As technology becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, it can become very easy to overcomplicate things, particularly when it comes to organising and planning. It’s tempting to jump from app to app, or buy multiple planners in order to track various areas of our lives, but the reality is, it doesn’t need to be like that. It’s actually very easy to simplify everything and organise your entire life using just one notebook. 

The Power of a Single Notebook System

Most people overcomplicate their organisational systems. There are so many apps, software, and physical planners available that it can be very easy to have one for each area of your life. But then all of a sudden you’re losing track of your trackers, and the very things that were meant to make you feel organised have quite the opposite effect. 

These are the downsides of having too many apps. They might all individually do a perfect job of tracking their specialist area, but keeping track of your trackers shouldn’t be a chore. 

This is where the benefit of having a single central notebook comes into play. It’s simple. But it’s effective. And it’s completely personalised. Anyone can do it, and you can track what matters. 

What You Need

It might sound obvious, but just to labour the point of how easy it is (because it is!), below is a list of stuff you need to make this work:

• A notebook (lined, plain, or bullet – whatever works best for you!)
• A pen (any colour you choose)
• Sticky notes/tabs (optional, but can help find specific things in your notebook)

Before You Begin

Before you start writing in your notebook, take a scrap piece of paper and write down a list of all the areas of your life that you want to track and organise. 

This is entirely up to you, and personal to your life, but a few areas you might want to think about are:

• Monthly overviews 
• Daily to-do lists
• General Notes
• Goal tracking
• Habit trackers
• Meal planners

Creating Sections In Your Notebook

Now you know what areas of your life you want to track, you can start creating sections in your planner. 

The beauty of doing this yourself is that you can leave out all the stuff usually included in planners that you don’t find helpful.

Work out how many pages you’ll need for each section, and add sticky notes or tabs to separate the pages, if you have them available. The good thing about sticky notes is that you can move them around!

Also, don’t forget to add an Index Page at the back of your notebook. You can add page numbers as you move through the notebook, and add in the sections to the index with page numbers so you can easily reference back to specific pages you’ve created. 

Mistakes to Avoid

This is your notebook, and your organisation system, so ultimately, you can do whatever you want. But my advice would be not to map the entire planner out by drawing tables and sections on every page before you even start planning. 

The beauty of using a notebook is that you can remain agile. If you feel a section isn’t working for you, you don’t have to stick to it and can change it as you move through. If you’ve planned out the whole notebook in advance, it’s much harder to change, and you might as well have bought a pre-made planner. 

It can also be really overwhelming to map out the entire planner before you begin, because it will feel like a chore to complete it. Just make sure you have enough space for each area of your life, and then plan out the page as you go.

Also, don’t worry about making it look too perfect. This is your planner. No one apart from you needs to see it. If your handwriting isn’t perfect or your lines aren’t straight enough, don’t worry. As long as you can read it, it’s all good!

Final Thoughts: Your Notebook As Your Hub

The whole idea of a single notebook to organise your entire life is that it creates less stress, better organisation, and more personalisation. 

It can totally evolve and change with you. You don’t need to be dictated to about how to plan your life with a pre-made planner. You can create an organisation system that works for you and helps you meet your goals. 

And the beauty of all of this is that anyone can start right away. I’m sure you have a notebook hanging around your house somewhere, and if you don’t, you can pick one up fairly inexpensively in a local shop or online. 

And if you are looking for high-quality notebooks designed for this exact system, then why not check out the Two Hundred Pages notebooks, available here: