Planning for November Starts…Yesterday – November Title Page

October 25, 2017 7 Comments

Hello November Welcome Page

An understated title page heading into a very busy period of time.

My best tip for the season is to simplify. Simplify your planning, simplify your tasks each day so to enjoy the season.

Simplify everything you can. Remove the fluff, remove all the extras because there are a lot of things to do, see, bake, care for etc that will complicate your life. Simplify everything else so when these extra things creep up into your life, you are not completely overwhelmed. Unlike October or September, I wanted a calming and simplified November’s title page.

Serenity, Peace & Confidence

The last couple months of the year also bring a time of reflection. I associate reflection with the word serenity, peace, and confidence. Serenity and peace to my soul closing out the year and confidence going into the next year. It’s a very exciting time to plan and decide what is important for the coming year. Looking at this page, I feel like the minimal design says all those things to me.

I do not plan on writing on this page but instead just keeping it the way it is. No more details.

I am putting together the monthly set-up for November but wanted to give you a sneak peak.

What do you do to deal with the hectic of the holiday season? Let me know in the comments below.

Plan your life so you live beautifully.

All my best, Tricia

P.S. Don’t forget to pin for later & follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration. I have a whole board dedicated to Welcome Pages and other boards dedicated to bullet journal and planner detailing. I kind of love it.
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I post more ideas and fun stuff on Instagram. Find me @ChocolateMusingsCreates

What I used for this spread: (contains affiliate links)

For this post – yep, that’s it. Black and white ink drawings sometimes take the most imagination.

Weekly Layout – Mini Time Block + Pumpkins & Mummy Text

October 21, 2017 4 Comments

Simple Weekly Horizontal Spread with Mini-Time Block with Pumpkins & Mummified text

It is nearly the end of October! What happened? This month went by faster than September! This month has had some ups and downs. I think I take on too much emotionally. I internalize everything. Journaling has helped me overcome this and get me out a slump or help me pull myself back up and keep moving on. I created a simple weekly horizontal spread with a larger place for daily ‘to dos’ and a small area for time-blocking.

This spread focuses focus on just the area of time that I am struggling with – the evening time, which is when I do a majority of my blog/video work. I find that if I am slipping into a slump of some kind simplifying gives me freedom, which reignites my creativity. This is a HUGE reason why I am an advocate for my bullet journal. I have the flexibility to change things week-to-week or even day-to-day based on what I need.

Weekly Horizontal Bullet Journal with mini-time blocking and cute pumpkin doodles

Last week I tried to time block my whole day but left little room for those pesky ‘to dos’ that creep up but don’t need a time-slot. If I start using dailies, I think that weekly overview of the time blocks would be more beneficial. I haven’t made the leap to using a daily planner yet.

Ways to use the time block

In the video, I thought I might write the tasks assigned to the time block below, using brackets to designate the tasks for the block of time. But I could instead use color to appoint blocks of time assigned to a task. Hmmm.

Left side weekly spread view, pumpkin details and time blocking are sure to warm up that inspiration | Chocolate Musings

Cohesive Weekday Plans and Off-the-Cuff Weekends

I start my weeks on Monday if nothing else to make my weekends look larger. But I like having my weekdays together – it makes things feel more cohesive. A little section for meals, general ‘to dos’, fill up what might be considered the un-scripted bottom part on the left page.

Saturday and Sunday nestle nicely together. I do not time block those days – we do lots of family things like going to the park or playing frisbee outside or in the cul-de-sac or building the tallest Lego tower ever so Lego Batman can scale to the top of the table or going to QT (QuikTrip – a local gas station that has fun drinks!) that are completely unscripted and usually spur-of-the-moment type activities. Sometimes, we just sit and watch a movie. Often times, my little girl (who is turning 6 tomorrow! – what???), will ask me to show her my art for the week and she will try out my techniques. She saw my ‘mummy video’ (see the post here on how to create mummy text) and immediately tried it out.

If I have errands or events, I will jot them down in the Saturday/Sunday slots – but those days usually stay pretty clear.

YouTube Planning Video

I created a video of my set up for this week. Watch the video below or on my YouTube Channel here. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for future videos.

Mummy Text and Script Hand Writing

I discovered that making Mummified text was so much fun – and completely appropriate for the nearing holiday, I added some mummy text to the weekday names. If you missed it, here is the tutorial for making mummy text or mummy pumpkins or mummied mummys. Whatever you wish to mummify. The orange washi tape is to mark my monthly calendar (see the set-up here). I love the sparkle!

