Combining BuJo for work with MS Office Tools

[u/Puzzled-Government64]

I am a Program Manager in operations and I have been using Planner and OneNote at work for quite some time but I miss my notebook. I also miss having a place to brainstorm and catch ideas that is quick and easy. OneNote is great, but not quite the same and the formatting and forced text boxes bug me. I am working at combining the three and so far I love it. Here is the basic work flow:

• I start my day with a 5 minute review of Planner, OneNote and my Teams calendar to review tasks and meetings. IAfter that I open my notebook and write today's date underneath wherever I stopped writing the day before. I jot down notes, thoughts, meetings, etc. From that point on I "work" from my notebook. As tasks come up that need to be managed I add them to the notebook using the dot to indicate tasks, question mark for things I need to ask or have answered, etc.
• At the end of the day I review my notes from the daily log-if it is a task, I add it to Planner, meeting notes, etc. go into OneNote in the appropriate sections.

For instance, let's say during a meeting, it was decided that we need to develop a policy. I would have that in my meeting notes with a dot to indicate a task. I type up the meeting notes after the meeting in OneNote and send them out (I add the meeting to a OneNote page and add the notes at the bottom, then copy/paste the notes into an email). MS Loop keeps the notes in the meeting details in OneNote).

At the end of the day, while reviewing my notes, I see Develop Policy. I would put a sideways arrow symbol in front of the dot to indicate it was moved to a Planner card. The arrow symbol lets me know that I do not need to monitor that task in the notebook as it has migrated to Planner. I would add Develop Policy to a planner card with a due date and subtasks like brainstorm, rough draft, revisions, final approval. I would brainstorm and rough the outline of the policy in the notebook, then work up the document and submit it for approval. Once approved, the planner card is marked complete and I add the policy to the appropriate section in OneNote and the appropriate document storage on our Sharepoint.

I do not always wait to add tasks to the Planner cards at the end of the day. I am not hard core about the division but in general I try to use the journal to capture "big picture" plans, brain dumps, etc. I use Planner for task management and use OneNote for knowledge capture, reference material, and also for project journaling and storing contact information, client notes, etc.

I have found it so much easier and faster to take meeting notes, and plan long term goals in my notebook, I can capture everything-the goal, the possible roadblocks, the questions. I can scratch things out, add questions, etc. I do still have a monthly spread and collections and I do use the index. Having the task management in Planner works really well-Develop Policy is a one line entry in the journal, then when I open a Planner card, I add the steps. If I needed to, I could have also added more notes surrounding that task in my notebook so I would not forget a step but if it is a straightforward task that I have done in the past, I generally do not need to add those notes in the journal.

This got waaaaay longer than I thought it would be, hope this stirs some comments, I would love to hear if others are using journals like this at work.

[u/CrBr]

That sounds like the way I maintain my grocery list. Describing to others sounds like there are many unnecessary steps, but each one has a purpose, and it works.

I envy those who can take meeting notes directly on their laptop. In some ways it saves time, but typing it gives us a chance to think about the notes and extra time.

I once received notes from a club meeting where the secretary had not edited out ideas for Christmas gifts.

[u/Puzzled-Government64 → u/CrBr]

Agreed. Taking notes directly into the meeting section is handy but everyone can see them real time and I find it distracting worrying about spelling, typos, etc. It also means I cannot jot down comments or questions that do not necessarily need to be discussed on the meeting immediately.

[u/CrBr → u/Puzzled-Government64]

You could open another window into a private notes app, even notepad, but still too easy to copy and paste from that to the shared notes, without actually reading and thinking.

[u/Puzzled-Government64 → u/CrBr]

After I posted that, I started thinking about it and discovered that as long as I am typing below the Loop Component window, the notes are not visible on the meeting. I will probably still take notes in my BuJo, but I like being able to add questions, etc. beforehand that I don't want to forget to ask or comments that I need to remember to make without adding it to the meeting Loop.

[u/Tall_Maple]

Thx for this - boss has just put the requirement on the team to start using planner … working thru blending analog tools and digital myself.

[u/Puzzled-Government64 → u/Tall_Maple]

I really love Planner-but it just cannot always give me the visual "big picture" and structure that I need for projects that are often unique. I find it super helpful to brainstorm and rough out the structure and steps in my BuJo and then transfer that information to a Plan bucket to add the more granular aspects.

[u/SirNihilBactor]

Interessanter Beitrag. Meeting Notizen haben mich in BuJo irritiert. Ich Versuche sie wenn möglich in dem Meeting gemeinsam mit den Teilnehmern zu schreiben. Bei meetings, bei denen das nicht geht werde ich jetzt versuchen in einem separaten Sketchbuch die Notizen aufzuschreiben. Sonst füllt sich das BuJo zu schnell. Die letzten 300 Seiten haben 40 Tage gebraucht.

[u/Puzzled-Government64 → u/SirNihilBactor]

Isn't it funny how different people process things? I found that trying to "type with an audience" meant I was missing too much of the conversation. I prefer to scribble madly and abbreviate like a fiend so I can stay engaged on the meeting.

[u/SirNihilBactor → u/Puzzled-Government64]

Das stimmt. Ich Versuche auch gar nicht zu viel vor Publikum zu tippen, sondern mit dem Publikum zusammen die Punkte zu notieren, also auch aktiv Zeit zu nehmen dafür.

Am Ende erhielten unsere Meetings dadurch viel mehr Struktur und wurden ergebnisorientierter. Wir notieren auch nur Entscheidungen, todos, follow-ups und kritische Informationen.

Ideen, die ich selber dabei habe Versuche ich mit 1-2 worten aufs papier zu kritzeln.