Introducing the RAD Reading Podcast!

Did you know I now have a bookish podcast?

Y’all know I love talking all things reading and giving book (and movie/TV) recommendations. I’ve been doing it on this blog for many years. But a few months ago, I got the urge to do something a little different with that kind of content.

I love a bookish podcast and I listen to a number of them every week, so that got me to thinking, what if I did one of these? There’s nothing I love more than talking about reading or passing along a great book, so why not do it over the virtual airwaves?

I was a little (a lot!) intimidated to learn the how-to’s of podcasting, and I’m definitely still learning, but I decided to take the leap. I teamed up with indie editor Dawn Alexander and we’ve launched RAD Reading, a bookish podcast where the R stands for refresh and the D stands for discover and where we help you do those two things for your reading life.

We have had so much fun this first month of episodes, and we have lots more to come! If you’d like to give us a listen (and we’d love it if you would!), links to the first five episodes are below. You can listen to the episodes on this website, through Apple podcasts, or you can add it to whichever podcast player you prefer.

How to Listen:

• On our website

• Apple podcasts

• Audible

• Spotify

• Acast  

• Or add to your favorite podcast app with their “Add by URL” feature and paste this link there: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/rad-reading

This month’s episodes:

The Life-Changing Magic of the DNF

Our first episode! Join us as we talk about our vision for the podcast, preview our weekly bookish themes, and then jump into our topic of the week--the life-changing magic of not finishing a book you’re not enjoying. And make sure you stay until the end to get our RAD Reading Book Recommendations of the week!

Feeling All the Fall Feels: Seasonal Book Recs

Fall is here! This week we’re talking about whether or not we’re seasonal readers and how to enhance those autumnal vibes with your reading choices. We’re also bringing you a big stack of book recommendations! Roni’s got a pile of recs from one of her very favorite micro-genres: dark academia & campus novels. And Dawn is bringing the heat with sexy football-themed romances and some fun seasonal rom-coms. Come feel all the Fall feels with us!

Making Your Own Reading Journal (AKA Fun with Office Supplies)

We love upgrading our reading lives, so this week we’re talking about one of our favorite ways to enhance the reading experience--creating our own reading journals! Plus, as always, we’re giving our RAD Reading Recs of the week.

October’s Read/Watch/Listen Recs

This week we’re giving you all of our favorites of the month! Join us as we share the books, audiobooks, TV shows, and movies that have gotten our highest marks.

They All Float: Our Best Halloween Recs

Happy Halloween! This week Roni freaks out Dawn with her scary book and movie picks (and episode title) and Dawn offers recommendations for those who prefer their Halloween on the gentler side. It’s a long one, y’all! We’ve got a pile of recs for you, including suspense, horror, true crime, and paranormal romance. Grab a bag of Halloween candy and join us!

That’s a wrap on our first month! Next month we’ll be tackling things like taming distractions so you can get more reading time and giving our best comfort reads.

The Read Wide Challenge 2020 (+ Free Printable!)

This time of the year is one of my most favorite times of the year. No, not because of the holidays, though I do love the holidays, but because it’s new planner time and…

READING CHALLENGE TIME!

If you’re anything like me, you’re currently scrambling to finish whatever 2019 reading challenges you signed up for. I hit my Goodreads challenge a while back. I set a goal for 60 books, and right now I’m sitting at 73, so I’m good there. But on my Read Wide challenge (a challenge I’ve created and done for the last few years), I’m ONE book away. So I plan to take care of that category this week.

I’ve really enjoyed doing the Read Wide challenge this year, and it definitely challenged me to try some things I normally wouldn’t pick up. Like as much as love non-fiction audiobooks, I had yet to listen to a fiction audiobook all the way through, so I had added that to my challenge this year. I ended up listening to Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes on audio, and the narration was great. It’s the second book in the YOU series, and I had watched the show, so the narrator (Joe) sounded very similar to the actor playing that part. So it felt familiar and easy to listen to. However, I think I’m just not a fiction audiobook listener. I read much faster than I can listen. I love non-fiction on audio, but I think that’s because it feels like a really long podcast.

