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Chocolate Musings

Set your goals - make the plans - artfully create your life - live it beautifully. Grab the good chocolate and find your muse.

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Home » planning video

Moving to a New Bullet Journal for March!

March 8, 2018 7 Comments

The well-loved golden-bound book has seen better days, and it is time to move into a new bullet journal. See this ruby beauty? I’m hoping it will last me more than a year for planning. And this lovely Azure book? It’s becoming my long-term collections journal. I’m moving to a new bullet journal. You read that right! I’m moving to not just one journal but separated into two for March!

Moving into TWO new bullet journals + Video set up

Why the Separation of the Journals?

I split my journals for two reasons – one I wanted a planner that lasted more than 6 months (I got almost 6 months from both the last journals (purple then yellow). But I didn’t want to move all my long-term collections to a new journal. Short-term collections I will keep in my red planning journal.

The Need for a Long-Term Collections Journal

About half-way through the last journal, I realized that I needed a long-term collections journal. There are lots of things I jot down that are not for the immediate short-term. Some things are years in advance. For instance, I created a ‘new home wishlist’ and a ‘repairs list’ for my current home. We are not purchasing in the next 6 months, and it will take longer than that short span of time to fix up our current house.

The split allows for longer-term goals and projects and does not get lost in the day-to-day planning minutia. I am very excited about this move and look forward to making beautiful, functional spreads for both my weeks and months and my collections.

New Journal in the Middle of the Year?!

I admit it would have been nice to start the new journal in January. But starting a new journal shouldn’t have to be done just at the beginning of the year. In fact, the more I thought about it, the bullet journal system is flexible so you can start in the middle of a year with no problems. If you need to go back and complete the previous month’s future logs, go ahead, there’s no reason why you can’t. In fact, I did that when I started my purple journal last April!

Moving to a New Bullet Journal - in the middle of a year

The New Journal Set-Up

Moving to a new bullet journal requires a little bit of what I call planning-the-planner. I write the titles of the page in pencil and plan the flow. Since it’s in pencil, I can adjust and move around some of the pages.

Future Log

I have two future logs in this new journal. Silly? Maybe. One is a very high-level overview, and the other one allows me more in-depth goal planning. I discovered something in my Leuchtturm1917 journal, and I am a little ashamed that I didn’t see it before. Keep reading, I’ll tell you.

Broad Overview Future Log

There are 52 columns on a spread in an A5 Leuchtturm1917 and 52 weeks in a year. I don’t know why I didn’t make this connection before, but I was interested in creating continuing year’s calendar with this information. Using my trusty Google Calendar which conveniently shows the weeks of the year, I created a full year’s continuous-flow calendar. To see the year’s broad overview in one peek.

FYI: The washi tape serves no purpose other than to cover up the marker from the opposite page where  I was too heavy-handed and used too many layers to blend colors.

Goal Planning – Future Log “Common Area”

The second future log has two months to a page and 4 sections. Writing the month’s name down the middle of the page and separating one big area into 3 smaller parts for appointments, random dates to note, and blog post plans. The largest, unseparated section I plan on using for goal setting & notes.

I call this my common area – thinking back to my high school days where we had a big ‘commons’ in the center of the school. Many hallways and offices split off from this large space, so it was a place of gathering and meeting up after various events or classes. Just like my common area is a place to meet back after one month and gather my thoughts for the next.

Future Log: 1 month to a page - large goal planning areas & space for lots of to-dos

March Plans

For the start of March, I wanted to see If I could use the March ‘common’ future-log as a calendar. So the welcome page is minimal with just a bit of text, a wreath, and a calendar. I’ve been practicing drawing circular wreaths, and this was an excellent opportunity to use one.

Tip: If you draw free-hand circles, try to use your whole arm (from the shoulder) to make the circular movement. I find that I make a much better shape that way than trying to draw from my wrist.

The First Week

The first week of March started on Thursday. Lately, I’ve been keeping the months together (beginning each month fresh – no matter when the month starts). I created a partial week spread and decided that the other half would be for my habit tracker for the month.

Watch the setup video below for the first month and week of my new bullet journal. As I was editing the video, I realized that part of the problem with me getting things out on the timelines I set, is that I promise WAY too much from the video. I don’t have all the things done, so I will update this post and the YouTube description as I complete my promised items. 🙂 Learning to scale my projects to meet my deadlines is definitely a work of art.

I hope this gives you some confidence to start a new journal no matter what month it is or where you are in your life. Do not wait for the perfect opportunity. Make it the perfect opportunity.

Question:

How do you feel about starting a new planner in the middle of a year?

