Why So Much?

Patti, why do you blog soooooooooooo much about organization and planners?

Sorry.

This is a repeat for some of you, but I have ADHD and trying to keep myself organized is an ongoing process. I literally only share a fraction of what I test out to stay focused.

It was a little easier while my dad was still alive because I handle daily tasks like a pro because of the daily pages in my planner. I even can manage the monthly appointments, but everything else? It's chaos for me. My dad used to remind me of weekly or quarterly or infrequent items and now? I'm on my own for those.

2025 was my year of experimentation because he passed away at the end of 2024. I figured out how to keep track of more than monthly appointments (i.e. monthly tasks) relatively quickly thanks to monthly dashboard stickers. It took a little experimentation to figure out what titles to put on the dashboard boxes, but I have that nailed now and it's smooth.

But weekly tasks? No matter what I tried in 2025, nothing worked. It all just got ignored, which is why I cannot use a weekly planner no matter how hard I try. I'm completely capable of not noticing anything on a weekly layout.

2026 was the year I was determined to figure out my weekly problem. I started out with far too many box stickers laid out on the blank page my planner has in front of every week. I quickly learned that less is more. I pared down to three boxes. To Do, This Week, and Don't Forget. This seems to be working better.

So far.

I also wanted to organize my writing better. I have my kanban board for keeping track of progress. It was a game changer when I first started using it and it's still working for me years later. I am reward focused, and believe it or not, moving a Post-it Note into the Finished category gives me a dopamine rush.

That also works for checking items off my daily to-do list. There's something so satisfying about that.

I also have a writing planner now--two of them. The second one was an accident, but I ended up really liking it, and if I can find a way to get the circles that I color in on the first (big) planner into my tiny writing planner, 2027 will move me to one, but coloring those word count circles in is exciting for me.

This is my long apology for all the planner and organization posts that show up here. This is something I deal with all the time. 

Appointment Stickers

I received no compensation of any kind for this post. I paid for all items mentioned on my own.

I saw some stencils that had a small box for the time and a larger box mostly surrounding it. The idea is that the time goes in the tiny box and the big box is for what the time indicates.

Cool, I thought. But I learned that I am too sloppy with stencils and I don't like sloppy. Considering the fact that I don't even like my stickers to be crooked when I put them down, I should have realized that stencils would be a problem for me.

It's not that I never use stencils--I have quite a collection--but I use them seldomly because of my lack of skill with them. More practice?

But then I found stickers that mimic these stencils! I immediately ordered them and they are literally the best stickers I've ever used for appointments.

 

 

Here is the appointment sticker in use. My haircut appointment actually changed from 2:30 to 2pm, which is why the sticker is a little lower than it should be and that fact that the time isn't written smoothly. (Yes, I am that anal, hence the reason why the stencils are a problem for me.) I added the little scissors/comb sticker. It is not part of the appointment sticker pack, but something I bought from a different sticker maker. 

And these are the actual appointment stickers from Orange Umbrella (again, received no compensation of any kind. I bought all my own stickers). I like all the color options. My plan is to assign a color to every kind of appointment. For example, haircut is pale pink, dentist is olive green, and so on.

These stickers work for me so much better than box stickers, even the mini box stickers. The time for the appointment is in the color box because that's the important information I need first. What the appointment is for goes in the bigger white box.

I've been adding little mini icons--a tooth for the dentist, the haircut icon in the picture above, a stethoscope for the doctor.

I love my mini icons, too. I wish more sticker companies made the ultra tiny ones so that I had more options available. 

Currently Stamps

I found a new set of Currently stamps for my notebook. I'm still using the same title stamp because the new stamp set didn't have anything that worked.

The Currently Reading bookshelf and the Currently Listening box with the CD and the musical notes were so much cuter than what I was using.

The picture to the left of my Currently setup was taken before I completed it. The little box at the bottom right-hand corner also received a stamp that says "Today." I usually just add a highlight or something memorable that happened there.

I also have "Writing" and "Loving," but those are from my old stamp set because the new set doesn't have either one of those options.

This is also my daily Gratitude Journal, although I keep that up at the front in a dated section that gives me room to write, but not so much space that it's overwhelming.

I started doing this at the end of last year and I like having a separate space for this, something away from my planner or my regular journal.

 

 

This is the section where I record my gratitude for the day. This is from last fall, I think October, hence the fall colors and theme. I'm too lazy to take another picture.

 

 

 

And here is my November picture with the old stamp set I was using. Everything is plain and I like the new stamps with the Bookshelf and the CD so much more. It adds a little something.

 

 

Overwhelm

Sometimes it amazes me what people think is an appropriate format to communicate important information.

As an example, I had an event that required a two-page PDF document to share necessary instructions and it was a nightmare for someone with ADHD.

Namely this ADHDer.

OMG! Multiple colors, no way to tell what was important from details that were informational, poor organization. It was immediately overwhelming, just from a visual standpoint, and then when I tried to consume the instructions for what was expected from me, the overwhelm became a million times worse. I ended up printing out the TWO pages and taking a highlighter to decipher the damn thing.

And because of the color scheme, I'm betting there are people with color blindness who have issues with it, too. Luckily, I don't have to deal with that because ADHD is enough.

I don't know who put this together. I don't know who approved this. But it's clear they aren't neurodivergent.

Before I got my ADHD diagnosis, I would have assumed there was just something wrong with me. Now I know it's a document not formatted/created/color schemed/laid out with people like me in mind. It's still frustrating, but at least I know it's not my fault. That's something. 

Weekly Planning Solved (I Hope)

Like I mentioned on Tuesday, I finally found a weekly planning system that seems to be working for me.

The monthly overview I use with dashboard stickers that I buy straightened me out last year and made remembering the stuff I need to get done monthly easy to see.

I laid out a section for bills and cross them off as they're paid. I have a section for tasks that are done every month, including writing my newsletter. I have another section for important dates like doctor appointments. And a don't forget section for more miscellaneous things.

Now I needed to solve my weekly task issue, and it was a huge was a huge problem for me. HUGE!

2025 was my planner experimental year and I never exactly handled my weekly problem. Nothing I tried worked for more than a few weeks.

2026 was a new planner layout with a page I could use as a weekly overview page the same way I had my monthly overview page. I was hopeful.

I ran into problems in the first few weeks I laid out. But I figured out what the issue was. Too many categories. Because I could fit six or seven box stickers on the page, I did. I labeled each one differently and became totally overwhelmed. When the weeks I'd setup before I actually used the planner were finished and it was time to setup the next one, I decided to replicate the monthly more closely.

As few boxes as possible.

The monthly overview has four boxes. I went with three boxes on my weekly layout and it's working. One is for This Week. One is for Projects. One is labeled Important. Fingers crossed that this continues to work.