Sunday 7 January 2018

Calendars, journals and planners ... or just a book?

I have seen a few articles pop up in my Pinterest feed about journals and planners as it is "that time of the year" I wondered if they had anything to offer.


Do you have a morning routine that works well for you? New post on the blog about trying to work these things in this next week. Link in the bio!

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I currently have a kitchen calendar that gets holidays, birthdays, appointments etc written on. I also keep a note book which I write down ideas about all sorts of things as and when they come to me, sometimes I meal plan in it, I list the chores that need to be done and often aren't!, blog ideas, there is  a list of plants that I would like to include in my garden etc etc. It can be slightly chaotic but it generally makes some kind of sense to me.


Bullet journal monthly cover page, January cover page, New Years drawing, fireworks drawing. @studydvcky

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The journals seem to cover everything from well being, religion, health, gratitude, doodles, chores, life goals, spending, saving, appointments, to do lists, how many glasses of water you drink, what you wore on the day etc etc in fact you could spend the whole day filling in your journal and not actually get anything done!


studypetals:  3.16.16+2:26pm // 16/100 days of productivity // a kind anon asked for bullet journal ideas, so here’s a list of what i’ve seen from tumblr mixed with some of my own ideas!  song of the day: “work from home” - fifth harmony

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The planners were more about setting goals over the year or tracking events that recurred throughout the year. Budget and meal planners seemed to be quite popular.

Bullet Journal Tracking Spreads - So many brilliant spreads here from tracking weight loss and water to chores and car maintenance!

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So am I about to bin the book and start a journal? not in the short term but I am going to steal some of the things I liked

Get Messy Art Journal ♥ Caylee Grey                                                                                                                                                                                 More

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  • Give each Month a "front page" with some doodles and possible some seasonal pics from magazines or flyers. I will mark the page with a tab made from washi tape and then I can refer back to things within the particular month.
  • Set myself a goal of the month which can be as big or as small as my time allows
  • List the events and appointments that we have booked in for that month
  • Give myself 3 mini goals for the day and write down a reward to give myself once completed. I thought this was quite clever as satisfaction and reward contribute to personal well being. Currently this would be something like 
    1. complete daily chores
    2. walk X amount of steps
    3. put the Christmas decorations away
    4. REWARD = Mug of milky hot chocolate
  • Limit the number of daily chores I write down to 4, I think this is achievable and I get the satisfaction of having completed my list. My current light duties are
    1. washing in and out
    2. wipe down kitchen surfaces
    3. dishwasher and pot
    4. wipe down bathroom surfaces
  • Put my ideas at the back of the book so they are separate from my "daily page". I like that this will provide a little bit of structure but still allows me to go off at a tangent without causing complete chaos!

I would love to hear if you have any other tips about journals and planning.

Happy January everyone :)


3 comments:

  1. Just had another thought, when I create my monthly page I will try and use it as a reminder to take and submit my gas and electric meter readings.

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  2. I still haven't perfected the use of my note book(s). Currently using one small one next to my bed and at least 2 others dotted around for various reasons!

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  3. Still trying to get this right, just switched to one big one. During the CV19 lockdown I kept a separate one and tried to record 3 things that made me smile each day.Needless to say some days it was easier to find smiles than others 🙂

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