But this challenge definitely makes me pick up things I normally wouldn’t naturally gravitate toward, and I discover great reads I would’ve missed. It also helps keep me creatively fresh. There’s nothing wrong with liking what you like, and reading what you want to read, but I do think we can get into reading ruts—when everything starts to sound the same. So, I’ll be doing this challenge again this year.

What I like about this challenge is that you can make it your own. What my chart looks like doesn’t have to be what your chart looks like. If you hate horror, swap it out for something else. If you only want to read widely in romance, make a bunch of romance subgenre categories. Play around with it. I’ll have a blank, downloadable chart below that you can use to make your list.

So, why should you join this challenge and what does it entail?

Why Read Widely?

So first, before we get into the nitty gritty of the challenge, why should you give it a try?

1. You will discover new genres to love or re-discover old favorites you used to love.

   For instance, I loved reading horror when I was a teenager. I drifted away from it sometime in college—though I did take an awesome Vampires in Literature course my sophomore year. This year I had both horror and YA horror on my chart, and I rediscovered how much I love a good scary book.

2. You will read things that will confirm that a genre or format is not for you, and you can stop worrying about missing out on those books.

   This doesn’t sound like a positive thing, but it really is. I had mystery on my list this year. This is a popular genre, and often the blurbs sound good to me, but I’ve discovered that in a “whodunit”, I really don’t care much who did it. If a mystery is part of a true crime read or part of a suspense read with a lot of tension, I’m into it. But if it’s a straight-up mystery novel, it doesn’t hold my interest. Now I know to pass those by.

3. You will give new authors a chance.

   It’s easy to stick with the authors we know (and as an author, I highly encourage that! lol) but there are a lot of authors out there that we can add to our list. We’re never going to discover them if we don’t step outside our normal reading zone. This year I discovered Taylor Adams (Horror/suspense), H.K. Choi (YA), Casey McQuiston (romance), Leigh Bardugo (paranormal), along with others.

4. You will diversify your reading.

   I always strive to read more diversely, but that focus can slip through the cracks if I’m not paying attention. So my column focused on diversity has helped me be more deliberate about seeking out POC authors and books that feature main characters who are POC, LGTBQ+, and/or neurodiverse.

5. If you’re a writer, it will feed your creativity.

   Reading widely is important for my writing. It puts fresh fuel in the engine. The reason why my books are often a little outside the norm in the romance genre like The Ones Who Got Away series is because I read from all different areas. I pull ideas and inspiration from all these different genres, which I think keeps things fresh (for me and hopefully also for my readers.) If I’m only reading in my own genre, my books will start to sound like everyone else’s.

6. It’s fun

   If you’re a person who loves to check off a to do list or complete a challenge, this is just straight up fun. It feels like a game, and there’s so much satisfaction when you get to color in those boxes. : )
   

My 2020 Challenge

How to Set Up Your Challenge

1. Pick your comfort zone columns

   First, you need to know that this is a personalized challenge. What my version of reading widely is may be very different from yours. So first, make sure you’re giving yourself your favorites. For instance, romance is my primary reading genre, and I also read a lot of YA and non-fiction, so I have three entire columns dedicated to those things and their subgenres. If you’re a big mystery reader, you may dedicate a column to that and beneath list: cozy mystery, noir, historical mystery, etc. This is about reading widely but not to the exclusion of reading the things you love most.

2. Pick your more challenging columns

   Even under your comfort columns, there may be some challenging subcategories, but pick at least a column or two that are going to make you stretch. For me, that’s the non-romance genre fiction column. Usually, I also have a column labeled “General Fiction”, but this year I’m changing it up and have included a “Format” column instead, where instead of the genre, I’m using a variety of formats/lengths. You can get creative with the subcategories (lots of suggestions below). They don’t have to be “official” subgenres that the library would list. Like in my Genre Fiction column, you’ll see “classic of its genre”—whatever genre that may be.

3. Don’t put things in it the chart that you know you hate

   This is not about torturing yourself. If you already know you don’t like epic historical fiction, it’s okay not to put it on there. This shouldn’t feel like homework. I encourage you to put things that you may not normally try but that you’re open to liking.

4. Make a bonus column for fun/silly categories

   I have suggestions below but get creative. You want some easy wins and categories that many different types of books could fit into so that it’s not too restrictive.

