When skipping through my future agenda a sense of panic, acceptance (panic) and duty (panic) came over me. Basically: The game is on, Watson! (yes, I play Holmes in this roleplay. You have no choice in the matter so don't come arguing about how much a better Holmes you would make than me because I won't hesitate for a second to change you into Lestrade!). And I hope to keep up with this game better than ever. That's to say: this time I don't want to follow the rules but make them, create them and play them. All by myself (I'm Sherlock Holmes, dammit). This means lists, planners and bullets! I want to be prepared on the battlefield and as they say: A good start is half the work.


How I plan to do this? I need help. I'm disorganised. Organisation will be key this coming year. Victory will be mine if I can handle (and perhaps even win) the battle of deadlines, stress and... life (not to make it sound dramatic, it is dramatic). However I'll be needing some ammunition...

But first, some notes to myself:

- Know the dates, write the dates, act according to the dates. However: you also need to be a little bit flexible. We're talking college: They'll move and groove around and you should just move and groove around with them (if they yell jump, you ask how high). If all fails, blame it on the boogie! But in all seriousness, this year -as for many- will be danced around deadlines. You've not even cha-cha-cha'd your way out of one, in comes the salsa with the other. And I create for myself no dream image if I can tell you that at one point I'll be shaking my hips, tapping my feet and swirling my arms at the same time. It's going to be chaos. Hell, It's already chaos when looking at my schedule! That's why I'm arming myself up in the first place (to get at least rid of one 'panic'). Remember: although you're a bad dancer and you've stubbed your toe, you can always just nod your head to the rhythm of the beat.


- Besides organisation I'll need a sense of overview. An idea of what I am/should/must/try to be doing and when. Naturally this is all hidden away in the data, data, data, but the headquartes (as mentioned in the point above) will be overflown when everything is everywhere all the time. I can't ask how high I should jump if I'm lying on the ground crying or hopping around like a maniac. Layers is the answer, I think. To provide the needed information in particular layers (from big to precise), I can move my way through -and jump over- any 'unpleasantness' that stands in my way. This means, as the title of this post already suggests, multiple shapes and sizes of guns to shoot with. Remember: we're going into battle, but you don't eliminate every villain with a machete knife, sometimes a simple potato knife can finish the job too, if you get what I mean...


- Keep things in the right place. Again, this could be taken as the general meaning of organisation, but in my experience this isn't necessarily the case. This might be a personal fight, but I tend to write on everything. A piece of paper here, a notebook there, the back of a shopping list, the side of a newspaper... Don't just keep things in the right place, keep it in -one- place. That notebook for that and this back of a shopping list for this (also put it in -one- place, it will safe you some desperate moments (and yes, there are going to be some desperate moments)). It seems so easy. It should be so easy. Just do it. (Yes we can). Remember: Although the side of the newspaper, at this point, seems to be a good place to write something down, it isn't (it isn't). You most definitely regret this choice (you will) when you're writing that essay and you can't find that brilliant line that ties everything perfectly together because you wrote it on the side of that packaging you put on the pile of lost notes you'll remember this post, this moment, and cry for that oh-so-perfect line.

- Ok, so you've offered yourself for the greater good, but to be able to hold this 'thought', this 'tension', you must also be able to rewind from time to time. To sit back and relax. You know what this means to create such leisure? Planning ahead. Shoot the bullets you need to shoot and create the time you'll need to recover from this battle. Remember: We can't (pretend to) be heroes 24/7.


Some bullets to shoot with:

- A (physical) appointment diary to take with you to jot down dates, places and time. (very important). I personally prefer to see things on paper (as discussed above) and a diary-on-the-go helps you (me) to keep important appointments in one place. I always use quite a cheap one so I won't feel 'the pain' when it gets dirty or when I'm making a mess of it (scratching through dates, my ugly 'ugh' handwriting etc.).


- Something new (for me): A Bullet Journal to keep next to your bed. I've heard about the infamous Bullet Journal, but when reading [this] Buzzfeed article about it I was sold. It sounds like something easy to do (which you can naturally make bigger and bolder if you like). You can use it to plan ahead, but also to look back and 'monitor' your feelings, behaviour (and appointments). The beauty: in contrast to my long-story-style (which takes a lot of time and commitment I neither have, I mean, I've never fully committed to any (artistic) diary and gave up on many because of 'the pressure'), the Bullet Journal lends its name from the 'bullet point'. This means short and sweet (with room to -again- go big and bold). This is -basically- lists. Lots of lists bundled -hopefully pretty, most likely meh- in one place. (I'm good at lists, which gives me hope.) It's multiple topics, multiple 'goals' and most of all it's less chaos. (And it looks like fun). I've chosen for a notebook I've had for many many years but never used (because it's so pretty and pristine and I don't want to spoil it, but, ya know, we all need to make sacrafices in this battle if we want to achieve something in the first place. Therewith, Vincent's flowers make me happy so why not just use it).

- A calander to hang on the wall, somewhere you can clearly see it, and be reminded of (big) important dates (going to a concert or, ya know, that very big and important essay you need to hand in, or something). I use the ~free~ monthly calendars from Rookie (click [here] for September's calendar).


How are you going into battle? Prepared and ready to shoot or crying on the floor and wishing you had spend your summer 'better' (like me *sigh* I mean, this post might look like much, but it isn't, but it will, I hope, maybe (help me)). Let me know in the comments below! Elementary, my dear Watson.

Love,
Dominique


What I'm wearing: Shirt - Made by me / Culottes - Made by my mum / Beret - Vintage (Woolworth via Episode) / Shoes - Doc Martens 1461 Vegan /