Plan With Me 2018 Archives

August Plan With Me: Barnyard Vibes & Filling Space

August 5, 2018 3 Comments

This month I put a TON of work into illustrating my bullet journal, partly because I wanted to fill up the rest of the space in this notebook to start a new one in September. And I use my planner more when it’s pretty. I know I’m not the only one to do that. In March, I said I wanted to fill a notebook with a year’s worth of plans. But all that changed. I managed to fit 6 months into in this book, and I’m not mad.

Harvest & Fall Barnyard theme in my Bullet Journal + Pages to fill the end of a journal | @ ChocMusings ChocolateMusings.com

12 Week Year Experiment

Well, when I read the 12 Week Year, I decided that I could fill up a notebook for every 12 weeks if I wanted. Starting a separate collections journal turned out to be a good idea. I LOVE writing, jotting, doodling, building on ideas. I also realized that I needed space to track notes, etc. for current projects. Leaving space to breathe is a beautiful thing, especially when my mind starts racing 10,959,008,943 miles per hour when I lay down to go to sleep.

How to Fill Space in your Bullet Journal

Wasting space at the end of a journal seems, well, wasteful. So I threw in a bunch of trackers that I wanted to try. Coupled with note pages, I successfully filled up the rest of the book. Each page has a unique farm animal doodle + painting. My friend Amy & decided to feature Farm Animals in our Instagram Challenge this Month, so that’s where the idea bloomed. See below for a list of pages to add to your bullet journal or planner if you’re at the end and need to fill a few pages.

If you spend any time on Instagram or Pinterest, you know that there are lots of different trackers and plans you’d like to try. Since I had a few pages left in my journal, I filled the space with different trackers to see how I liked them. Each page features a different animal, partially so I can easily find the pages I’m looking for. “Oh, that one has the peacock, that’s the one with the chicks crossing the road, that one is the horse one” — tricks to help my brain.

Spreads such as a Planned vs. Actual Productivity log, editorial calendar, I added a gratitude log back in (partially because the Instagram challenge helped me think of an idea and a focus for my gratitude.

Productivity Tracker in My Bullet Journal - Track planned vs. Actual | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #bulletjournal #bujo #planner #productivity #tracker

Great Quotes

In a previous habit tracker post, I mentioned a quote from Gretchen Rubin, an author who writes about habits and happiness. She said, “We manage what we monitor.” Then later she mentioned that “monitoring habits don’t require change, but often leads to it.” Peter Drucker wisely said, “What gets measured gets managed.”

We Manage What We Monitor - handlettered quote #change #habits #handletter #quote #handlettered

I want to start creating and selling more planner-related resources, both digitally and eventually shipping products. This month’s ‘filler pages’ are a way to help me recognize my time wasters and what I can do differently.

Monitoring habits doesn't require change, but often leads to it. - Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before #habits #change #quote

What gets measured, gets managed - Peter Drucker

Too Ambitious?

Ambitiously, I also decided to document creating all of these pages (20 spreads!) with one YouTube Video per day. As of Day 4, I fear I’m in over my head (partly because I can’t get my computer to render the videos fast enough!). I have so much I want to share! Speaking of videos watch below for the flip through.

Extra pages at the end of your notebook? Add some extra notes pages with your theme to fill up those blank pages | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com

Ideas for Additional Pages:

If you’re a blogger:

Editorial Pages
Blog post notes
Video notes (if you edit videos)
Social Media Results for the length of the notebook
Blog statistics covering the period of the notebook
Successes!
Things to Improve

Other Extra Pages:

Braindump (this month I call mine an Idea Cloud)
Lists of pages in your next journal
Productivity tracker
Monthly to do list
Next Month’s Plans, ideas, where you’d like to go, important information
Monthly Review
Journal/Event Page
Instagram Post Tracker
Gratitude Log
Quotes for your next journal
The inspiration for your planner
Doodle pages for headers and icons
Favorites

What pages do you add as ‘filler’?

~Tricia

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

July Plan With Me – Watercolor Wash

July 8, 2018 1 Comment

July Plan With Me – How to Do a Watercolor Wash Background with Blocked out Spaces

It’s World Watercolor Month!

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it when I started planning my July pages. Or maybe it was because I recorded all sorts of fun holidays in my future planner” and I subconsciously remembered it. Either way, this month’s plan with me is immensely appropriate for the month! I’ll show you how I did my watercolor wash + what I learned and tips & tricks.