5. Add a diversity column

   I keep this simple. I list “Author” and “Main character” to mark books that were written by an author in an underrepresented category or that feature a main character who is. But I list categories below if you want to get more detailed with this column.

6. Print out your list or draw your own into your reading journal like I do.

   You can use my template or you can just make your own with a simple square stencil, some colorful pens/pencils, and a notebook. If you want a printable reading journal, I have a free one with my newsletter sign up. I also have a post on how to make your own journal if that’s your jam.

7. Choose your own rules.

   Will you let one book count for more than one category? That’s up to you. It’s your challenge!

8. You don’t need as many categories under each column I have.

   If you’re someone who reads 20 books a year, this chart is going to be too much. Choose fewer boxes under each column or less columns. I read around 70-75 books a year, so this chart having 42 still leaves me room for reading whatever outside of the challenge. Give yourself flexibility.

Category Ideas

Here are some ideas for what to put in the columns. You can select subgenres, formats, fun made-up categories. Don’t limit yourself. This is your challenge and needs to be personal to your tastes. Have a good time with it!

Genres/Subgenres:

Romance

·      Contemporary

·      Erotic

·      Dark

·      Romantic suspense

·      Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

·      Historical

·      Romantic Comedy

·      Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Speculative

·      Dystopian

·      Mystery

·      Inspirational/Christian

·      LGBTQ

·      Gothic

·      Old School/Retro (Romance from 70s-90s)

Young Adult

·      Romance

·      Contemporary

·      Suspense/Thriller

·      Horror

·      Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

·      Historical

·      Romantic Comedy

·      Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Speculative

·      Dystopian

·      Mystery

·      Inspirational/Christian

·      LGBTQ

·      Old School/Retro (YA from the 70s-90s)

Genre Fiction:

Contemporary

Women’s Fiction

Suspense

Mystery

Cozy Mystery

Hard-Boiled Detective/Noir

Horror

Gothic

Paranormal

Urban Fantasy

High Fantasy

Dystopian

Sci-Fi/Speculative

Graphic Novel/Comic

Steampunk

Historical fiction

Action/Adventure

Erotica

Time Travel

Middle Grade (and all its subgenres)

Picture Book

Inspirational/Religious  

Non-Fiction:

Memoir/Biography

True Crime

Humor

Travel

Self-Improvement

Business

Productivity

Home

Health

Cookbook/Food

On Writing (or whatever your field is)

Entertainment (about music, movies, tv, celebrity memoirs, etc.)

Science

History

Politics

Essay Collection

Parenting

Social Issues

General Fiction: 

Literary Fiction

Classics

Book Club Fiction

Short Stories

Contemporary

Historical

Family Saga

Diverse Reads:

Book by POC Author

POC Main Character

Book by LGTBQ Author

LGTBQ Main Character

Book with characters whose religion is different from yours

Book in translation

Book by an author from another country

Book with a neurodiverse character

Format: 

Short Story

Anthology

Doorstop (500+ pages)

Novella

Serial

Audiobook

Translated

Trilogy

Ebook

Hardcover

Paperback

Library Book

Indie Published

Small Press

Traditionally Published

Creative Categories:

Made Into A Movie or TV Show

Award-Winning

Banned Book

Re-read From Childhood

Debut Author

First in Series 

Book From Your Birth Year

Loved By Others

Second Chance on a DNF (did not finish)

Road Trip Story

Set Outside of the U.S./UK/Canada 

Book That Intimidates You

Written By the Opposite Sex

Retro Read (published before a certain year)

Three in a Row of a Series

Book You Should’ve Read in School

Favorite Author You Haven’t Read Lately

Legendary Author I’ve Never Read

Book I’ve Owned for 3+ Years

Book Club Pick/Book of the Month Club selection

Podcast Recommendation

Recommendation from a Friend

Recommendation from a Book Blogger/

Bookstagrammer/BookTube

Recommendation from Another Author

Book I Bought for the Cover

Airport Book

Huge Bestseller

Book about Books

Book about Food

Book about TV or Movies

Beach Read

Book That Made Me Cry

Book that Made Me Laugh

Classic of a genre

Found at the Used Bookstore

Book I Received as a Gift

Holiday-themed

Book by a Local Author

Download Your Chart and Get Started!

