Habits: Day 2

2. Check it daily. 

This is a skill. Haha! I am finding that the thing I admire in successful people is their ability to maintain a routine that contributes to their success. My husband is a creature of habit. Sometimes its borderline insanity how closely he follows a schedule. However, he is someone who hasn't missed a day of work in 6 years, doesn't get sick, isn't overweight, doesn't gamble or smoke and has no known health problems. I admire this for so many reasons. The number one reason is that he is happy. Number two is that he is successful in his career and has a good balance of home and job. Lastly it's that it comes easily him because of his habits and schedule. 

All that said... I am not really like that. So I must find my own way. 

That leads me to my planner and how I 'manage myself.' So here we are at How to Create Habits #2. Check it daily. It's simple. If you don't use a your tools you are a boat without a paddle. 

I want to be effective in my life. 

Everyday. 

Every way. 

My life with a husband, three kids, two dogs, two cats and a hamster is a busy one. We have band, cheer, drill team, soccer, dance, football and church. Sometimes I can't remember what day it is. And I do forget events and appointments if I'm not playing my A game. 

To be the successful person I want to be means managing myself. 

Habits are simply routines that we put ourselves through on a daily basis. Some of our habits are by choice. Some are by nature. They can be good or bad. 

I'm choosing as many good ones as I can! Today I completed 5 of the 6 habits I've chosen to work on. Yay! 

And to share a bit of what I'm doing...

I'm reading through a book on how to study the Bible effectively. 

It's called Living By the Book. It's older and was recommended to my by a friend who knows I like to study the Bible. 

I enjoy creating the habit of reading a book for 30 minutes a day! 

And to not completely be boring ho-hum. Take a look at my Corgi puppy Dixon! Look at the reception he gets with these ears! Haha! 

-Pillowfarmer

Planners, Pantsers, & Trackers!

I used to believe there were two kinds of people in this world. Planners and Pantsers.
Planner people are those sorts that know what's up. They know what time an event is, they usually have some sort of calendar system and they always arrive early. :)
Then there are Pantsers. You know, people who fly around by the seat of their pants. They seldom arrive early or on time and they usually don't know what's coming next.
I'm definitely a combination of both of these...but I really want to be a planner sort of person through and through!
Lately I have discovered that the third sort of person who exists are Trackers. People who keep track of what they watch, eat, buy and do.
My husband has a notebook that is over 6 years old that has every movie, tv show and video game he's ever watched or played. And I have another friend who tracks all her online purchases in her planner and she loses weight by tracking her exercise habits.

So after you've picked your planner. You're left with picking a system!
I pick Diyfish inserts. There's a lot to be said for this system; you could devote hours to talking about how to use these! But, I am simply talking about my re-vamp and what/how I am using my planner.

I pick this system because I am a planner, pantser and a tracker. :)

Most people will almost always need or want a view of the month. Some people like their view to be a full page, half page, or like me a 3.75 x 6.75 page. Whatever size...it's a good idea to figure how to utilize this page. I use mine to plan upcoming events. This is the page I look to whenever anyone asks me to do something. I use color coding to mark my days with whatever is coming up. (I will explain my color coding later) However you plan, pants or track...this is a good page and place to just mark down that you're busy on any certain day. I know that on the 5-6th of this month my Mom was scheduled to have a defibrillator put in. I knew not to plan anything that day because I have a tiny square on that day reminding me to not double book myself. 

A nice plus to the Diyfish inserts is the monthly chart behind the main calendar page. This page is ideal for the tracker in all of us. I re-did this page because it was very jumbled and hard to read. I simplified things so you could see that the top half is explanations of my upcoming events that are also listed on my monthly view page.

My son (green) has ensemble practice and my daughter (pink) has cheer practice. These are revolving events. However, I outline the day they're scheduled and color in the box when they complete a practice. By keeping track of this, I could dispute lesson fees or mark their attendance should there ever be the need to do so. 

The middle part of the page are events that don't revolve, but rather they are one time events that may fall under the same category. Such as doctor appointments, open houses, or class dates. I color code these events and use the same line if they're the same type of event. For open house, I had one on the 17th and I have one on the 23 for two different kids. 

The bottom part of the page are true tracking events. My instagram posting, blog postings, going to the gym and when one of my kids takes a day off from school. I only use this as a reference usually. My kids will ask to stay home when they're feeling slightly ill and I can remind them that they have missed two days this month already and it's probably best to trudge through. This is really helpful for the kids that love to play hookey, because you can't dispute my monthly chart! 