Doodle Details

I love the days written over the top of doodled pumpkins and the swirls of the green vines on the pumpkins below. Just enough whimsy and doodle to keep the page interesting, but give enough space to write and plan and all the things.

Overall

Overall I love this Simple Weekly Horizontal Spread. It has enough space to plan and create and enough function to accommodate schedules.

Mummy text and cursive writing mix for days of the week | Bullet Journal Weekly Layout with Mini-Time Block

Weekly planner layout with mini-time block and fall doodles

How to Draw Mummy Text + 2 bonus ways to use this technique

October 19, 2017 3 Comments

How to Draw Mummy Text

I created a mummy! No, I am not Dr. Frankenstein creating a monster or an Egyptian of old preparing a Pharoah for the afterlife. Nothing like that. I just created mummy font. An easy way to create a Halloween lettering effect without having to be fancy schmancy. In the video, I give you the how to draw your own mummy text with a step-by-step method of lettering mummified words with hints, tips & tricks.

Enjoy!

Here are some tips from the video:

#1 Font Tip:

You will lose detail from your word sketch, do not use a font with a lot of details.

#2 Font Tip:

Start with a thicker-font type (Arial Black is what I used for inspiration for the initial text) – that way you can show more great mummy details!

#3 Mummy Tip

Use different shapes such as triangles going in opposite directions to create variety in the wrapping.

#4 Mummy Tip

Add some rectangles in the mix of the triangles to create variety

#5 Mummy Tip

Start in different corners to give even more variety

#6 Mummy Tip

Extend your ‘wrappings’ beyond the lines of your sketched text to make it look bulky like a bandage

#7 Mummy Tip

When going around corners or curves, think of that time you hurt your knee or elbow and wrapped it with that bulky ace bandage? Think about how it stretched around your knee or elbow and bunched up in the crook of the inner part of your elbow. Do the same thing with the triangles around the curves.

#8 Tying it off

Like toilet paper trailing after an unsuspecting person exiting a public bathroom make it flow like a ribbon. You could also connect two letters together with a single ribbon connector instead of ending each one separately like I did.

#9 Bonus Techniques for Drawing the Mummy Text

Use this in other ways like wrapping the stems of flowers for a rustic bouquet or making a sweet, swaddled baby for celebrating at Christmas time or when a new baby arrives in your life.

#10 Super-Speedy Version of the video

This super-speedy version is the perfect size to share!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post on “How to Draw Mummy Text”

Don’t forget to pin for later & follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration.
Follow @ChocolateMusingsCreates

P.S.

This would go perfectly in a bullet journal or planner for Halloween – just to change-up the headers for a month or week!

Want to know what I used to create this? I’ll tell you. (Contains affiliate links)

HP 32 LB smooth paper
Sakura Pigma Micron Pens
Papermate Mechanical Pencil
Waterpens
Watercolors

Microphone
Tripod
Camera
Editing software: Adobe Premiere

Mid-Month Habit Check – October

October 17, 2017 4 Comments

Need some re-motivation in the middle of the month? Do a Mid-Month Habit Check.

In a habit slump? Do a mid-month habit check to reignite your motivation

I started doing a mid-month habit check a couple of months ago. The beginning of the month I am completely motivated and know that I am going to conquer all of my desires and do all the things. Well, that’s what I intended to do anyway. By the middle of the month, it seems that I have lost steam and I need a boost of motivation.

So the middle of the month, I do a quick assessment of my habits which re-motivates me to keep going to the end of the month. I find this 5-minute assessment does wonders for reigniting the flame that I felt at the beginning of the month.

Questions to ask yourself for re-motivation:

Once I reassess where I am, I spend a couple of minutes thinking of what motivated me in the first place.

I ask:

Why did I start this habit?
What is the end goal?
Do I need to change the time of day for this habit?

A little meditation goes a long way.

Make a Change & Get It Done:

If I find a neglected habit, it probably means that I am not planning for it or I am letting other ‘fluff’ get in the way – things that don’t really matter occupy the time that I would spend on that habit. So I need to refocus and eliminate some of that fluff. If I need to move the habit to the beginning of the day, I do it.

For instance, the I’ve neglected the Show Me Your Letters habit this month. Last month, I missed maybe one day. This month so far, I’ve missed 7 of 17.

Supercharge your habits:

If you notice at the end of this tracker, I have numbers and a blank column on the right side. Th blank column is for the end of the month and I will calculate the percentage of days that I completed that habit. The other column that already has numbers recorded shows how many days of the month I completed the last month. For instance, the show me your letters had 23 days of September that I completed that habit. If I put it as a priority for the rest of the month, I could still meet or beat that number from last month.