Blank Read Wide grid (word format)

Blank Read Wide grid (PDF)

My Read Wide Challenge if you don’t want to do your own categories (PDF)

Also, as I mentioned above, if you need a printable reading journal, I offer one for free when you sign up for my newsletter. You can easily add the chart as a page. 

Let me know if you decide to join in. Happy reading!

My 2019 Planner and Journal Lineup

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First, before we get into the nitty gritty of all the planner goodness this year, I just want to remind everyone that The One You Fight For, book 3 in The Ones Who Got Away series, is out New Year’s Day! You don’t have to have read the first two to understand this one, though that will enrich the experience. I’m so excited to share this book with y’all. This one was a tough one to write because Taryn lost her sister in the school shooting fourteen years ago and Shaw, the hero, is the older brother of one of the shooters. This may be the most emotional romance I’ve ever written, but I promise you there’s a happy ending. ;)

So if you want to grab your copy now to have it on your doorstep this week, here are all the links. And right now the paperback is cheaper than the ebook, so you can get a copy for your shelf on the cheap!

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Indiebound | Books-A-Million | Google Play

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The 2019 Planner and Journal Lineup

Now, on to the planners!

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know that I’m obsessed with planners and journals. In a lot of ways, it’s my hobby, but they have the added bonus of actually being functional and making me more productive as well.

I’ve shown some pictures on Instagram of a few of my planners and journals for the year, but I had a number of people ask to explain what each one is and how I use it. So, ask and you shall receive! Let’s dive in.

My Every Day Hub - The Day Designer

This will be my third year using the Day Designer. Sometimes I stray, but this is the planner I keep coming back to for the day to day To Dos and scheduling. Beyond the pretty cover, this is not a colorful planner, which is a plus for me. I find that when I buy planners with color schemes, I get tired of the schemes pretty quickly. Day Designer’s white pages with gray print are perfect. I can keep them clean or I can decorate the hell out of them.

I also like that it’s one day per page. I find this helps me focus on just that day and not get distracted by the things coming up in the week.

Sometimes I use the time side to track my time. Other times I just use it to mark down if I have an appointment. But I use the To Do side daily. I also mark my daily word count in the “dollars” box. It’s a flexible system that I can change around as needed.

A clean page vs. decorated page:

My Done Planner

I went into the details of what a “done” planner is in this post, but basically, this is where I record what I’ve actually done in a week separated out by area of my life or business. I use a Happy Planner Teacher Planner and label the different areas of my life where teachers would label the different classes that they teach.

When I do something in the day, I mark down what I did in this planner. Is this necessary? Of course not. But I’ve found that it gives me a sense of accomplishment AND it also shows me how evenly (or not) I’ve distributed my time in a week. Have I ignored health stuff? Did I let my interaction with readers slip? It’s a good overview of where my time is actually going.

Goal Setting Planner: Powersheets & The HB90 Method

The Powersheets are not a traditional planner. There is no calendar in it. This is strictly a goal setting planner that guides you through a process to pick up to 10 goals for the year. You have the opportunity to update them quarterly. Then it also gives you a process each month to go through to set monthly, weekly, and daily goals. I have used this planner for two years and have one ready to go for this year. I tend to keep the tending sheet open on my desk so I can always see what goals I set for the month.

This year I also added author Sarra Cannon’s HB90 method of quarterly planning for authors and entrepreneurs. The Powersheets contain both work and personal goals. The HB90 system is strictly focused on three main work/business goals for the quarter. I have used this method for the last 5 months of this year (including the kanban board that she teaches you about in her class) and it’s been ridiculously effective for me. Sarra has a quarterly planner you can buy from Etsy and print out yourself. Her system walks you through everything to get you started. I keep these pages in my Done planner pictured above.

Honestly, I’m going to see how it goes this year, but Sarra’s system may make my Powersheets less necessary. I like that it gives me such a laser focus. However, I’ve already bought the Powersheets and still need a place to have personal/home goals, so we’ll see. I’ll report back later in the year if I’m keeping up with both of them.

Reading Journal

I have done a full post on the layout of my reading journal here. I also have a free downloadable reading journal if you want one you can print out. But I’ve kept my reading journal for three years and I LOVE IT SO HARD. Three years filled up one book, so I’m starting with a fresh Leuchtterm journal this year. The sticker on the front is a Happy Planner sticker.