If you don't use this sort of monthly chart, you could always make yourself a tracking page or a page for explanations of your blocked out dates on your monthly view. I use this because I like seeing what I've done and when. 

Our nutshell. 

1) Find a monthly view. 

2) Block out dates/times you WILL be busy. So not to double book yourself. 

3) Create an explanation page or a tracking page if your calendar is too small to go into detail as to what you're keeping busy with. 

Very small apologies for the length of this post, but there's so much thought that goes into how to effectively use this page I felt the words just coming out blah blah blah. So if you're still here...thanks! 

-Pillowfarmer

Ready? Ok!

Whats that saying about the journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step? Yeah. That.

Where to begin? 

Let's start with this squishy business that is my Black/Pink Buffalo Touch Me Leather Van der Spek!! It has 30mm rings...which basically makes my planner a fatty. I love this planner. It smells good. It holds a lot. Has nice pocket placement and wide pen loop. The essentials. 

Where to start? Pick a planner. Decide to use it. It helps if you love it. But even if you don't, DECIDE to use it. There's a difference between using a planner and collecting them because you like collecting binders. Both hobbies are equally fun and exciting. However, what I am writing about is using a planner. 

Some of the best looking planners are the ones that are well used and bursting at the seams with appointments and information. 

If we want to get anywhere with staying organized and on top of our lives, we must decide that we will use what we have available to us. 

From composition books to this awesome VDS binder, I have learned that to be really effective I have to decide to use my planner every day. Just like in a relationship, I talk to my husband every day. We check in. We talk. We discuss. We remind each other of all the things we want the other to remember. 

It's a sickeningly sweet parallel. But it's true. Say your vow. Promise to use your planner every day. 

I do. 

I also have learned that I can't cheat on my planner...with other planners. Oh my gosh!! We're so sealing the deal and going to the chapel to get married to our planners!! 

This isn't to say you can't have multiple binders! I will maintain my kid binders, recipe binders and fitness binders...but for all information and appointments regarding my life...THIS. IS. MY. BINDER.

This is where I find my stuff. Who I check in with. Who reminds me. I can't be jotting info into my Malden, my original and my VDS and expect to maintain the same quality of relationship...can I?

No. 

Gotta be faithful to recording your life..."all in one place". 

This doesn't seem like much. But oh. 

If you had a planner bug bite you at any time. You are sick. And you will want to own every planner you see on your Facebook planner group. 

And you will want to make new set ups for every binder you meet and you will start spreading your information to all your multiple planners and never really experience planner nirvana with that ONE planner. 

So aside from making planner love sound like marriage...my point. 

1. Find a book/binder/planner and decide to use it. 

2. Stay faithful to recording and planning your life in that one planner. 

More to come! 

-Wayword

Revamp

I have been going through some planner growing pains lately. I chalk it up to a few things. 

•Having a lot of information in too many places. 

•Not focusing on my main planner due to having multiple planners. 

•Not making my systems work for me, instead working around a system. 

I use DIYFish life mapping inserts exclusively in my planners. I have two regular calendars that I use in my meal planning and kids school calendar. Lately I have really been struggling with two issues when using these inserts. 

1) Foward planning

2) To-Do lists

Have you caught on yet that I'm muddling through my issues here? Lol

I am re-doing my planner system! There will be major surgery as I gut my planner and process my mistakes and figure out how to get this system to work for me. 

What I find super duper crazy is that these inserts worked great last year! I had no trouble with my system and everything ran smoothly and I won every planner nerd mom award there was. Haha. 

This does go to show that every so often if you're feeling overwhelmed or even disinterested in your planner it's possible you're doing it wrong. What worked for me last year...is now wrong for me this year. 

People evolve. How we think, process and go about our lives changes every single day. It's ludicrous to think our planning systems would hold up over time seeing as they depend on US to be effective with it. 

This isn't to say my inserts aren't working. I LOVE these inserts. It's also not to say that I need a whole new Malden in purple to get this train running again! Haha. No. 

It's a system that needs attention. 

Over the next week I'll be posting how I'm re-working my planner system. 

Here's to a fresh page!

-Wayword

My Week 12

Here is my week 12!

I keep looking for trends, habits and weekly rituals that I use in making my planner pages. Sort of as an opportunity to figure out how I 'tick'. Everyone uses these DIYFish inserts differently! I love that. I see some people 'plan' with them. I see some use them as they 'journal' through their week. And some people who do a bit of both! I'm noticing that I'm a bit of both!