How To Do a Watercolor Wash – My Process

If you want to recreate this in some way (adding your own twist of course!) you’ll need:

Paints (I use Crayola Markers)
Paintbrush or Water pens
Water (if you use the paintbrush option)
a Notebook
Sticky notes or masking tape to block the water in specific areas
Patience or a blowdryer to speed up drying time
Pens or Markers to add dates/events/details after

Block-It Off

Block off the sections of your notebook that you want to keep from painting. I cut the sticky notes to the size I wanted (remember that I did have some bleed under the sticky notes from the water – I was okay with it, but keep that in mind). If you use tape or another sticky substance, make sure to test it out on another page first (maybe one in the back) to make sure you don’t tear the page or something when removing the tape.

Choose your palette and paint over the whole page or sections you want to watercolor wash. I tried to do a gradient fade from dark to light in my journal, but it required a lot of water, and the pages of my notebook couldn’t handle that much water (as you can see below with the bleed through).

The less water you use, the less chance you will have to bleed through. I used the same markers in June, less water, more intense color, less bleeding, lesson learned.

Patience or Hairdryer & Add Details

Once the paint is dry (either through extreme patience or with a speedy blowdryer) to increase the look of the gradient, I outlined each line of days on the monthly calendar with dark to light markers from top to bottom.

Add the days of the week and the name of the month and all the events and voila! Done. For even more detail, use a gold or silver pen to add little details and doodles around the remaining background.

Favorite Places for Random Holidays:

From World Watercolor Month to Sea Turtle day, I love some random holidays. So I thought I’d share my sources for where I find my random holidays to celebrate! I subscribe to some of these guys on twitter & Instagram; I love their notifications.

daysoftheyear.com
timeanddate.com/holidays/fun/
calendar-365.com – This one has some other facts about the days, not so many fun holidays, though.
holidayinsights.com
nationalday.com
holidayscalendar.com
ntldays.com

If you know of another website or reference for fun holidays, please let me know in the comments below!

What have you recently tried in your planner or journal? Did it turn out as you wanted?

~Tricia

Plan With Me: June 2018 Beach + Ikea Display Room Method

May 31, 2018 6 Comments

In this plan with me for June 2018, I’ll show you how I used the Ikea Display Room Technique & gradually grew my journal to include only the pages I *really* wanted & needed. If you’ve felt overwhelmed by having too much in your planner, use some of these ideas to help eliminate unnecessary items in your bullet journal and find what’s truly important to you.

It started out this month with my bullet journal feeling like ‘too much’. Besides the fact that summer is the hardest for me to use my bullet journal simply because I get caught up in the ‘lazy days of planning’.

When your bullet journal seems to have ‘too much,’ take inspiration from Ikea’s display rooms and eliminate everything that takes up space. Condense, analyze what you truly need, then reset your planning for the future. I decided to follow those steps this month. Starting with just three pages and adding pages throughout the month as I needed them.

Beach Sign Welcome Page - Watercolor Painted with Crayola Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #welcomepage #bulletjournal #watercolor #crayola

Plan With Me Video: June 2018

In the video below, I’ll show you from start to finish how I created this fun, beachy spread plus the other pages in my bullet journal this month. Crayola super tip markers – one medium I love for ‘painting’ in my journals. I started with absolutely no pencil marks, so you’ll see the whole planning process, doodles and all.

June 2018 Plan with Me Starting Pages

A Welcome page (not necessary but included because I love them, and you still need artwork even in a small space, and I needed something so I could turn the page and have the monthly plans on a two-page spread)
The monthly calendar page (with a daily habit tracker built-in)
Lastly, a monthly journaling page (one that I call All the Things with just the right amount of categories)

The welcome page is one of my all-time favorites. I started doing welcome pages last July, so this makes it my year anniversary of welcome pages! August 2017, January 2018, and June 2018 are my top 3 so far.

June Plan with me 2018 Welcome Page - colorful watercolor sign on the beach with palm trees, starfish, flip flops and sand, perfect for invoking a casual setting in your bullet journal

June 2018 Plan With Me: Rotated Tall Monthly Calendar | How My Journal This Month is Like an Ikea Display Room - condensed, small, minimal, and only includes the necessities | Chocolate Musings - Bullet Journal Inspiration

My Favorite Spread for the month perfect for journaling and memory keeping. | Chocolate Musings - Planner & Bullet Journal Inspiration #bulletjournal #bujo #journal

The Inspiration for June 2018 Plan With Me: Ikea Display Room

Have you ever been to Ikea where they display those ‘living in small areas’, and you see how beautifully arranged all the furniture is and still accommodates all the needs of the person living there? It’s fascinating how a small room can feel like it has everything you need. It’s a revelation to how much ‘extra stuff’ we keep just for the sake of keeping it.

When I was a little girl, I used to pretend in my room that my future house was the size of my bed or the size of my bedroom. It required immense creativity to decide where all my stuffed animals and art supplies would live in this small space. That’s where I got the inspiration for June’s plan with me.