And if you’re looking for something fun to add to your reading journal, check out my 2019 Read Wide Challenge!

My Movie, TV Series, and Concert Journal

This is a new addition for me. I have kept a list of movies I’ve watched and TV series I’ve completed in my reading journal for the past two years. But the simple list doesn’t tell me much. So this year, I’m dedicating a separate journal to record movie reviews, TV show reviews, and to mark down memories of the concerts I attend (because we attend a lot!) I haven’t worked out all the details of how I want to do this yet. I like the idea of writing down the names of my favorite episodes of a TV series for example. Or maybe writing down quotes. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll report back once I have a fully working system. :) But for now, I’ll be using this pretty dot grid journal that I received as a Christmas gift.

My Daily Memory Journal

This will also be a new addition this year. And y’all keep your fingers crossed for me. I’ve tried this before and haven’t been able to stick with it, so we’ll see. But I would like to keep a Hobonichi style journal, where I jot down memories or thoughts from the day and then either draw or put stickers in it. This isn’t going to be a deep contemplative journal. I already know I don’t do well with keeping up with those. This is more of a memory keeper, a simpler version of a scrapbook.

For this journal, I chose a Stalogy notebook because it’s about half the price of a Hobonichi Cousin and has similar paper. I’m keeping it in this notebook keeper since it has a soft cover.

The I-Bought-Them-On-Sale-and-Haven’t-Decided-Yet Planners

I’m weak in the face of 60% off. I haven’t decided what these beauties are for yet. One might become a planner for the family. The dark blue one may be pulled apart and merged with the Done planner since they are the same size. I got them so cheap that I don’t mind cannibalizing them to merge them into another. These are both from Happy Planner which you can buy online or at craft stores like Michael’s and JoAnn’s.

I would say “that’s it!” but that’s an understatement, I know. : ) I have a lot of planners. It works for me. I hope you found something in the mix that may work for you!

So what are you using for 2019? Anyone journaling?

The Read Wide Challenge 2019

Hi there! You know what time of the year it is?

Reading challenge time!

In reader land, this is the time of the year where those of us who set a challenge back in January are scrambling to finish up. This is when the posts like “Ten Short Novels You Can Finish in a Day” and “Short Stories Count for Your Reading Challenge” start popping up.

From what I can tell, most reading challenges are of the simple number variety. People choose the number of books they hope to read for the year (usually via Goodreads) and then work on that. I always do the Goodreads challenge. (This year I set a goal of 50 and I’m at 77 right now, so yay!) However, over the past few years, I’ve wanted to do something more detailed than just a number.

I’ve found that I can get in reading ruts, and I tend to stick to my comfort zone in book selection when I don’t pay attention. There’s nothing wrong with reading what you know you like and sticking with it. However, for me, especially as a writer, it can limit my creativity if I don’t branch out and step away from my comfort zone at times. So years ago, I created the Push Your Boundaries reading challenge to get myself reading more widely. Last year, I changed up the format a little bit and renamed the challenge the Read Wide Challenge.

I didn’t share my challenge officially last year, but I’ve been posting photos of my completed challenge all year. Isn’t it pretty all filled in? And a number of you have reached out wanting to know about the challenge. So here are some details if you want to do the Read Wide Reading Challenge for yourself in 2019!

Why Read Wide?

So first, before we get into the nitty gritty of the challenge, why should you give it a try?

1. You will discover new genres to love or re-discover old favorites you used to love.

   For instance, years ago I burned out on paranormal books because I read them nonstop. They were my favorite, but when you read in the same zone for too long, books start sounding the same. So for years I haven’t read paranormal. But it was on my list this year. I picked up Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series, book one, and wham, I was hooked. I realized I had missed sexy paranormal romance! Love rediscovered.

2. You will read things that will confirm that a genre is not for you, and you can stop worrying about missing out on those books.

   This doesn’t sound like a positive thing, but it really is. I buy books I think sound interesting but then never quite get to them. This challenge forced me to face a few genres that I thought I liked but…really don’t. For instance, the comedic celebrity essay collection/memoir. I have impulse bought so many of these on sale because, hey, I love that comedienne! But then I never read them. This year, I had a Humor/Essay box to mark off. So I read in that genre. I quickly realized (after reading two of them) that these just aren’t for me. I like memoirs with a lot of emotional resonance. Ones focused on humor just don’t do it for me. I can now save my money and stop buying them.

