#OneBookJuly Wrap up

The end has come.
Not of everything, just of July and of this year's One Book July challenge.
What did I learn? I learned that I need the A5 size for journaling to help with my creativity and, weirdly, to help motivate me to work out regularly. I started the year with a book just for health and working out, thinking it would be uber motivating to have a place to gather up all the information. I had a roll going at the end of 2017 of yoga every day and I had added running and core work. But, for some reason, having the A5 size just inspires me to practice my asana every day.

A few journal days in July

A few more journal days in July

I also learned that the PERFECT sidekick to my A5 journal is the Mega Weeks. It complements my Cousin in a few ways:
       1.  It has many back pages for collections and it is a place to gather notes and other information so that I can use the A5 just as a journal.
      2. I have been using the Weeks since the beginning of the year, and it allows me to look back if needed on information from the beginning of the year since my A5 Cousin is only half a year. The whole year gets too bulky when the amount of wash tape is used in it that I like to use. Love a new book in July. New planners twice a year, so fun.

A place in the blank pages of the Mega Weeks to keep notes on things like yoga practice.

The calendar page in the Mega Weeks that allow me to track things like Water intake, calorie count, steps, whether I worked out or not, how many patients I saw and how many charts I left open. Notes on the right.

So, what should I do when ordering opens for the Hobonichi store in September? I should order a Mega Weeks and a Cousin Avec set for 2019.
What will I actually do? Probably, I'll buy every size.

SO, this is the life of a planner girl. I love all the books. I love all the possibility that comes from all the books. But, the truth is that I should just get one of each of these two, because it makes the most sense and gives me the planner JOY!

There are a lot of things I did not cover about how I actually use these books. If you are interested in more information or a deeper dive into the reflection that I do regularly or tracking techniques, leave me a note and I'll create a post about it. Thanks for stopping by!

#OneBookJuly update

So, here we are in week three and I am LOVING my current 2 book setup.

Last year, I was already in one book, but had some issues that I had never worked out having only a Hobonichi Cousin. I would take notes any random time on my daily pages when reading a book, but would then have a hard time finding them again when I wanted to look back on the notes.

This year, I already had a system worked out before July, accidentally. I was using the new Mega Weeks from Hobonichi as an Every Day Carry (EDC) and to capture all the random bits, like book review notes, self help book notes and details of how I actually used the information.  The Mega Weeks has about 200 blank pages at the back and I have no concerns about running out of space, so I have been freely using this for notes. It is also small enough to pull out at a Medical Staff meeting or other random meetings and I don't feel like I am too conspicuous (since most of the other attendees don't bother with notes). Eureka!

A week complete in the Mega Weeks dated section

Comparison of the Mega Weeks to the Weeks planner

Mega Weeks on the bottom in the Galen Leather cover,  regular Weeks on the top.

And, since the Weeks is my planner, there are only so many tasks I can add per day. This helps me greatly as I tend to move away from long task lists and stop doing things rather than getting them done if the list is too long.
The other huge benefit is that I am loving my A5 sized Cousin to play, just stickers, color and random journaling which is bringing me such JOY. My goal for #onebookjuly was to figure out how to get that joy back in my journaling, to capture my days again for fun and because when I capture the days, it does not feel that time is going QUITE as fast. I would still be okay if it slowed down a bit...

A couple of journal entries, and such a JOYful book to flip through.

Owning my days, even the mundane

Let me know if you have any questions, I love to journal and would love to help anyone who may not know where to start.

One Book July 2018 First week

It's JULY and time for ONE BOOK JULY.  Beginning 4 years ago as a challenge to get back to the basics of the planning with one book and one pen for one month. Each year it changes a bit, with new options added for stretching and developing your own system, but really there are no rules. For more information, go to YouTube and watch Rhomany's Realm, Miss Vicky Bee, or Dispatches from the Frat House (Carrie Harling) to see the introduction or look anywhere on line with the hashtag #onebookjuly, lots of stuff will come up.

Every year, I have done a clean up and clean out, paring down the sticker collection and cleaning up my journal and planner tools.  I don't know why, but this challenge inspires me to get clean and clear with everything. 

Starting point on 1 July, 2 size A6 books and 2  Weeks

Here is another view. Crazy number of books!

This year, I started in a place I have never been before, with 4 books. I had an A6 Hobonichi original techo to journal in, a Hobonichi Mega Weeks for fitness tracking, a Hobonichi Mega Weeks for every day carry and a Spring start A6 hobonichi (another one) to track my day, a la bullet journal. I have usually been a one book girl, so this was getting ridiculous. It felt like a good time for a change. I was even struggling to journal regularly, which is unusual for me, another cue to change.

As I considered what to do for the challenge, I was certain that the Hobonichi Cousin, A5 size would be coming back. I had a second half new book (avec) that starts in July, so it would be an easy add. BUT, I really liked having my Hobonichi Weeks to take to work. It allowed me to throw it in my bag and go, it is small and lightweight, and it has plenty of room to plan. There are also plenty of blank pages in the back that can be used for all manner of things, lists, notes, reflections, and I love this. I have seen some ingenious uses of the back pages for journaling from a lot of folks, I just don't bond with it that way, so my journaling would go back to the A5 size, which allows me space to breathe.

The one thing I hate in my system (journalling and planning) is redundancy. I don't want to write the same thing twice and I want to know where to find things. The Weeks is obviously, in a weekly format, and the Cousin has a weekly view. What will I do with both to prevent redundancy? THAT will be part of the challenge.

Inside view

One Book July decision, one A5 size and one Weekly

I want to be attentive to my days, find the beauty in the mundane, and get the things that drive me nuts out of my head. 

Life does not consist of constant adventures, but small details that make us laugh and cry and give us reasons to continue, the mundane details pull me back into my journals for a journey through my own story over and over.

A spread in the A5, delicious.