What Small Spaces Require

Small spaces require organization, and you eliminate every unnecessary item. Each nook has a purpose (or two) and storage solutions are well-fitted for the area. When I visit Ikea, I wonder if I could honestly live in such a small square-footage. I’d like to think I could by myself, but definitely not with kids.

Well….that’s kind of what I did for June.

If you saw the plans for May, I condensed the weekly plans down to two weeks per spread. Thinking that was as small as I could get. I guess somewhere in the back of my head; my brain took that as a challenge. Fitting everything in life into 52 dots x 38 dots (the width and height of my bullet journal) takes some creativity and planning.

Monthly Calendar

On the monthly calendar, I wanted a background for each of the boxes, kind of a washed-out background and I used two colors. I wish that Crayola markers had a number on them so I could tell you specifically the colors I used. But I used a water pen to blend the colors from the drawn boxes. The extra two lines at the top of each calendar box are for my habit trackers.

Rotating the book so the calendar is taller than wide adds more space to each day. Each day is eight squares (4 cm) by 5 squares (2.5 cm). I attached my habits using a little washi tape and a sheet cut from a Rhodia Dot-Grid pad (I love lining up the dots, so it’s like the page just continuing onto that little flap).

Rotated Tall Monthly Calendar | How My Journal This Month is Like an Ikea Display Room - condensed, small, minimal, and only includes the necessities | Chocolate Musings - Bullet Journal Inspiration

Was I Crazy? Maybe.

This plan with me was a little disjointed and crazy. I learned a lot about what I needed (and what I didn’t) for the month. I might have been crazy to try condensing all of my plans so much, but I think you’ll agree, sometimes there’s not a whole lot going on, and it’s ok to modify your bullet journal to suit your needs for any given month. Even if that includes eliminating weekly or daily pages. That’s the thing with this type of planner, you can adjust it to suit your needs and add or remove elements as needed.

Post Plan With Me: June 2018 Through the Month

As the month progressed, I added a few extra pages including a beach packing list and a spending log. I loved using my “all the things” journal page to record specific memories as a family and make general notes. There’s a reason why I like to include these particular pages. One reason is they provide a quick overview to the good things of the month. Another reason is that I feel like I recorded a journal entry without feeling like I have to jot every detail down of every event.

Track your spending by category & need vs want review at a glance | Chocolate Musings @ChocMusings #bulletjournal #finances #money #tracking #spendinglog #spendingbloom

Planner Question:

Do you use the same pages/layout each month/week? If so, how long did it take for you to decide on that layout? If not, what makes you change each month?

Are you ok with leaving blank space in your planner when life is less planned, or do you condense everything down?

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

Plan With Me: May Weekly Layouts {+ Video}

May 13, 2018 2 Comments

New May Weekly Layouts!

I’m testing out a new set of layouts for May! The May weekly layouts will be two to a page to accommodate less planning needs. Thinking about May’s plans (and on into June and July), I plan less and relax more. Sure, we will have a week of family vacation but other events are on the ‘unplanned’ side and ‘off-the-cuff’ decisions.

I work during the summer so my schedule stays the same. The only thing I need to worry about is my sitter for the kiddos and the occasional planned outing. Consolidating the weeklies will help ‘space waste’ across my spreads.

Creative planning or bullet journaling is so versatile! When you need more space, take more space, when you need less space, plan your spreads accordingly. This month I decided to try two weeks to a page and have two different spreads to try.

May Weekly Layouts

Watch the video below (be sure to subscribe for more content!) and see how I layout minimal planning and add bits of color to each page.

Summer Mode: Loading

May Horizontal Weekly Layouts + Plan with me video, layouts and reason for condensing two weeks to a spread

My kiddos finish school the end of the month (before Memorial Day in the US) and about Mid-April we lazily fall into summer-mode. The days are warmer, the sun shines longer, the pollen is thicker (in the Southern United States, we have Winter, Pollen Season, Summer then comes Autumn), despite the yellow haze in the air and yellow film lacing my car from all the pollen, it feels like summer is coming.

Summer Plans = Planning Less?

Though we may do more during the summer, I tend to plan less. Rather than leaving whole pages blank due to lack of planning, I decided to condense May to two weeks to a spread. True to form, I always have to try more than one spread for the month and decide which I like best. The area of the squares is the same (same number of blocks) but the layout is different. I’m already loving the vertical layouts. The horizontal layouts don’t have a designated place for meal planning and that’s an important part of my budget, so I’ll have to add that back in.

Same Layout Different Backgrounds

Just to see how different a spread can look, I like to use different backgrounds for each spread. Vertical & horizontal. In this month’s spreads, I use diagonal, vertical and horizontal watercolor painted stripes plus the last week uses circles instead for a completely different feel.

It’s just my way of making each page different when they are essentially the same.