3. You will give new authors a chance.

   It’s easy to stick with the authors we know (and as an author, I highly encourage that! lol) but there are a lot of authors out there that we can add to our list. But we’re never going to discover them if we don’t step outside our normal reading zone.

4. You will diversify your reading.

   I always strive to read more diversely, but that focus can slip through the cracks if I’m not paying attention. So my column focused on diversity has helped me be more deliberate about seeking out POC authors and books that feature main characters who are POC, LGTBQ, and/or neurodiverse.

5. If you’re a writer, it will feed your creativity.

   This is a big one for me. The reason why my books are often a little outside the norm in the romance genre like The Ones Who Got Away series is because I read from all different areas. I pull ideas and inspiration from all these different genres, which I think keeps things fresh (for me and hopefully also for my readers.) If I’m only reading in my own genre, my books will start to sound like everyone else’s. I got the idea for The Ones Who Got Away because I read This Is Where It Ends (YA thriller) and Columbine (true crime/non-fiction) and wondered: what happens to the people who survive a school shooting? How do they move on as adults? That was the birth of the idea.

6. It’s fun

   If you’re a person who loves to check off a to do list or complete a challenge, this is just straight up fun. It feels like a game, and there’s so much satisfaction when you get to color in those boxes. : )
   

My 2019 Challenge

How to Set Up Your Challenge

1. Pick your comfort zone columns

   First, you need to know that this is a personalized challenge. What my version of reading wide is may be different from yours. So first, make sure you’re giving yourself your favorites. For instance, romance is my primary reading genre, and I also read a lot of YA and non-fiction, so I have three entire columns dedicated to those things and their subgenres. If you’re a big mystery reader, you may dedicate a column to that and beneath list: cozy mystery, noir, historical mystery, etc. This is about reading wide but not to the exclusion of reading the things you love most.

2. Pick your more challenging columns

   Even under your comfort columns, there may be some challenging subcategories, but pick at least two columns that are going to make you stretch. For me, that’s non-romance genre fiction and general fiction. You can get creative with the subcategories (suggestions below). They don’t have to be “official” subgenres that the library would list. Like in my General Fiction column, you’ll find book club fiction, magical elements, etc.

3. Don’t put things you know you hate

   This is not about torturing yourself. If you already know you don’t like a certain type of book, it’s okay not to put it on there. This shouldn’t feel like homework. For instance, I know classics and literary fiction are generally not my thing. It’s not to say I won’t ever try one of those again, but I don’t obligate myself to it on this challenge.

4. Make a bonus column for fun/silly categories

   I have suggestions below but get creative. You want some easy wins and categories that many different types of books could fit into so that it’s not too restrictive.

5. Add a diversity column

   I keep this simple. I list “Author” and “Main character” to mark books that were written by an author in an underrepresented category or that feature a main character who is.

6. Print out your list or draw your own into your reading journal like I do.

   You can use my template or you can just make your own with a simple square stencil, some colorful pens/pencils, and a notebook. If you want a printable reading journal, I have a free one with my newsletter sign up. I also have a post on how to make your own journal if that’s your jam.

7. Choose your own rules.

   Will you let one book count for more than one category? That’s up to you. I don’t but feel free. It’s your challenge!

Category Ideas

Here are some ideas for what to put in the columns. You can select subgenres, formats, fun made-up categories. Don’t limit yourself. This is your challenge and needs to be personal to your tastes. Have a good time with it!

