Turning Tasks Into Intention
By Alexa Peters Posner, Youth Frontiers’ HR Generalist
I know my first few years of “adulting” have been mild compared to many of my peers’. Still, simply accomplishing the day-to-day essentials often seems like all I have time for. With work taking up about half of my waking time, it feels as though grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, etc. gobble up the rest. This year, I will keep on top of these tasks while not letting them take over my life. I intend to feel good about how I spend my days, and if I don’t, to set tangible goals to make it so. To execute this, I will use my handy dandy Bullet Journal.
What is a Bullet Journal, or BuJo, you ask? It’s a magical tool that validated my love of using different colored pens and staying organized. It’s a perfect canvas for exploring the joys of washi tape and, if you ask my friends, it represents me in paper form.
In May 2016, my good friend Neely introduced me to the Bullet Journal, a way to organize anything and everything from your calendar, habits you want to start or maintain, your mood tracker, your reading list, to your meeting notes. The beauty of the BuJo is that you make it your own. While I rely on Google Calendar for work, I refuse to go completely digital for my planning needs. It’s much more fun to pull out my colorful masterpiece to jot down a thought or plan the next meal with a friend than locate and turn on my computer.
My Bullet Journal journey started with a video, and 174 pages later I’m on to version 2.0. Perfect timing! This year, I will use my Bullet Journal to help me keep on track with my intention. I feel most jazzed about life when I do even the little things I plan — writing and sending friends birthday cards in time for them to arrive on the actual birthday, keeping track of my budget, vacuuming my car. When I’m accomplishing the small tasks, I feel motivated to really make the most of my days. That’s the kind of year I intend to have. I will be on top of my to-do lists in order to carve out time for more meaningful, creative and innovative activities during my free time. To have the headspace to read during my lunch break, plan a weekend trip, attend and engage in community events, be present and attentive with my family and friends, and live this new year to the fullest.
Think about what intention you will set for this new year. What is your “I will” statement?
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