Monday 1 January 2018

Ready for 2018

Happy New Year!

 
Does a new year fill you with excitement of what is to come?  Or a sense of same old, same old?  Time passes and we have no control over its passing.  But we do have control of what we spend the time doing.

Last year I spent a lot of time thinking (or is that procrastinating?) and a lot of time on Facebook and other websites.   I've watched lots of creative videos on YouTube, a few clips from The Ellen Show  and a fair number of dog rescue videos.  (Hope for Paws do some great work!)

What I found myself thinking quite often at the end of a day was how little I had accomplished.  I realised (derr!) that I felt like that because I don't have a plan for the day.  I think this is partly to do with when I was a teacher and then working as a church administrator that days were full and planned.  I wanted to break away from that feeling of over-structure.  But what has happened is that I'm at the other extreme now with no structure.  And to be honest it's just as stressful - but a different kind of stress.

So really, in terms of what I wanted from an Everyday Journal, was an ability to put some structure into my days, weeks and months and to be able to look back and say 'Yes.  I did this!  I achieved that!'  I asked myself questions about what I wanted to have in this journal and originally I wasn't going to have weekly pages but quickly realised that was exactly what I DID need.

So I have come up with pages like this above, where there are 3 boxes for each day.  By the side of the boxes I shall write 3 things to do that day and then be able to put a tick in the little turquoise box on completion.  At the end of January I shall review how this has worked for me and may come up with a different way to work through February.

I have completed general pages in my Leuchtturm1917 journal and prepared for January.

The index page

2018 and 2019 at a glance

Month by month commitments.  I also have a calendar on my phone but it helps me to see it written down as well.


I don't want to have many lists in my journal but I did think it would be useful to know what I've signed up for (right) and what technique videos are available to me (left) rather than keeping the list in my head.  Writing all this down frees up space in my brain!

During 2017 I decided I shouldn't sign up for so many online courses (hah - like that worked!) and it would be better to do in-person workshops.  I have put the details of the courses here.  And have realised that I have missed off the Art Cloth workshop I'm doing at Littleheath Barn.

I belong to a textile group and we have two exhibitions coming up in March and April so I have set up pages to record what I am making and what is left to be done.  The photos on the left hand page are the finished pieces.  They are only attached at the top of the photo so that I can write on the page underneath.

The next page in the journal is the January calendar

And then my pages for January.  Between each week I have left a blank double page spread for notes and journaling or whatever comes to mind!

Every two weeks I have put a page like this.  My plan is to write down 3 things everyday that I am thankful for.  This is one way of being able to keep my word of the year - gratitude - in sharp focus.

It has occurred to me that maybe there's not enough room for any journaling but we'll see.  Perhaps I only need a single page rather than a double page for a week.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice


1 comment:

  1. Wow! You have done a lot of planning! It looks great, Bernice!

    ReplyDelete

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