May Vertical Weekly Layouts + Plan with me video, layouts and reason for condensing two weeks to a spread

Question:

Are you ok with leaving blank space in your planner when life is less planned, or do you condense everything down?

~Tricia

Planning May: What’s Staying vs Changing + April Flip-through

May 10, 2018 1 Comment

Planning May: What’s Staying vs Changing from April

What’s staying vs changing (and why!) in my planner for May. My favorite thing to see from other’s journals are the flip-through segments. I decided to slow it down and do a flip-through of the pages that I like and what didn’t work out for me.

Sneak peeks from the video:

After the pen for “All the Things” page
Journals for my kids (one for each!) and a little flip-through of those
Circle Badges for all the months and days showing off the preview sketches – coming soon to the shop! Thanks to @Darknss (find the handle) for the recommendations!
‘After the pen’ weeklies
Writing on spreads that are ‘too pretty’ – spread from the eclipse after the pen
Habit by number
Declutter my life two spreads (Initial & Updated)
How I bookmark/tab pages with washi tape

Watch the video below and hit the subscribe on the lower right-hand so you’ll be notified when a new video comes out.

Welcome Page

Welcome pages are funny things to me, it took a while for me to start using them because they just seemed like ‘fluff’ pages. They might be ‘fluff pages’ but other planners have welcome pages or monthly separators. It’s usually where the tabs are attached. Last July was my first-ever welcome page and I’ve used one ever since. It almost became a summer seasonal welcome page, but I combined it to the Welcome May and Summer page.

Calendar Page

When I set up my current planner in March, I made the future log pages very large, one month to a page, two months to a spread. I intended to drop monthly pages and just jump straight into weeklies. That lasted all of one month. I need visual planning!

In April I tried again to create a monthly ladder layout, I really love the concept of listing everything in linear form (that’s why I keep going back to it). I think that’s what the original bullet journal was designed with, but a calendar grid works better for me at a glance. In May I’m experimenting with smaller boxes and larger notes areas.

Coming soon! All the months in circular badge format! April’s creation inspired me so much that I sketched out (and started working on the months in this format.

April Weeklies

In April, I chose a common color scheme and theme for the weekly pages. Using a common color scheme across the pages was definitely challenging. It was a fun challenge that I’ll accept month after month. Space and circles dominated my weeklies, I do wish they had a little more structure but that is something I can do in the future. Space is always a fun theme and I like using circles too! In fact, if you didn’t see, I have a whole post about using circles.

May Weeklies

The weekly layouts are the biggest changes for the month. I didn’t foresee using a spread per week as summer nears. So I decided to condense two weeks to a spread. Each day still has space for events and notes, it’s just condensed. So far, so good. The boxes are the right size for all the things I need to do, including tasks and events. This just might be a thing when I have less to plan.

For the month of April, I switched to a Sunday start on the weeklies. In May, I am switching it back to Monday start. The May monthly calendar page shows Sunday-Saturday, but the weeklies are Monday-Sunday. The biggest reason is to keep the weekend plans together, it just seems easier (and I like to make my weekends feel bigger).

Collections

All the Things

I created an “All the Things” page to replace the failed “One Line Per Day” page. It is my new favorite page of all, perhaps ever. It was rare that I wrote on the ‘one line per day’ page daily. Instead, I write in spurts when I have a moment to reflect and think. So I would end up with several blank lines and missed details. “All the Things” uses categories instead of days. One section I’m going to add a “to journal” to keep a blurb for the things to add to my kid’s journals.

Habit Tracking by Number

I started “Habit Tracking by Number” in April. Using numbers to define my habits made a huge difference in tracking them, but not just tracking, but the motivation to do them. Each habit had a definition and something measurable!

That shift plus the shift in perspective that I needed to give these habits priority instead of trying to do them all in the last moments before I went to bed made a significant difference in my attitude towards these acts I am trying to form into habits.

Personal Habits & Business Habits

I’ll track the same personal habits for May as I did in April and add a section for habits for chocolatemusings.com. Also staying: flip-out habit definitions. I might use that idea on other pages too. And I just realized that I forgot to add a quote to my habits page, that is something I miss. I like motivational quotes on the habit tracker page. Especially the one I created in January.

Things I Miss Already & Things I Love So Far

I loved April’s theme – space, circles and the colors. Lavender fields inspired May’s color scheme, and I really enjoy it, but maybe I need to do a lavender space theme. I enjoyed the whimsy and the free-flow of the different pages. I’m looking forward to the structure of the May boxes because I tend to write until I run out of room. Maybe that’s why I like circles, they are whimsical, but have edges to keep me inside, If I want to. I really like the two-to-a-spread weeklies so far.

Question:

What pages in your journal do you change-up every month and what do you keep?