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

7 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Plan With Me, Plan With Me 2018, Planner Spreads Tagged: #BuJo, Bullet Journal, bullet journal collections, bullet journal set-up, Circle, circles, collections, mid-year, mid-year migration, plan with me, planner, planning video, two bullet journals, two notebooks, video tutorial

November Plans – Focus on Simplicity and Gratitude

October 29, 2017 7 Comments

November Journaling Focus

Simplicity and Gratitude

After the fun holiday of Halloween comes a period of anticipation. It feels like there is almost an electric quality in the air – a magic that only comes with the holidays. With that comes the flurry of activity, the parties, the traveling, the family gatherings, the traditions, the end of year hustle that is born around the end of October and dies after New Year’s day. During the first two weeks of November, there is almost a calm before the storm. For me, the holidays become overwhelming. So this is why I chose to focus my journaling and blogging efforts on Simplicity and Gratitude.

Monthly Spread - Simplify your monthly calendar with a monthly log spread in your bullet journal

Instagram/Twitter Challenge – November 2017

I decided to host an Instagram/Twitter challenge focused on those two things. If you’d like to take part, find the prompts here and tag me @ChocolateMusingsCreates using #DailyWordMusings on either Twitter or Instagram. I’d love to see how you create Simplicity and Gratitude into your holiday plans.

As I am writing this, I can’t help but wonder if there’s the same feeling for those outside of the United States as compared to in the US. September/October bring a change of season heading into the colder time of the year, the end of October is Halloween followed a few weeks later by Thanksgiving (US) and you can feel the excitement mounting in the air. Christmas time brings another change of season and is of course highly anticipated and headed up with New Year’s celebrations and the start of clean, fresh, new year. Where I will struggle writing the new date until June.

Allow Your Mind Tell You What You Need

For me, I know the last three months of the year blur by in a flurry of activity. Earlier this week I gave a sneak peek of my welcome page. Every time I thought of doodling a turkey or Thanksgiving feast, I would postpone planning for a while longer. I didn’t like the idea. So as I listened to my mind’s reaction, I closed my eyes, relaxed, and let my mind wander. I imagined walking through a forest of aspens crunching through the frozen snow. The scene was quiet and the word “serene” came to my mind. I could tell that is what I needed for the month of November.

With this in mind, I planned the month of November and all the weekly pages in one planning session. Each of the weeks are very minimally designed – using the same square shape to create unity, but varying the layout for each week.

November Title Page | Simple black and white Hello November with elegant handlettering text and aspens

Chocolate Musings on YouTube!Plan With Me Video – November 2017

Here’s a video of November’s set-up. I plan on highlighting each week just before it starts. Check back each week for each new download of the layout with the measurements. The minimal design is something completely new to me (with the exception of this layout) and thrilled to try it out. I have come to realize that when life gets complicated or hectic, it is time to simplify. Check out the video below and be sure to hit like and subscribe for more content.

I will put together another post with the collections for this month – the Planning & Goals, Meal Ideas, Habit Tracker & Mood Tracker where I’ll track moods based on activity. I can’t wait to doodle on my weekly pages. Because I left lots of room for doodling.

 

Save to Pinterest for later – and while you are at it, follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration!

Follow @ChocolateMusingsCreates

I’d love to hear what you want to see in future videos so leave me a comment below.

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully.

Tricia

Monthly Spread - Simplify your monthly calendar with a monthly log spread 3 columns + notes (or 4 column spread)

Want to know what I used in this video? I’ll tell you. (Contains affiliate links – if you click through and end up purchasing a product, I receive a small commission – though the cost is the same to you.)


7 Comments
Filed Under: Blog, Bullet Journal, Plan With Me, Plan With Me 2017, Planner Spreads Tagged: Bullet Journal, bullet journaling, gratitude, leuchtturm1917, monthly calendar, monthly log, monthly planning layout, November, November 2017, plan with me, planner set up, planning video, Simplify

About Me


Hi! I'm Tricia, the creative behind ChocolateMusings.com, I know how it feels to lose your inner muse. After years of darkness (which I call the dark ages of my life), I found my inner muse hiding in the forgotten corners of my soul, I vowed never to lose sight of her again.

Bullet journaling helped reignite the passion for art and living life again while organizing my days. I also discovered modern calligraphy and watercolor. Since then, my use of the bullet journal system has evlolved and I call it 'creative planning'. Here on the blog, I show you how to use your planner to ignite your inner muse and explore creativity and art while staying beautifully organized and living a joyful life.

I invite you to grab some good chocolate and dive into my musings. Let’s ignite your inner muse.

Read more on the about me page. You can also find my policies and disclosures here.

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