My 10 Most Helpful Bullet Journal Layouts of 2020

These are all layouts I am going to include in my 2021 bullet journal because they helped me to be more productive/I found them helpful. I will switch up the designs though for my 2021 bullet journal!

1. Year at a Glance

First up, this year at a glance layout was super helpful. I color-coded it and added symbols to it through out the year. I also used it to plan ahead, and to make my monthly layouts.

2. Best of 2020

As you can see, I haven't finished filling in this layout yet, but I am going to do it before the end of the year. :)

I think it's really important to remember the most important things that happened during the year and a bullet journal can be a journal as well as a planner. With a layout like this, you can be sure to not forget the important things that you want to remember.

You can also do a best of "the month" (January, February, etc.) if you have a lot you want to remember. I use a journal as well as my bullet journal, so I like to just have one layout for the entire year.

3. 21 Before 2021

This is my main goal setting layout for 2020 and it was really helpful to be able to flip to this layout quickly and see at a glance my goals for 2020 (and in an aesthetic way too, if I may say so myself).

I planned out the nitty gritty of how I was going to reach each of my goals on another layout, but it's handy to have a layout with all of your goals in one place too!

4. Bullet Journal Layout Ideas

Okay, maybe this is a little bit of a strange layout idea to include in my most helpful layouts of 2020 but hear me out.

I'm always having new ideas of layouts for my bullet journal, and I want to have somewhere to put them. I am definitely going to have one of these in my 2021 bullet journal because it will make the planning process of setting up my journal a lot smoother.

5. Blog Post Ideas

I know that this layout won't be a good fit for everyone, but as a blogger, this layout sure is a life saver for me! There is nothing worse as a blogger, than sitting in front of a blank screen and having no idea what to write about.

Even if you have done this for when you have to write a school paper, then you will know what it feels like.

6. My Capsule Wardrobe

Having an organized wardrobe and closet will make your life so much easier! In the morning when you wake up, you won't have to sit in front of your mirror wasting time, trying to decide what to wear because you can plan it out by using your bullet journal.

On this layout, I wrote down everything that was in my wardrobe at the time and the colors of my wardrobe so I can see what I need to buy.

7. My Daily Routine

Your bullet journal is supposed to help you be more productive and what better way to do that, then by using it to create a productive daily routine.

You can also make an actual daily routine before you make your new daily routine and then you can compare them to see what you need to change in your daily routine to make it your ideal routine.

8. My Weekly Schedule

When you plan out each day of your week, you can see where you have free time, and you can see where all the time goes to.

The next time you are feeling really stressed and busy, you can look at your weekly schedule, and realize that you spend too much time on your favorite app. Don't lie to yourself, you know which one I'm talking about!

9. My Favorite Monthly Layout

My layout for November was my favorite out of the eleven monthly layouts I created this year. I was sick in January so that is why I only made eleven layouts this year.

The habit tracker I did was really effective for me, even though I forgot to use my bullet journal for the second half of the month. Yes, I have times when I don't use my bullet journal too, and that is what makes the bullet journal such a great system because I can come back to my bullet journal after breaks without much wasted space.

10. Daily Layouts

I started using daily layouts just a couple of weeks ago and I like using them so much and it helps me to be more productive, to just make a simple daily layout like the one above.

My 10 Most Helpful Bullet Journal Layouts of 2020

Those are the 10 layouts that I used this year that I found the most helpful. They are definitely going to be in my 2021 bullet journal, which I am really excited to set up! I will most likely be doing a flip through, once I set it up, so make sure you come back in January for that, if you like my bullet journal style.

Plan With Me December Bullet Journal Layout

This layout is very similar to my November bullet journal layout because I didn't have a lot of time to make it so I wanted to go with a simple design. Plus I really liked how my bullet journal layout worked last time, so I wanted to do the same sort of setup this time.

If you are looking for an easier minimalist style set up, then this one might be a good fit for you!

Last year, I did a red and green traditional Christmas tree layout so this year I wanted to do something a little different, hence the winter wonderland theme. Plus, if you don't celebrate Christmas and are having a hard time finding a bullet journal theme, then this snowy winter bullet journal theme will work.

