Healthy Habit 3: Plan Life Like I Plan a Vacation
Let’s continue this mini-series on Healthy Habits in the New Year!
Since I mentioned Healthy Habit #2 in my previous post (and I’ll wager you can imagine what that entails), let’s skip ahead to Healthy Habit #3!
If you haven’t read the previous two posts, you might want to—I’ll link them at the end.
The Pen is Mightier than the Memory
When I try to buy groceries without a list, I inevitably forget 3 (important) items. If I manage my schedule without noting dates and times in my calendar, I have little chance of attending events. I remember things better when I write them down.
Likewise with my knitting, if I want to remember the specifics of my knitting projects (or simply what I knit that year!), I need to take pictures on my phone and write the details somewhere. A few years ago, I fell out of the habit of documenting my projects online and have since struggled to find an efficient system that I will use.
I tend to go through cycles of being hyper-motivated to document everything followed by forgetting to write anything at all. (Yet always meaning to get back to it…)
Thankfully, I never need a reminder to knit!
However, other areas of my life significantly benefit from an organized, written approach—a to-do list for the day, a schedule and goals for the week, or a yearly overview for Big Picture planning.
Every Day is a Vacation
My philosophy for my day needs to imitate the way I generally approach a vacation. When preparing for a trip, I prefer to have—at the very minimum—a written general overview of possible activities. I like to have additional information, such as where each is located and how much admission costs, so that we can have the most efficient F.U.N. possible. I dread the possibility of missing a new experience because I didn’t bother to Google the area’s opportunities.
If I want to get the most out of my Regular Days, I need to approach them like I do my Vacation Days; I need to think about my day in advance and then take notes.
Bullet—Calendar—Paper—Digital
Organizational planners exist that allow people to get really intense with goal-setting and micro-scheduling their days. Some even offer a daily schedule divided into TEN MINUTE INTERVALS!!! These systems are built to squeeze the absolute Most from a day.
Though incredibly inspiring, that level of planning isn’t for me. I don’t have enough morning time to ruminate over goals and meticulously schedule my day. (Unless I want to get up at 4 AM. Hard pass.)
So what’s the best way for me to plan like I’m going on Vacation? Unfortunately, I’m still fine-tuning that. BUT, I’m starting 2024 off strong. I created a Yearly Planner for myself which I printed and placed in a soft binder. (Don’t tell anyone, but I haven’t started writing in it yet…. Baby steps, people!)
I also created templates for a Knitting Journal page and a Weekly Planner page that I can use digitally or print. For now, I added both PDFs to my Goodnotes app, and I have spent the week using my Weekly Planner.
My simple one-page layout allows me to consider what I need to get done that week, with space to separate those goals into more specific check-able daily items. It has already helped me this week when trying to stay on track with my responsibilities.
I created the Knitting Journal template to be easy to add pertinent info with minimum possible effort. Also, the digital format will allow for quick photo inclusion.
Simple = Possible
With any luck (and a touch of discipline), in December I will have a Goodnotes file full of weekly goals and golden check marks, plus another file packed with records of all of my knitting projects to clear my fuzzy memory for years to come.
Here’s to a year of organized amazingness!
How do you make the most of your day?
Spice up your 2024 Knitting Plans with patterns and inspiration from Mountain Song Designs…
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I’d be very interested in reading about what things you included in your Knitting Journal template. I always seem to neglect to note something that would have been helpful later on. Or I think, “I’ll remember that,” which of course I don’t because I haven’t gotten back to it as quickly as I thought I would. And I am also guilty of, “I’ll write that down later.”