I can't seem to get through the week without decorating! I MUST have color!

It's been a constant since I discovered these pages to chart my progress with my diabetes and blood sugar levels in the bottom left corner. Lately I have taken to writing down some of the things I'm eating during the day. I do use an app on my iPhone for keeping track of my actual carb intake and exercise regime. But! I wish I could remember to write it all down. It's just not practical for me to yank out the planner, sweaty palms and all after I've run for an hour on the treadmill. lol. 

Consistently using the bottom right 'box' on the right page for a quote or an inspiring thought. I also use it for doodles. Some days at work I spend a lot of time waiting on hold on the phone. This is a GREAT time to doodle! I encourage people to look up pictures or doodles that you'd like to learn how to create or draw better and do this while you're on the phone or talking to someone. Obviously this day I used a post it...and didn't draw...but how inspirational am I? :D 

My long box on the left page/right side with the numbered times is my bullet journaling! I think I am utilizing this as a bullet journal section. I write what I did with an asterisk * and make check boxes for things I plan on during that time/hour of the day. I also use stars as an indicator of something I wish to keep and color code. I am still quite horrible about color coding my day...but I'm hoping the stars will help me when I go back to reference and color code for the week. 

Top 'box' on the right page/right side is my daily 'TO DO' list. I seldom do everything on this list! haha! In fact it's mostly just a wish list. Like, Sarah, you wish you could do all this! haha. I did pretty good on Thursday though! I was definitely Superwoman that day. Geeze. Good job Me. 

The top left box on the left page/left side is for quote/weather/mood. Sometimes I cover up the weather and mood if my quote is longer. I will sometimes use this space as a list section. List of things I love, books I should read, things I'm grateful for etc...and sometimes I just tape in a quote! 

I have really been focused on using my planner as a dieting tool. It goes with me everywhere! I write all my important secrets and plans in it! Why not utilize it as such? So, I'm working on adding a DIYFish insert section for my diet/fitness plans. 

And on that note, I have almost strictly starting using my Malden for ONLY DIYFish inserts. I still have my A-Z sections, but eventually whatever information I have in there filters it's way into a daily page, then it's logged into the color code section and then filed away for reference later if I need it. I have been using Evernote to keep information that I need to keep an eye on for daily/weekly references. Needless to say, that using these inserts does make your Filofax bulky...however, I don't need extra sections with me ALL the time because I can file them away under older pages with my color coding to find later should I need them. 

The only thing I'm feeling like I 'need' is the fitness section. But, I made the finance section work using my DIYFish inserts, so I'm sure I can make a fitness section work out too. :) 

So stay tuned for that!

Peace Love Plan Ahead!

Sarah 

Using Evernote

I love watching Carie Harling's Dispatches from the Frat House videos! She is a fabulous blogger and vlogger and gives such great detail and instruction on how to get the most out of anything DIYfish inserts or planners! She recently did a video about utilizing Evernote. You can view ALL her VIDEOS HERE! Trust me, grab some snacks and lock yourself away because she is one fabulous lady to sit and listen and learn from! 

So when I went to Staples and bought new Post It's, I purchased a pack that had a free premium month trial. 

I feel like if Carie buys army pants and flip flops, I'll buy army pants and flip flops.

 

Hehe. So far, it's working pretty well. I'm not sure how much I'll use it? But it's worth the pack of post it's I bought! ^_^

Really pushing myself to work out and stick to my diet. It's SO hard! I think about food all the live long day. And I hate working out. So I am working on changing my mind and my habits. 

Here's today's page. 

Ok. I'm out! 

-Wayword

Kawaii Stickies came!

I am noting that even when I print Sunday I don't usually use my planner on Sunday. I use it as in I reference it and add to my calendars and sync with the other planners I have, but I don't decorate or 'plan' my day. I sometimes don't decorate if I stay home from work either. I just do as I do and don't need to write everything down as I just get things done as I am reminded to do them. 

Here is Monday. I stayed home from work and played Diablo 3. I dropped the kids off at school and picked them up. Basically I pretended I was a stay at home mom again with no planner. :) I didn't decorate at all. But, that's okay. 

Here's Tuesday! I really had a lot going on once I started my week. It should be noted that I worked 10-12 hours each day AND I had stuff to do after I was finished with work. Sometimes I am so impressed with me. LOL. 

I had gotten my stickers and notecard paper that I got from an Etsy shop called Doodie Bear. I LOVE how it looks. It's so cute and definitely something that motivates me to open and use my planner. 