Supplies Used For My December Bullet Journal Layout

Crayola SuperTips - Crayola SuperTips are used on almost all of my spreads! They are great for beginners, really affordable, and there are tons of colors. If you are looking to buy some markers to use in your bullet journal, then I recommend these ones. I used a blue Crayola SuperTip on this layout.
Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens - Even though these ones are a little bit expensive, they are double-tipped: one side is a brush tip, and the other side has a regular pointed tip, making them good for multiple purposes.
Ecoline Brush Pens - The Ecoline brush pens are the newest addition to my stationery collection and I really like them, but they are on the pricey side. The ink is really smooth and juicy though. :)
Black Sharpie Pen - If you have read probably any of my other posts, then you will know that I always use a black sharpie pen for writing in my bullet journal.
White Gel Pen - I use a white gel pen to mark out any mistakes I make on my layouts, and while it is sometimes still a little bit noticeable, it doesn't bother me. I used a white gel pen on the lettering for "December" on this layout.
Mechanical Pencil - I used a mechanical pencil to sketch in some parts of this layout to make sure they were positioned correctly.
A Ruler - To draw straight lines of course! Straight lines are a must for me and I can't get them without a ruler.

December Bullet Journal Layout First Page

Header

I went back to using fonts from Creative Market as inspiration. For this layout, I used the Snowflake font and I felt like the name of the font went with the theme for this month. :)

To use the fonts from Creative Market as inspiration for your bullet journal layouts, all you have to do is follow the steps below.

Go to the website and find a font you like.
Click on it, and scroll down on the page until you see a box that says, "type to try it out".
Type in what you are planning on writing (In this case, I typed in "December")
Make the font as large as you can and there you go! You now have a new font to use in your bullet journal!

I wrote "December" in navy blue, and then I used a white gel pen on the top half to create the falling snow effect.

I also drew some simple snowflakes around the edges and along the top half of both pages.

Calendar

My calendar is very similar to November's calendar. You can probably tell I liked that layout a lot!

I usually do numbering for the days of the month, but this time I didn't, to make it more minimalist and I drew snowflakes on the calendar.

Goals

Below the calendar, I have a section for goals, where I write down my five goals for the month. At the bottom of the layout, I drew some snowy hills, which aren't visible in the photo because I drew them in very light. Plus, I drew some very simple tree doodles.

There is a box for each goal, but I could have also done a column, like I did on the next page, and had ten goals instead of five.

Highlights

Next to my goal section, I have a section where I write down my favorite memories and things from the month. At the end of the year, I pick my favorite memories and I add them to my "Best of 2020" layout.

December Bullet Journal Layout Second Page

Habits

I really liked the study tracker I did last month, so I am using the same method this month. I wrote down each of my school classes, and then I get to fill in the box if I studied for the class on that day. Plus now I don't have to write down all of my school classes on my daily to-do lists.

I also do have some habits that I am working on creating on this list, but it is mostly a study tracker.

Wishlist

It is that time of the year! I made myself a little wishlist, so I can write down what I would like to receive for Christmas. :)

Gift Ideas

Below that, I have a section for ideas of gifts that I am going to give to other people. It's pretty self-explanatory.

Plan With Me December Bullet Journal Layout

I can't believe it is already the last month of the year! Next month, I am going to have some entirely new layouts to show you for goal setting, etc, and I may have a new notebook as well. Make sure you come back for those ones if you liked this post! Below you can find a list of all of my plan with me posts for the year.

You may be wondering why I didn't do a "plan with me" post for January. My January was very chaotic because I was sick, but I'm hoping that January 2021 will be better.

I hope you all have a wonderful month. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Thank you for sharing this post! :)

December 05, 2020 No comments

With the new year just around the corner, your bullet journal is probably almost filled up, with happy memories from the year, and (hopefully completed) to-do lists. Migrating to a new bullet journal can be a large task. Where do you begin? What pages should you migrate to your new bullet journal?

Updated for 2024

Before I start this post, I wanted to give a shout out to the reader who requested this post. Thank you so much! I love hearing from my readers, so if you have any post ideas or a question about bullet journaling, productivity, or fashion, you can contact me here. :)

How should you migrate those pages over to your new notebook?

Should you just recreate those pages?

How do you make this a less time-consuming task?