I created a post a couple of months ago to “Super-Charge Your Habit Tracker” that talks more about these columns in the habit tracker. You can read it here.

I created a percentage chart so you don’t have to figure it out. Pin for reference later! In October, you would use the 31 days column to figure your percentages. At the end of the month, count the number of days you completed a habit. For instance – if your total days completing a habit was 21, and the month had 31 days, your percentage would be 68%.

For instance – if your total days completing a habit was 21, and the month had 31 days, your percentage would be 68%.

Calculating the percentage helps me really see if I need to change the time of day for that habit if I need to move it to the morning or evening. I love seeing the real numbers so I can give that habit a ‘grade’.

Percentage calculator for monthly habit trackers

Two Categories of Habits:

I actually have two categories of habits that I track. It’s not indicated anywhere except in my mind.

Habits I am actively trying to pursue, and usually the ones I spend the most time on.
Habits I am assessing – these are ‘test subjects’ if you will – things I want to include in my life and are important, I just may not have set goals for them yet. These will most likely become the next set of habits I am actively trying to pursue. Maybe they need a little tweaking, or I need to plan them into my day. It’s like they are getting a trial run on my habit tracker.

Doing a mid-month habit check has been a great ‘habit’ to start, and it gives that extra boost of motivation for the last half of the month.

**Do you do anything during the month to re-motivate yourself? I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.

What I Need Help With – and What I am Going to Do

October 14, 2017 4 Comments

There’s a question that I glaze over just like a tasty doughnut. I know I have done it and not just once. No, not glazed a doughnut, but ignoring things that I really want to work on or admit what I need help with or “things to work on”. However, one day this last week, I was reading over the #planwithmechallenge prompts for October and this question jumped out.

Since I have started bullet journaling I have seen so many improvements in my life. So I decided to take this question on. I could list dozens of things that I want to improve. But I tend to shy away from making a laundry list of all the things I need to work on. Overwhelm takes over and I already have a tendency to beat myself up about the things I need to do.

This time I decided to think of the first four things that I needed help with. I limited myself to just four. If you are doing this exercise, decide to limit yourself – it will help to keep you from being overwhelmed more than you realize. These were things I could do for myself, I didn’t have to rely on someone else’s commitment. I chose four ideas for my habit tracker, goals, or personal development.

My Things to Work on:

Read or listen to more books
Idea Implementation
Time-block
Confidence

I didn’t just list the things I needed to work on and close this dotted A5 companion of mine. I listed a little blurb about what I meant and defined it further.

Things to work on... Free Printable Exercise deciding what you need help with and what you are going to do about it.

YouTube Video Walk-Through

This prompt was the inspiration for my weekly bullet journal spread – I decided to create a time-blocking spread to help achieve some of these goals. You can read the post here.

I created a video of my set up for time-blocking and the process behind it with an overview of the month’s layouts so far. Watch the video below or on my YouTube Channel here. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for future videos. The first part of the video is my “things to work on”.

For instance:

Idea Implementation – I have so many ideas! I need to streamline ideas. Focus on one at a time instead of trying to do them all. I need to finish projects instead of starting a new one before I complete a project.

Give yourself a why:

Why in the world do these things matter to you? Only you can know that. I want to read more books. Well, because I miss it and like many things I have allowed life to consume all my time. I want those words back in my life. My other why? I love to learn. I want to continue learning. All the things.

Ask: What is holding you back?

I find it is good for me to identify my excuses or my obstacles. For instance – I don’t want to buy more books because, well, we have a problem with clutter in my house as it is. I don’t need more. I don’t like reading on my phone as much. Time is an issue for sitting down and reading. Audiobooks are so expensive!

The biggie: What are you going to do about it?

Sign up at the library already for their free resources to books and audiobooks. They have so many resources. This takes the monetary issue out, I don’t collect clutter, I can listen to the books while getting ready or driving since I download them to my phone.

Measure it! When can you count it done?

So in the case of reading or listening to more books – I will measure in quantity. If I read or listen to just one book per month, it will be an increase in what I am doing. I’ll track for 3 months (a random number I chose) then reassess and see if I need to increase it or if it is working. Maybe I will find another source for books or decide to try audible or read one on kindle.

Notes:

Chances are if you haven’t done something already, there are reasons. Maybe they are just excuses, maybe there is something bigger preventing you from doing what you want. Don’t ignore a concern. Address it. Make a note, figure out what it means to you or what you need to do about it. This is a way to help you be happier with you. There are no judgments – let yourself be you. It’s ok.

I am not sure how I will track “Confidence” as I wrote down in my bullet journal. So I’ll do some research so I can define it and measure it.