I really want to figure out how to print onto my inserts directly. Especially with my quote sections! But, for now I'm just printing out a page of quotes in Word and cutting them to size, then taping them in. It works. I really enjoyed doodling a few weeks back, but it takes a lot of time and sometimes I'm unable to finish what I've started. It's hard for me to let it go unfinished. 

Which leads me to working through the process of using my planner as function and NOT JUST AS SOMETHING PRETTY! Don't get me wrong. I love the prettiness of my planner. I love it. It forces me open it and use it and revel in how pretty it all is. But, over all that is the desire to have something that helps me function at 100% in my every day life. 

With that thought too comes the practicality of what I'm actually USING? I have the DIYFish inserts. They're everything! I use certain sections less since I have the inserts. I have been tempted to take them out for the sake of space. But, I love my sushi dividers!! And I cannot imagine taking them out...yet! :) 

Typical Saturday/Sunday morning. :)

Okay, back to it!
Peace, Love, Plan Ahead!

-Me

Week Eight with my Filofax

Here is my week eight in my Malden Personal sized Filofax! 

Even if I don't plan anything...or *gasp* don't use my planner every day, I still decorate and will include it in my week. Some days I simply don't have anything to do...or it's nothing SUPER pressing, so I don't need to write stuff down. I could use it as a diary I guess and log my day, but some days I don't feel like it. 

I'm still working on my water intake. However, I have read some articles that show that I do get plenty of fluids in the day! I just don't count them simply because they're not water. I do try for that 8 glasses, but I drink other things like tea and coffee and they count as fluids. I'm pretty sure I'm well hydrated by how much I have to pee. LOL. 

I liked this day. I had time to think and doodle. And look on the righty hand side there! I color coded!! Go Team Wayword! haha. 

I decided this day to start a 5k running program. I officially started yesterday, but having it written down in my planner has kept me accountable to actually starting! 

I included in my week, my medication intake. I take my medicine twice a day, and I fill the little needle up half way for the morning doses, and fill it all the way up for the evening! I NEVER forget my medication. Like ever ever. But, I do forget to fill in my little needle showing that I remembered. Have to work on that! 

I visited my mom this day. As well as went to the doctor. Nothing extraordinary happened really...Well, stuff DID happen. But nothing that I logged. There are a few medical issues I should probably write down on this day just to remind myself of when those occurred. And maybe subconciously I didn't want to ruin the beauty of the SUPER CUTE CLOUD WASHI TAPE!!! I got it from Joann's and was dying to use it. I did...but then I didn't write in it. Go figure. 

I menu planned this day and ran some errands. I played video games, ate food and basically layed around at my house. But, again, nothing that I had to write down. I like that about my planner. Some days it's my right arm and my left brain. Then other days, we chill. We chill because we're like that. 

Here is my life mapped out for the day, week and month of February 2014! This is what I love about the DIYFish inserts. So many many many things you can do and record. Okay, until next week! 

-Peace Love Plan Ahead! 

Wayword

Using DiyFish

Here I am, setting up for my day...still using DIYfish inserts. Now, I haven't really been plagued with "planner rash", where you aren't happy with whatever new set up you try. You're always itching for a new planner or a new system that will work. I genuinely have only tried the Filofax week on 2 pages and this new system from DIYfish. It's working for me, I haven't felt the need to change anything. I do get a bit of a hankering for...bigger rings? Simply because I want to carry more inserts with me. However I don't think there's any justification for this as I don't plan that far ahead and what I do plan for that far in advance is covered by yearly/monthly inserts that Fish has already implemented in her system. (I can talk myself out of anything! It's a gift. ) 

That's not to say that I am not still tweaking what I am working with. I added monthly tabs to my sides. You can also see that I added the clear color coding book marker as well to my system. This is useful...but like I said previously I STRUGGLE to use this. I know that someday when I want to go back and look at a particular thing the color coding will save me. But, for now I have to remind myself to mark my pages and to remember to code where it's needed. 

DIYFish has a Facebook group now! Very helpful group of ladies who seem to understand the ins and outs of this system. I admit we make it harder than it is to print and use...but there is a bit of a knack to it. I consider this system useful for someone who wants to track everything! And you LOVE to track everything! On the Facebook group, Fish herself posted a photo of the top of her Filofax. It showed numbered tabs for the months. I HAD TO HAVE THIS. (sometimes I don't talk myself out of things and I insist that I MUST have them.) Oddly enough, even though I called Korea and spoke to some very precise speaking Koreans, they would not sell me these tabs Fish uses. So I had to make my own!! Like what? LOL. They're actually not too bad, but instead of handwriting, I wanted to use my labeler to give it that professh look. :) 

These were the smallest tabs I could find the day I was doing this...and I don't mind the colors, so I went with it. However, I know that Avery makes printable numbered tabs, so I may go that route in the upcoming months. 