Well, today, I am here to answer all of those questions about migrating into a new bullet journal for the year ahead and I will also give you some tips and ideas to make the migration process of starting a new bullet journal easier for you.

Let's get right into this post, shall we?

How to Migrate to a New Bullet Journal

The best place to start your bullet journal migration is at the back of your old bullet journal. When you are getting to the end of your bullet journal, you will want to start planning for your next bullet journal.

A few pages at the back of your old notebook will be enough.

This is where you plan out which pages you want to have in your new notebook. You can simply make a bulleted list, or you can actually sketch out miniatures of what you want each page to look like. Keep in mind that sketching out pictures of what you want each page layout to look like, will be more time-consuming.

You can also use this list to jot down new collection layouts you want to try out in your new bullet journal for the coming year.

How do you decide which pages to migrate?

Go back through every page in your notebook and look to see if you used it during the year, or if you found it helpful (aka notes that you referred to throughout the year, etc.).

Obviously, layouts like weekly to-do lists, and monthly trackers, will not need to be migrated to your new bullet journal, unless you haven't finished those to-do lists yet! :)

So mostly, the layouts you should be migrating to your new bullet journal are the collection layouts that you used and referred back to throughout the year. If you look back at a collection page, and you didn't fill it in or look back at it, then you will want to ask yourself, if you want to try to use it again next year.

If you do want to use it next year, then you can decide what you liked about this layout, and what you need to change to make the layout more effective.

Setting Up Your New Bullet Journal

Now you should know what pages you want to add to your new bullet journal. You should also use the bulleted list in your old bullet journal to decide what order you want to put the layouts in. For example, your list might look something like this.

38 - Books to Read | 12 |
10 - Goals for 2021 | 3 - 5 |
25 - Project Ideas | 7 |
80 - Capsule Wardrobe | 9 - 11 |
4 - Bullet Journal Layout Ideas | 6 |
63 - Bullet Journal Theme Ideas | 8 |
2 - Index | 2 |
1 - Key | 1 |
123 - Fitness Tracker | 13 - 15 |

Inside the brackets, is the page number the layout will have in your new notebook. The page number at the beginning of each bulleted point is the page number that that layout has in your old bullet journal. You might not include all of this information on your list, but you can if your bullet journal has a lot of layouts, and you want to further simplify the process.

Next, you can open up your new bullet journal and write in pencil at the top of each page, what that page is going to be. You have to decide where you want your collection layouts to be. Do you want them at the beginning, the end, or mixed in with your other layouts?

I mix my collection layouts in with my other layouts, and it works out because I have an up-to-date index. :)

Now it's time to actually migrate the pages in your bullet journal. Here are a bunch of options you can use.

1. Bullet Journal in a Binder

If you don't like migrating from one bullet journal to the next, you might want to try out bullet journaling in a binder like in the picture above.

I bullet journaled in a binder for over a year, but in the end, I decided that I didn't want the flexibility of being able to add and remove pages.

If you bullet journal in a binder, then one of the pros is that you never have to migrate from one notebook to the next. You can always leave your collection layouts in your notebook. Plus, you can organize your notebook because you can move the pages around.

2. Recreate Them

This is definitely going to be time-consuming, but if you like trying out new layout designs, then this is the way to go!

And if some of your layouts have incorrect information, then you cannot use the same layout as before, so you are going to have to redraw them anyway.

This is the method I do, and though it is more time-consuming, I like drawing in my bullet journal, so it is fun. :)

If you do decide to do this method, I recommend having a layout like I mentioned in the section "Setting up Your New Bullet Journal" and writing in pencil what each layout is supposed to be.

3. The Sticky Note Method

If there is a layout that you want to move to your next notebook, but you don't want to have to recreate or redraw it, you can simply cut it out of your old bullet journal, and then stick it into your new bullet journal with a bit of washi tape or glue.

To help it blend in a little more, you can also glue some craft paper overlapping a little or stickers to help it blend in.

Make sure you cut the layout to be a little smaller than your notebook, so the page doesn't end up sticking over the edge of the page you glue it on to.

4. Inserting a Page

Carefully cut out the page really close to the binding. You might have to use an Exacto knife. Just know, that when doing this, the page on the other side might also fall out.