Genres/Subgenres:

Romance

·      Contemporary

·      Erotic

·      Dark

·      Romantic suspense

·      Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

·      Historical

·      Romantic Comedy

·      Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Speculative

·      Dystopian

·      Mystery

·      Inspirational/Christian

·      LGBTQ

·      Old School/Retro (Romance from 70s-90s)

Young Adult

·      Romance

·      Contemporary

·      Suspense/Thriller

·      Horror

·      Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

·      Historical

·      Romantic Comedy

·      Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Speculative

·      Dystopian

·      Mystery

·      Inspirational/Christian

·      LGBTQ

·      Old School/Retro (YA from the 70s-90s)

Other Genre Fiction:

Contemporary

Women’s Fiction

Suspense

Mystery

Cozy Mystery

Hard-Boiled Detective/Noir

Horror

Gothic

Paranormal

Urban Fantasy

High Fantasy

Dystopian

Sci-Fi/Speculative

Graphic Novel/Comic

Steampunk

Historical fiction

Action/Adventure

Erotica

Time Travel

Middle Grade (and all its subgenres)

Picture Book

Inspirational/Religious

Non-Fiction: 

Memoir/Biography

True Crime

Humor

Travel

Self-Improvement

Business

Home

Health

Cookbook/Food

On Writing (or whatever your field is)

Entertainment (about music, movies, tv, celebrity memoirs, etc.)

Science

History

Politics

Essay Collections

Parenting

General Fiction: 

Literary Fiction

Classics

Book Club Fiction

Short Stories

Diversity: 

Book by POC Author

POC Main Character

Book by LGTBQ Author

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The "Done" Planner: Combating the Dark Side of the Traditional To Do List

Earlier this month, I did my annual post about what planners I’m choosing for the upcoming year. In that post, I mentioned that a new thing I’ve added to my system is a 90-Day “Done” planner, meaning a place where instead of marking down my To Do list (which I do in my main planner), I mark what I’ve done separated out by category.

Since I’ve done that post, I’ve had a number of people ask follow up questions about the details of this planner, so I’ve decided to do a post to explain how I’m using it.

The Concept: Overcoming the Dark Side of the Traditional To Do List

I got the inspiration for a 90-Day Goals planner from author Sarra Cannon. She has some great videos on her site explaining how she sets and keeps track of her 90-day goals. So when I was putting together my 90-Day planner, I grabbed a Happy Planner Teacher Planner because that’s what Sarra was using. But then when I put it all together, I realized that I didn’t need those pages to mark To Dos. I already have my Day Designer that houses that kind of list. So what could I use this shiny new layout for?

Well, the beauty of the teacher planner is that it’s divided into columns so that teachers can have separate lists for their different classes. But I realized it was the perfect set up to break down the different areas of my work and home life to visualize where I’m making progress. This made sense to me because the dark side of a traditional to do list is that you can check off a lot of things and wow look at all those check marks! But you may be checking off lots of inconsequential things that don’t really move the needle on your big goals. If I have a day where I’ve checked off ten things, but those things are like “mailed something”, “emailed someone”, “did laundry”, and I didn’t write any words on a book I’m drafting, have I really been very productive? No, I’ve probably been procrastinating the hard stuff.

So the idea behind the Done Planner is that not only can I see what I’m getting accomplished, I can see if I’m doing things that work toward those big 90-day goals. This has been a huge help. And on the flipside, it’s also given me a different view at the end of the week because sometimes you feel like you haven’t gotten anything done. But now I can look at my Done Planner and see ”Oh, hey, I wasn’t so great at social media this week, but that’s because I’ve really worked hard on these other two important goals.” It’s a clear picture of where I’ve spent my time, and that’s very rewarding. It gives me more a sense of peace at the end of the day or week (and gives me mental permission to take a break that evening or weekend.)

So are you interested? Let’s talk about setup and how I’m using it.

Setting Up the Planner

I’ve put everything in a Happy Planner hardcover discbound system. You can find this stuff at Michael’s and some Targets still have teacher planners on clearance. Amazon also still has a few left in stock. (29.99 is the standard price, so beware if you see any marked up.) The teacher planner does not come with this kind of cover. You can buy the hard cover separately, but it’s not necessary to have if you’re happy with the flexible cover the planner comes with.

Inside the teacher planner looks like this to start:

So here’s where your customization begins. See those blank spaces at the top of the columns? This is where you’re going to choose the buckets you want to focus on. You can simply write the title on top of each column (especially if you have better handwriting than I do), but I love the way the Avery stickers look colored with my mildliners (highlighters that aren’t so bright.) I use the Avery removable 3/4 inch circles (which are cheap on Amazon right now with their included coupon) and the Avery 5424 small removable rectangles. I usually color these all in one sitting while I’m watching TV or something and they last forever. I’ve had all these for probably a year now.