Overall, still using system. Still making it work. Tweaking. Changing. Lots of realizations about how I organize and plan. I'll post my last week, next! 

-Peace Love Plan Ahead Always!

Wayword

Using DIYFish inserts!

Self explanatory. But I got on the band wagon and am trying out DIYfish's inserts. They're HEAVEN. I love them! I am working hard to fill the pages. But it's so much better than not having enough space! 

Also made my own charm! I love it! ^_^ 

Peace. Love. Plan Ahead! 

-Wayword

Week 4!

I am trying to figure out my system. Who knew that you needed to figure out your own planner system? Lol 

Color coordinating LOOKS so pretty! But...I don't stick with it. I get random and I'm like, "I need to use purple here because it will match this side!!" And I abandon all reason and start a different way of coding. 

Here's my week 4. I want to be more function than fancy. I really really do, so I'm torn between decorating and using space wisely. Lately I decorate a little and add as I go to keep from over doing it. 

Here is my attempt to 'balance'. ^_^

Using my hydrate stamp! I think next week I'll use more stamps. They give it such a tidy look. Not to mention "functional"! Yeah buddy. 

Tiny little file folder I found at Fred Meyer for a dollar. It's a Studio 112. 

Clearly saving some space for the busiest  part of my week. 

A close up of the tiny file folder! So kewt! I put my two favorite quotes in it. 

Ps. All this makes me want to add a new section to my Filofax! Gotta keep track and plan!  Haha! 

-Wayword

Hem and Haw!

This photo got a lot of comments and likes from the main "Philofaxy" Facebook page. It caused me to think really hard about my "processes". How I plan, how I organize my thoughts and how I go about my week, menu and plans. 

It's complicated! And I realize that I'm a freak. Haha!! I don't follow any set codes for color coordinating and I'm so random with how I use my tapes...people were asking why I did this, what was that...etc. And I was really surprised about how much interest there was in my menu planning! 

So I've added that to my list of "to-do's" for this year. Figure out my meal plan/budgets and how to share with others how I make it work. :-) 

Exciting and scary. Lol

But you can accomplish anything if you have a plan! 

Peace. Love. Plan Ahead! 

-Wayword

Christmas

My Christmas is over. Somehow I always feel like the year is over when Christmas is over. I always spend the last week of December in limbo. I can't use my new calendars or planner pages yet..so how am I using up my last week of 2013??

Making new goals and printing out my January Filofax calendars!  I got the A5 Original and the calendar inserts are for 2014 (as well as being vertical) and I haven't had the chance to use them yet. However my 2014 is VERTICAL! I don't think I can work vertically? It's so strange how you can get hooked working one way that's it's almost impossible to think about working in another format. So, I'm printing my January month horizontally. 

I really want printed inserts from Piaric or maybe a rainbow set from KiddyQualia on Etsy. This far I have been printing my own from Philofaxy. I feel torn between buying a set to use or keep printing my own. Time wise it would good if I bought printed ones. It would save me time, paper and ink that's for sure! But, I have enjoyed printing out various printables and making my own calendars.  

Okay, it's off to play with paper! 

Peace, Love and Plan Ahead!! 

-Wayword

All the A5 Lovin'!!

I promised that I would show you my new A5 Fluro Pink Original Filofax!! She's SO beautiful.

Lays flat, right out of the box. The leather is most like a horse saddle leather. My friend who loves horses said it reminded her of a new saddle and new saddle smell. :-) 

It took me a while to set up new tabs, I moved from my personal size to A5. So I had to cut new ones. I love the pink theme, so I used rainbowy pink/purple for divider color. 

I have Media, Money, Calendar, Food, Journal and Health. I have sub categories since my tab definitions are so broad. 

I love Post It's new "Mobile" line!! I want every single piece!! I am finding it's so easy to create a "dashboard" at the front of my Filofax with them! Such a wonderful invention and so easy to adhere to my fly leaf. :-) 

And that's all for now. I do plan on breaking down my sections. It's such a big upgrade from a personal! All this room needs more organization it seems. 

Peace, Love and Plan Ahead! 

Waywordgrrl