Now open up your new bullet journal to where you want to add your page. Lay it flat inside the book as if it already was a page. Then take a piece of tape that is as long as your notebook and put it half on the page that is already in the book and the layout you are trying to add to your notebook.

Then flip the page over and add another piece of tape on the other side. There you go! You have now added a page to your bullet journal.

This will only work a couple of times though. It definitely won't work, if you want to migrate half of your bullet journal!

Migrating to a New Bullet Journal

That's it! Using the methods above, you can migrate from your old bullet journal to your new bullet journal in less time.

Starting a new bullet journal is fun, but it is always a big task, so plan ahead and most likely you won't be able to do it in one sitting so break it up and don't try to do it all at once.

If you liked this post, you can read these ones too!

I hope you liked this post and that it helped you migrate to your new bullet journal!

Please share this post if you liked it. Thank you!

November 28, 2020 No comments

Oops! Any bullet journalist or artist knows how it feels when their pen accidentally slips or they try out a new style and it doesn't turn out exactly how they thought it would. But what to do? Should you just rip the page out of your bullet journal and toss your hour of hard work?

The Best Ways to Fix Bullet Journal Mistakes

Updated for 2024

Of course not! Unless you really really want to start over. There are plenty of tips and tricks you can do to cover up those little or even large mistakes.

And then at the end of the day, if you still just simply hate that layout, you can glue those two pages together (Using gluestick and not regular glue so the new page doesn't turn out all wrinkly), instead of ripping it out and weakening the binding on the notebook, you are using.

But hopefully, you can use these tips to fix your bullet journal mistakes instead!

The Best Ways to Fix Bullet Journal Mistakes

First, let me ask you... what is the best way to fix a bullet journal mistake?

You might not think of it right off, but of course, the best way to fix a bullet journal mistake is to not make it in the first place. So where we want to start, is the ways you can eliminate making bullet journal mistakes! :)

1. Use an Erasable Writing Instrument

The easiest way to eliminate making mistakes is to use an erasable writing instrument. You can still make mistakes obviously, but you can erase them afterward and no one will know!

Simply draw out your entire layout using a pencil first, and then go over it in pen. Just doing this alone, eliminates a lot of the mistakes I know I would make. :)

And yes, it might take you a little longer to sketch the layout using a pencil first but think how much time it will take you to fix a large bullet journal mistake. You might even have come to this post because you just barely made a large mistake in your bullet journal.

You can also find erasable pens so that you don't need to go over it with a pen. If you don't like pencils, then that might be a good option for you.

Plus, use a ruler... unless, you don't care about having straight lines. I know I do! You can also use stencils, and stamps when drawing shapes to help eliminate errors.

2. Use a White Gel Pen

Ahhh! A white gel pen is definitely a lifesaver for me and the first way I try to fix a mistake! If you look closely at the picture above, you can see where I messed up on the "at" in "at - a - glance", but I covered it up with a white gel pen, and then I redid it. Now it is hardly noticeable.

White gel pens are very cheap, so I recommend having one in your bullet journal essentials kit.

If the ink showing through, annoys you, then you can buy a white paint pen that will have thicker ink, but it may take longer for the ink to dry.

3. Cover it with a Darker Color

If you take a look at the first photo in this post, you can see that the header for "goals" is a black square with white ink on top and while I didn't make a mistake right there, it can definitely work as a solution to fix mistakes.

Even if you make a mistake using a very dark color, all is not lost, because you can simply make a square or a circle and write on top of it using your handy white gel pen. Gold and silver gel pens would be fun too!

If you make a mistake in a lighter color, you can always use a darker color on top and it won't be noticeable. Like in the picture below, if I hadn't liked the lettering, or had made a mistake, I could cover it up with a darker color and used a white gel pen to "erase" any bits that were left showing.

4. Stickers + Washi Tape

Cover up your mistake with an aesthetic sticker that matches the rest of the page or if the mistake is in a lighter color, then you can use washi tape.

Plus, I want to mention that if your lettering is off-centered and you really just want it centered, you can draw a doodle, or use a sticker to center the heading. That might be what I did on the layout above. ;)

This can work for small and medium-sized mistakes. Sticky notes are also a good idea and to make it more permanent, you can use a glue stick to glue it all the way down.

5. Craft Paper

Oh, those large mistakes! When you do the whole header and it turns out looking ugly or when your hand slips and it messes up the whole thing. What can you do then?

