Creating a Beautiful Planner
What is the point?
My daughter asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I shrugged. I didn’t want much, but I said I could use more stickers for my planner. She’d once told me that she couldn’t understand why I bothered adding stickers to my planner and making it look pretty. “What a waste of time,” she said. “It’s a lot faster to just write in your tasks than to search for the perfect sticker.”
Sure, she was right, but it’s pleasurable to take time to create a planner that looks nice. I also find that while it does take longer to search through stickers and place them in just the right spot, slowing down isn’t a bad thing. It helps me to think. It’s a bit of a meditative activity.
My routine
I use Sunday mornings to plan for the coming week. If the days are nice, I sit outside by my firepit or on the back patio with my planner, stickers, phone, and a cup of coffee. I breathe fresh air, listen to the birds sing, absently watch the dogs run around and inspect the back yard, and think about my goals for the week.
I begin to add it the repetitive activities that happen every week like teaching classes, going to the gym, walking the dogs. I have stickers for each of these. Then I add in other things that are unique to that week, like meetings or creating videos, or going…
