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 Little Things That Make Me Happy (Week 3 of #ListifyLife Challenge)

It's Week 3 of the #ListifyLife Challenge. This week is an easy one for me because lots of little things make me happy. I'm easily entertained. Which makes me think of the line from the Nirvana song "All Apologies":

"I wish I was like you. Easily amused."

Maybe that could be seen as an insult, but I think it's a blessing. If you're easily amused, you're easily cheered up. So here's my list:

1. Singing and dancing (badly) while I cook dinner. - I realized the other night after singing/murdering Sia's "Chandelier" and then dancing to Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" while I cooked dinner that these are the things that will be the background of kidlet's childhood when he looks back. His mom singing badly in the kitchen. And that made me smile. 

2. The silly things kidlet says - This week, I asked him to do something and responded with "Okay, Beyonce." That made me burst out in a laugh. He is always coming up with things that surprise me. Like another time, he was repeating a Wranglers commercial and said the tagline as "Real. Crunchable. Jeans." So now that's what I always hear. :)

3. My husband playfully teasing me - My husband and I have similar senses of humor, which is one of the reasons I fell for him. But he's a guy always looking for a way to make a funny comment, to tease me, or to make me smile. And he rides a joke all the way through the end and then beats it until it's dead. That's his style. Like the time he kept getting a song I didn't want in my head. He eventually stopped singing it. I thought it was done. Then a week later, I'm cooking and hear the song playing, but can't find where it's coming from. He'd hid the player in a cabinet and put the song on repeat. Took me three renditions to find the thing. Yeah. That's my hubs. :)

4. Reading - Obvs.

5. Pens, Planners, Stickers, Doodling (badly) - Y'all know about my planner/office supply addiction. Maybe it's silly. I had someone this weekend look at me like I'd grown another head when I said I use a paper planner (WHY?!! There are apps!). But it makes me happy, keeps me organized, and gives me a creative outlet that isn't tied to writing. 

6. GIFs - Let's just say I was way too happy when I got the capability of putting GIFs straight into text messages. :)

So what are the little things that make you happy?

Week 1 of the #ListifyLife Challenge - Spring For Me Is...

Spring is here! Which for Dallas apparently means it's finally going to act like winter. o.0  We've had a strangely warm winter and then the day the calendar flips to Spring, it got really cold. But I'm looking that as a positive--maybe it will kill some of the mosquitos lol.

Now, on to the first week of the #ListifyLife challenge and this week it's all about Spring! Remember you can join up with this challenge at any time. There will be a new topic each week throughout Spring.

So here's my list! (Forgive the not-so-great doodles. God blessed me with the ability to write and left me with nothing in the ability to draw department.)

1. Bluebonnets - This was a new one for me when I moved to Texas. Right at the start of spring, these gorgeous blue-purple wildflowers pop up all over the place along the roads and interstates. They only last for a few weeks, but it brightens everything up and lets you know spring is here. You'll also see people stopping along the side of the road to take pictures of their kids in the bluebonnets. I haven't done this yet because...bees. Fear of bees > Need for blubonnet pics

2. Thunderstorms - This is my least favorite part of Spring. I love rain, but I hate the scary thunderstoms we get here in Texas. Hail is no fun and tornadoes are terrifying. And we've been through Springs here where every week the sirens are going off and you're hiding in the closet. *hates*

3. Crawfish boils - Unfortunately, this is one I don't get to experience anymore since leaving Louisiana, but Spring still makes me think of them. It's crawfish season and it's lent (no meat on Fridays) so in Louisiana that often means crawfish boils on Fridays. Some of my most vivid family memories are of sitting around a newspaper-covered picnic table with the big crawfish pot boiling away over a roaring propane flame and the scent of cayenne in the air. This Good Friday, I will promptly go into the sads that I don't have a crawfish boil to go to, lol.

4. Start of conference season - The kick off for the writers' conferences I go to is the Romantic Times convention, which is typically in April or May. So now is when I start thinking about fun conference trips with friends, getting new clothes, and seeing readers. :)

5. Sunshine - The most obvious one of Spring, but after my Vitamin D deficiency issue this past fall/winter, the sunshine is more welcome than ever. 

All right, that's my list for the week. Are you joining in to the challenge? Click here for the details, but below is the list of topics for the coming weeks. And you can post any time during each week. If you're playing along, feel free to leave a comment with your link. :) And remember Sierra Godfrey made really cute printable cards if you want to use those for your lists.

What does Spring mean for you?

Journaling for the Chronic Journal Abandoner

My stack of pretty notebooksI'm a writer. This means I love books and writing and pens and paper and pretty notebooks and words. Also, my first career was as a therapist, so I'm introspective and navel-gazing to a fault. You would think that this would mean I'd be a prime candidate to be a journal or diary keeper.

Sadly, this has not been the case. I've started many a journal. I like the *idea* of a journal. However, in practice, it usually last 2-3 entries before I bail. Something about writing to no one but myself doesn't appeal. The reason why I can maintain a blog is because it feels like it has a purpose--someone is reading, there is interaction. But waxing poetic in a journal that only I'm going to see--well, it feels like a waste of time. I don't need to write down my thoughts to know them. I ruminate enough as it is.

However, this week I finished reading The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun  by Gretchen Rubin, and she had a quote in there that really resonated with me. "The days are long, but the years are short." 

How very true this is. I feel it when I look at my son who somehow is now five even though I feel like I just cried, "My epidural is wearing off, DO something!" to my dear doctor. So, this got me to thinking about finding a better way to track the days and the memories that pass in a blink. And one of the suggestions in the book was to do a one-sentence journal. That way, the journal abandoners of the world like me wouldn't have to commit to anything more than a few words a day.

This concept appealed to me. One sentence. I could do that. So I went to Barnes and Noble and looked at some of the 5-year journals that provide 2-3 lines for each day. However, as I looked at them, I realized that although I didn't want to do long journal entry. I wanted to have room to say what I wanted to say and maybe I'd need more than a sentence at times.

So after spending way too much time looking at all the journals, I decided to get a blank, spiral-bound one. And instead of a one-sentence journal, I'm doing a bullet list journal. So maybe that will only be one bullet on a day or maybe there will be three. It will depend on the day. And I'm not recording private things that no one else can see. I'm treating it instead like a record of life passing--something that my husband or son can look through years down the line with me. It's like a photograph but with words instead. 

Here's my first journal from Monday:

• President's Day - Kidlet informed me this morning, "Mommy, no presents for us. Only presidents get presents today."
• Best moment of the day: Eating cookies in the mall with kidlet and hubs while we watched the carousel.
• Caught kidlet singing Lady Gaga's "Judas" while he played with his cars. Adorable.

So, as you can see, it's no deep and meaningful pondering on life, but it's the stuff that will drift from my mind and disappear in a week or two. Little important moments that I don't want to forget. The years are short indeed, and I want to be able to look back and smile at them.

Do you journal? What do you think of the idea of the one-sentence journal or my version, the bullet-list journal? Any other journal abandoners out there? How do you keep track of the little moments you don't want to forget?