Use a little bit of craft paper (or a large bit of craft paper depending on how large the mistake) is and some glue stick to cover up the whole thing. Then you can add some washi tape or a little sticker in one corner, to make it look like it was intentional.

You can also save the extra dotted paper you may have from doing dutch-door layouts and use that instead because it will blend in with the page.

After you glue it down, write overlapping the edge, to make the paper you added to your notebook less noticeable.

The Best Ways to Fix Bullet Journal Mistakes

Those are the best ways I know to fix bullet journal mistakes, but if you decide that you really don't like how it looks after you try some of these methods, you can always cut a dutch-door layout, or you can glue two pages together.

We all make bullet journal mistakes and other mistakes too. :)

Over time though, your bullet journal layouts will improve and you will find that you make fewer mistakes! If you don't believe me, just take a look at my first bullet journal and then come back to this post and look at these layouts again.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy these ones!

I hope you found these tips helpful! If you did, please consider leaving a comment or giving it a share. Thank you so much! :)

Pin this one for later. I even made you a pretty pin!

November 21, 2020 No comments

That moment when you have been on your phone or laptop scrolling for more than half an hour and you still haven't completed what you actually turned on your device to do is really a great feeling! You were only going to check your social media notifications right? And not actually scroll your feed for 30 minutes? I know the feeling, so today, I have some simple ways you can increase your productivity when you are online.

How to Increase Your Productivity Online

Updated for 2024

Your devices, whether that be your laptop, your phone, or even your smartwatch, are supposed to make your life easier. They make your life harder though when you get sucked into using them for very long periods of time, and you don't have time to do what you really want to do.

These tips are going to be mostly for your phone, but they can also apply to your laptop, your tablet, iPad, or smartwatch.

Without further ado, let's get straight into the tips so you don't waste time on your tech!

Simple Ways to Increase Your Productivity Online

1. Have an Organized Device

Okay. I know this first one is very broad, but let me explain. If your phone or laptop files aren't organized it is going to take a long time to find what you need. When was the last time you organized your emails or actually got to inbox zero?

If you make it a regular habit to organize the files on your phone or laptop, then it won't build up into a huge task you have to complete.

For example, you might go through the photos on your phone every month, and delete the ones you don't need or want. After that, you might stick them into folders in your gallery for easier access to the ones you need to be able to find quickly.

You could also set aside time each week to go through your emails and the files on your laptop. Whenever you download something you can also change the name of the file and stick it in the correct folder right away, instead of trying to remember what it was called when you need it a few weeks later. That is a time saver right there!

And if you are guilty of having no folders on your laptop, then make sure you take some time to go through all of your files and make folders to divide them into categories. Trust me! It is better to do it now, than in a year, when you have three times the amount of files to go through.

2. Don't Have Your To-Do List on Your Phone

I know how easy and convenient it is to have everything on your phone, but because your phone has everything on it, it also has fun distractions like social media and online games as well as organizational tools.

When you go on your phone to look at your to-do list, you might also see that someone just texted you a meme and if you go and respond to the meme, then you might forget about your to-do list because you can just complete it tomorrow. Let's face it. Procrastination is real, but you can read How to Stop Procrastinating + Be More Productive to give you some tips to fight it.

So instead of having your to-do list on your phone, consider using a bullet journal or a planner so you don't get distracted when you look at your to-do list. But what about when you don't have your bullet journal or planner with you and you think of a task you need to complete?

Make a note on your phone with a notification/reminder and then when you are around your planner or bullet journal, you can add it to your real to-do list.

3. Turn Off Unnecessary Notifications

Be honest with yourself. Do you really need to have notifications on for TikTok and Instagram?

Now you might try to tell yourself that someone might need to tell you something important and they can only reach you through TikTok or Instagram in an emergency situation because the text messaging app on their phone isn't working, but this is probably never going to happen. If you are telling this to yourself, then you are lying to yourself.

Turn off the notifications for all, yes all, unnecessary apps, even if you can only persuade yourself to do this during school or work hours. And if you can't do that, then consider leaving your phone somewhere where you can't reach it while you work or do homework.

