Tips for Being Organised!

I use a calendar on my smartphone. You can set reminders in advance, which is really helpful.
Before that we used to make a family calendar on a large piece of cardboard which was kept in the kitchen so that everyone could add their own events.

Have you tried looking in an office stationery shop? The office wall planners could be what you are looking for, usually a good size and laminated.

Hi thanks for the ideas!

I do use my smart phone but theres something about writing stuff down which seems to help me get it in my head. Actually we always had a family calendar when the children were young - it was great help. I've just bought a diary/planner from staples -not too expensive so will see how it goes. I like the idea of a wall planner too - sometimes I get free ones with craft magazines so maybe a mix of all these systems might work!

I bought a wall planner/calendar recently which can be started any time of the year. I got it for tracking how well I am feeling and having a visual of the peaks and troughs of my illnesses. It is up in my living room and I have small emoticon stickers regarding good/not too bad/bad days and then space to write in for what I have done on that day, only like "Garden Centre" or "Hospital" that sort of thing. I got it off either Amazon or ebay. It didn't cost a lot and will be a good indicator for me to keep track of how I am doing in the next few months.

I've also bought my son a planner for this year, normally buy him a calendar, Top Gear or such like, but got a planner this year so that he can do his planning for assignments/work etc at uni. It has robots on the cover so appropriate for him doing robotics and A.I.

Hi Rubylady

That's a fab idea for keeping track of illness symptoms. I have fibromyalgia and arthritis as well as Hashimotos and pernicious anaemia so it would be useful for me to keep track of what I've done and how it affected me afterwards so I can better plan my activities in the future. Had to laugh at 'garden centre' and 'hospital' snap!

Granny It's about as far as I go, to the garden centre and medical stuff. Oh, the occasional Dunelm visit, when I push the boat out. Yes, it has been helpful to see a pattern emerge. It is a bit rubbish though when I do a couple of hours somewhere and then it's three days recovering. Never mind eh.

I hope this damp weather isn't playing your fibromyalgia and arthritis up. Never heard of Hashimotos, what is it? If you don't mind me asking?

Maybe different coloured stickers for different conditions would be best and then you could see if one condition was worse than another instead of doing all the them together.

It's a really lovely calendar, with pictures down the sides of rainbows, Easter Bunny, Father Christmas, patio set for July etc, plus all the dates you need of special events through the year. I use Amazon's Mini traffic light stickers and then the calendar is from ebay - A2 size 2016-2017 Academic Illustrated Wall Planner/Calendar/Poster £5.99 plus £3.50 postage, but well worth it in my opinion. I have one gold star on it too, that must have been a really good day for me, one day in over a month. Let me know how you go on. for you, X.

After having tried the usual calendars and even trying to sync my iPad diary with my daughter's I bought a new diary in Sept. ( it had to be an academic one) as I was fed up of being told at the last minute that we had an early start or overnight with the GCs. The one I got from Paperchase is A5, has a calendar/planner at the front for this year and at the back for next year. I write short details on the planner part, limited space and then full details in appropriate day in the diary. I like this because I can see upcoming events on the planner and so feel more prepared. It is small enough to take with me if needed. This does mean the space on the planner is small. This is working for me.

Rubylady - Dunelm yes me too? Thanks for the coloured stickers idea - I'd actually been thinking along the same lines. Going to have a look on Amazon. Don't know if it's the weather or just the time of year but I do get really tired with all there is to do! Hashimotos is an auto immune underactive thyroid condition- can be up and down with it. I do go out often, but as you said, it has to be balanced with rest days.

Nandalot - that sounds good system! My new planner has a monthly, yearly and weekly section so I can hopefully keep track with more details in the weekly section. I think I just need to be dedicated in filling it in properly. With this and the wall planner idea from Rubylady I'm hopeful for a more organised 2017. Just need DD to let me know in plenty of time about grandchildren events now!!

Card factory have a large range

Thanks omipips - - that's birkenhead isn't it?