Using stationery to be (semi) organised

With World Stationery Day coming up soon (who knew that was a thing?) I thought that it would be a good time to share with you how I use different bits of stationery to stay (semi) organised. When I was younger I always loved taking a trip to WHSmith before the new school year started to choose my new pencil case, pens and other items. Getting older this love has only grown stronger and I now continue to add to my supplies all year round and have found that different pieces really help with my productivity. 

Whether this be on paper, or electronically, my top top tip for being organised with anything, is to write it down. (Also do this somewhere where you'll remember where it is!). For personal appointments and other things like shopping lists, I use my bullet journal and Tom and I have a calendar hanging in our lounge, but you could use a planner* (to celebrate World Stationery Day, Old English Company are giving you the chance to win a set of their four new gorgeous planners!) or I used to use an academic diary when I was at uni. As I like to keep work at work and not mix with my personal, I use google calendar for meetings/reminders and it's handy as everyone I work with does as well so it's easy to use collaboratively! I like to have things on paper and physically write things down, but it's so much easier to use an electronic diary when you need others to be able to see when you're free and vice versa. 

You know the saying about how having a clear space means you'll have a clear mind? Personally I totally agree with this and I simply can't get things done if my desk is a complete mess and I've got documents all over the place. To assist with this I like to keep a stack of post it notes for to do lists, as once you've completed a task you can simply remove the post it and pop it in the bin! I have different notebooks for different things, and I'll pop a colourful page marker in on pages that has information I'll need to refer back to. I also find I am more productive if I feel comfortable in my surroundings, so I make sure I have some photos or pretty notebooks out on my desk and will mix these up throughout the year to keep my space feeling fresh.

Going back to to-do lists, there is absolutely no point in making a list the size of your arm, as it isn't feasible for you to get it all done in one go, and looking at a massive list is daunting and will actually deter your productivity. I also find that it's better to get the big/worst tasks out of the way first as from then on the only way is up and you haven't got those looming over you throughout the day!

Obviously being organised doesn't just help out at work, but it helps in your personal life too. At home I have one folder where I keep all the important adult documents together and keep this separated by themes such as car, house, or Tilly. Although these are not the most exciting things, these are documents that you'll need at a later date and it saves so much time when you need to find them if you have them all together! As I said earlier I use my bullet journal purely for my personal life, and I've really found this method to boost my productivty (I will be doing a review at a later date to go through how I've been using it this year) but again it's about finding what works for you and if something doesn't that does for everyone else that's absolutely fine.

I find that the situation depends on what type of stationery I will use, for example I would highlight/page mark any important pieces of text in a book I was reading for my degree, or I would make my own handouts for revision. A lot of this has come through trial and error so if you're in need of a organisational boost I'd have a go at trying the above, but always bear in mind that what works for some people may not work for you and that's fine! I'd love to hear how you use any stationery to stay organised (or any more general organisational tips!)

Jess x

*This post is sponsored by Old English Company. All opinions and words are 100% honest and my own. No affiliate links have been used. For more information please see my disclaimer.