If you want to increase your productivity, even more, you might take the step and just delete all the social media apps from your phone. *gasp*

But if you aren't ready to do that, then make sure that your social media apps are not on your phone's home screen. Stick all of your social media and fun apps into a folder that you only look at after everything else is done.

4. Limit the Amount of Tabs You Have Open on Your Device

Yes, multi-tasking. You might think that multi-tasking is going to help you be more productive, but when you are trying to do two things at once, you cannot remain focused on the task at hand because you are switching between tasks!

Now if your task requires you to have multiple tabs open, then, of course, don't open and close tabs just so you can have only one tab open at a time. That would be a time-waster!

When you are on your laptop, you really don't need to have your emails open the entire time. Check your emails once, and then close it, unless you are waiting for a specific email that you need to take action on immediately. Otherwise, it is just a distraction.

Did you really need to know that Target just sent you a promotional email?

I think not.

Don't have a tab open on your laptop just because you want to be able to see when you have a new notification because that is setting yourself up for multi-tasking, which you want to avoid.

5. Set Time Limits + Alarms

So maybe you are doing educational things online, but you still don't want to spend a lot of time on your technology because we all have other things we need to do.

The solution is to set an alarm on your phone or start a stopwatch, so you can actively see how much time you have spent on your device.

When the timer goes off, get off your device. It's simple in theory, but harder to do in real life. This way though, you will do the most important things on your device first, because you know that when the timer goes off, you need to get off and go do something else.

6. Know What You Are Going to Do

Make a list if you have to but know why you are unlocking your phone. Are you bored? Are you avoiding socializing?

Plus, you don't want to unlock your phone to do a task, and then after you do it, forget what else you came online to do so you open up social media to look at, while you try to remember what else to do.

Skip that whole scenario by simply knowing what you want to do online.

Simple Ways to Increase Your Productivity Online

It's time for a quick wrap-up of what is in this post. You can jot these down in your planner but try not to just make another note on your phone that is going to add to your digital clutter. :)

Have an Organized Device - Go through and organize your devices on a schedule whether that be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. The more you do it, the easier it will be.
Don't Have Your To-Do List on Your Phone
Turn Off Unnecessary Notifications - All of them!
Limit the Number of Tabs You Have Open on Your Device
Set Time Limits + Alarms
Know What You Are Doing

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy these posts about productivity.

How are you going to increase your productivity online? By turning your device off right now? Good idea! ;)

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November 14, 2020 No comments

November is my favorite month of the year so I went with my favorite color for the color palette! My favorite color is pink in case you haven't noticed yet. :) This month, I didn't really go with a theme, but I used washi tape, which I haven't used for a while. The year is almost over, so let's end it being productive!

Updated for 2024

Plan With Me November Bullet Journal Layout

I changed up a few things from my usual bullet journal layout style, but I did go back to having a larger calendar than the one I did for last month and I added a gratitude section especially for November and Thanksgiving. The calendar I did this month, looks very similar to the one I did for August.

This layout was very quick to make as opposed to some of my layouts that have drawings and intricate lettering. It took me around an hour to make and I like how it turned out. :)

Here is the list of supplies I used to make this layout. There aren't many of them because I only used a few colors!

Supplies Used For My November Bullet Journal Layout

Crayola SuperTips - Crayola SuperTips are used on almost all of my spreads! They are great for beginners, really affordable, and there are tons of colors. If you are looking to buy some markers to use in your bullet journal, then I recommend these ones. I used a black Crayola SuperTip on the calendar.
Ecoline Brush Pens - The Ecoline brush pens are the newest addition to my stationery collection and I really like them, but they are on the pricey side. The ink is really smooth and juicy though. :)
Black Sharpie Pen - If you have read probably any of my other posts, then you will know that I always use a black sharpie pen for writing in my bullet journal.
White Gel Pen - I use a white gel pen to mark out any mistakes I make on my layouts, and while it is sometimes still a little bit noticeable, it doesn't bother me. I also used a white gel pen for the numbering on the calendar.
Mechanical Pencil - I used a mechanical pencil to sketch in some parts of this layout to make sure they were positioned correctly.
A Ruler - To draw straight lines of course! Straight lines are a must for me and I can't get them without a ruler.
Washi Tape - The washi tape on this spread was all bought from Michaels.

Now for how I set up the actual layout!