The Columns

Once you decide what you’re going to use to label your columns, now it’s time to decide what you want to name your columns. Really give this some thought because you don’t want to be tracking useless things. For my first three, I used my three main 90-day goal areas:

1. Writing - This is where I mark down word count and anything that has to do with moving my story forward. That means some days I may be marking down brainstorming/thinking time because I can’t write without thinking a lot. Thinking is work and counts as being productive as long as I’m actively focusing on the book. (Can you tell I had to do a mindshift to accept that a while back? lol)

2. Readers - This is where I mark down social media posts, blog posts, and newsletters. Anything that involves me interacting with readers goes here. So if I was going do a booksigning, it would fall under this category.

3. Business - This is the place where I mark down anything I’m doing that doesn’t fit under the two previous columns that is work-related and helping my business. If I’m taking a course. If I’m reading a book about marketing. If I researched something business-related.

The next four columns don’t directly deal with my 90-Day goals but are general life things and mental/physical wellness things that are very important to me.

4. Yoga - This is where I mark down which video I watched and how long the routine was. I’m doing the videos from Yoga with Adriene. Love them.

5. Input - This term comes from the Gallup Strengthsfinders system, which is a personality framework. But if you’re not familiar with that, this is basically my “refill the well” column. As a writer (and a writer with my particular personality), I need vast amounts of input to refill the creative well. This means reading, TV shows, movies, podcasts, audiobooks. When I let this slide, this is when I get writer’s block. So I’ve made it a priority to make sure I’m refilling the well. I mark down what I’m reading that day, if I watched or listened to something, etc. This is a good example of stuff that wouldn’t be reflected in my traditional To Do list. I wouldn’t write down “watch tv show”. But this done planner let’s me see if I’ve neglected this during the week and worked too much.

6. Budget - Simply where I record anything I spent that day outside of ordinary expenses. (If it’s a lot, it’s often a sign I’ve been surfing the internet too much and avoiding working lol.) I may change this one in the future, but for now, I’m testing this one out.

7. Home - The catch-all category for anything I did for home: laundry, groceries, meal planning, stuff for kidlet. I also usually mark what I’m cooking for dinner there.

So those are my seven categories, but the beauty of this system is that you can choose whatever categories that work for you and your life. What are you working on that you want to pay attention to and track?

Tracking

Remember, this is not a planner to write down what you hope to do that week. It’s what you’ve done. So it’s probably going to be something you need to keep open on your desk or easily accessible because if you wait to record what you did later, you’re going to forget. Plus, it feels good when you’ve done something to go mark it down. And hey, if stickers are involved, even better in my opinion. ;-) I’m currently using tiny icon stickers from FayeCreates on Etsy, but you can use whatever works for you. It may just be a bullet point you make with your pen or a colorful little dot sticker. But this is what mine looks like after a week.

And here’s a close up of the icon stickers if you want to see the variety.

Because this is a 90-day plan, I’m only keeping three months at a time in the binder. I’ve found this helpful because it makes the planner less bulky and also keeps me focused on the plan. Like hey, there’s only one month left to go, where am I on these goals?

I’ve been using this system since August, and I can say that I’m loving it. I’ve felt much calmer at the end of the day because I can clearly see what I’ve accomplished. Or I can clearly see which areas have fallen through the cracks. And hey, sometimes that’s okay. Like the week pictured above, I sucked at doing yoga that week but I got A LOT done in many other areas, including starting a book, so I was okay with yoga taking a backseat.

And really, if you’re not a planner fanatic like I am and don’t want to maintain more than one planner, this could easily be modified to be both. You could hold-punch (or disc-punch) a sheet of paper with your To Dos for the week and insert it into this system. There are lots of options because this system is so flexible.

So that’s how I’m using it. I hope you found this helpful! Please let me know if you decide to give it a try!

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Resource LIst

Here’s the round-up of supplies and resources if you don’t want to pick through the post to find them:

• Happy Planner Teacher Planner

• Big Happy Planner Hardcover

• Mildliner Highlighters

• Avery round stickers

• Avery rectangle stickers

• Colorful tiny dot stickers

• Icon stickers from FayeCreates

• Sarra Cannon’s 90-Day planning videos

See you next time!