So we are a little over a month in to 2015. I know a lot of people have “Get organized” as a new years resolution. Was it one of yours?
For me, I usually don’t do new years resolutions. Generally, I might have some goals i want to do for the year, but I don’t write them down and commit to them with any sort of significance at the start of a new year. However I do find this time of year to be good for revamping, cleaning out, reorganizing etc.
In particular, this new year meant a new planner for me! I had heard about the Passion Planner from Domesticated Academic. It was a Kickstarter that grew to epic proportions. (Sidebar: I do know they have had issues filling orders, the strikes at the west coast ports have slowed them down, and a lot of people are unhappy. I ordered mine in November and it got here the last week of January. I can’t find much to complain about, she offered the printable for free, you can’t predict when something is going to go viral…or shipping issues. I still think it’s a great company.) Last year I didn’t use a planner much at all and relied mostly on Evernote and google calendar. (More on how I use the Evernote system can be found on my other blog, here.) I missed the physical list-making and planner. I like organizing my week and day.
I really love the Passion Planner’s features. It has several writing and goal-setting prompts. These aren’t available in the free printables as far as I can tell. At first I thought it was a little corny but then I went through the exercise and it’s really helpful for me right now, as I’m trying to finish my dissertation, find a job, graduate, and work on some personal goals. This systems helps me be able to sort through all the different projects and zero in on the specifics I need to attend to each month and each week.
But more than that, I’ve discovered the planner community. And the 10 year old kid inside me with a massive sticker collection is SUPER excited about this. In fact, that 30 year old woman went digging through every box, folder, and closet she could think of to try and FIND said sticker collection. But after roughly 8 moves in 10 years…I think it may have been a casualty somewhere along the lines. (But the back of my head SWEARS I’ve laid eyes on it in this current apartment, in a folder…). So I’ve started rebuilding the sticker collection thanks to Etsy and Instagram.
So.
Many.
Cute.
THINGS!!!
And washi tape. Ohhhh the washi.
So now on Sunday I take some time to plan out my week, then I fill in parts as I go through the rest of the week. Do I need all the stickers and washi? No. But it makes my heart happy. I actually find it fairly relaxing. It’s like painting or drawing but without all the materials and mess. It really does engage the artistic part of my brain, and I need that sometimes after hours and hours of lit review.
But mostly, taking dedicated time each Sunday to plan my week helps me to consider what’s coming up, what projects I need to focus on, weekly goals, travel, and other things.
Do you set aside time to plan each week? Are you part of the planner community?? Do you love planner stickers too?! I’m thinking about doing a free printable planner sticker sheet for March! Stay tuned!!!
Here are some of my favorite sticker sellers!:
Enjoy!
A Life of Projects 