SMART Productive Planner

“Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” "You've Got Mail" - Nora Ephron

You've Got Mail is one of my favourite films. I just love cheesy chick flicks, that are usually so predictable you just know that the girl and guy who hate each other at the beginning will fall in love along with some kind of misunderstanding along the way. But there's something about it too. I think it feeds into my love of New York but also the fact that it starts with "Fall" well Autumn here in England. I love this quote because it makes me think of "Back to School" season. As I write this Jaxon is on his third day at school. After the first day, he said he wasn't going back. Then yesterday morning he was a bit more for going to school. Today the debate was which side of the road we had to walk and then where to cross outside the school (there's a pelican crossing but about five metres away there's also a small traffic island in the middle of the road so you can wait for the lights to change and then still cross the road further along - if that makes sense!) So what have I been up to with my days so far of "freedom"? Well, lots actually. I'm almost up to date on the washing and have managed to clear some other bits of clutter that have been gathering around the house. I even got the bedding and towels back into the airing cupboard instead of them migrating across the landing.

 
I may have got distracted by pretty highlighters too. Interesting colourful spreads make you more productive right? Well I'm sure it might but not 100% I was as productive as I could have been! Then I got onto longer-term goals. What did I want to achieve next week and in the rest of September? Well, I might have got to a "Before Christmas" stage as well but decided to pause that one. SMART Goals. So I don't know about you but when it comes to making goals that aren't just a "cross of a to do" kind of goal I often end up back at SMART goals. (For daily goals I sometimes try the 1-3-5 method that my friend Rickie introduced me to. 5 little tasks, 3 medium tasks and 1 big task each day rather than a long to-do list like I normally do. You can read more here). Back to SMART goals, so let's go back to the beginning. What does SMART stand for? Specific - Make sure the goal is well defined. What do I want to accomplish? Why is the goal important? Who is involved? Where is it located? What do I need to achieve it? Measurable -  Make sure the goal is obtainable - think about how will I know when it is accomplished? (For instance, rather than ride my bike more, I might set a goal like ride my bike 10 miles a week) Achievable - how I accomplish this goal? How realistic is the goal? Relevant - is the goal relevant? Does this seem worthwhile? But also is this the right time? Time-Bound - Every goal needs an end day so that you have a deadline to focus on. Maybe it's the day of a big race (like London Marathon is always around the 25th April - actually it's nearly always the weekend before my birthday!)

 

My planner is definitely more of the appointments along with daily to do list kind of goals. I've decided to try and start a new insert in my standard TN for the longer goals. With Jaxon now being at school on weekdays, I'm trying to be more proactive and try and achieve some of those goals that I kept putting off because I couldn't do them with Jaxon in tow. September started with a lot of decoration, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and even if Anna's September stickers weren't technically HP and Hogwarts themed they did work perfectly (with some additions) to decorate the week leading up to what is the day everyone catches the Hogwarts Express to school. I paired the stickers with red and yellow washi. They were the closest I had to the Gryffindor colours (although I did discover at last year's Jingle and Mingle that technically I'm a Hufflepuff. Have you booked your tickets for this year's Jingle and Mingle? They are available here)

 

Hannah

Stickers and Self-Care in the Crazy Hannah Bubble

I would say I'm a bit of a logophile then again I thought something like etymologist would be more official (not to be confused with entomology which is the study of bugs!). I like reaching for a well-known search engine to look for the dictionary definition of terms (especially big words - the bigger the better sometimes!). But what's this got to do with my planner or journalling? Well certainly this week has been about self-care. For one week in August, it all goes a bit crazy and Mum and I along with 15ish other volunteers run a Holiday Club at a local church. It always seems like a good idea then by the time we get to this week we start to question our sanity! Along with this my amazing Dad and Sister in Law have taken Jaxon for a little across two days which meant I could try and get my head in the right place and clear the decks a bit! I worked through my emails, wrote some tweets and did some work tasks but I didn't make it to this week in my planner (As you can see below). It crossed my mind to do it Friday morning when Sister-in-Law had Jaxon but I woke up with a bad head and decided to snuggle on the sofa instead. (As Mum said, I was burning the candles at both ends and that's why I've had a bad head twice this week!)


 

She's exactly right. I get up with Jaxon around 8ish then I'm on Mum duty until he goes to bed. Because he's been at Holiday Club too his bedtime has been later than usual. I've got home around 9pm and then started to try and fill in what I need to get done. Any parents who survive on minimal sleep because their kids think sleep is for the weak, I applaud you because I'm one spoilt Mummy when it comes to sleep! Ever since Jaxon was born he's been a good sleeper overnight - nap time was a different story but overnight - I'm spoilt! (As I finish typing this out, it’s getting towards 1am and the timer on the lights has switched the lounge lights off - I am really up past my bedtime now!!) But on Thursday when my Dad/Jaxon's Grandpa had Jaxon for nearly the whole day I managed to get September sorted out. With Jaxon starting school, I can see the monthly view coming in handy to make sure we're organised and keeping up with washing uniform and things like that. When I saw the fairytale/woodland stickers, I wasn't 100% sure they were my thing but then I got thinking about how as kids we'd go conker hunting in September and October once the leaves started to change and things like that. So I decided that I'd use them across the September Monthly and actually by the "end" I wanted to try and fit more stickers into the spread so actually decorated the first week of term too!

 

I cleaned down the kitchen table, got the tripod out and decided to go for it. I could edit out the rubbish parts and talk over it later when needed. As I was stood there mid filming, Our Sidekick arrived in the kitchen chatting away followed by Our Sidekick's Social Worker coming for a visit. Part of me was tempted to load it at the end as a blooper reel! The SW got all excited about how my tripod was set up and how I was using my phone and things like that - It was kind of entertaining to listen back to it while editing! But we got there in the end! I think I'll go back and do the August Monthly one as a memory keeping kind of thing because I've done zero journalling.

   

 So when I've actually had time to do self-care, what have I been up to? Well, I've been knitting a jumper designed by a lovely lady called Nicky. It's all knitted in one piece and from the neck down (Rather than back, front and two sleeves like most jumpers I've done in the past). It's knitted in DK on 4mm needles so feels like it's taking ages but it's at a point now where I can do a couple of rows, put it back in my bag and carry on with something else so it's perfect for knitting groups etc. This week I had two knitting groups. I ended up talking Disneyland Paris to one lady as she's off on an adventure with her daughter, son in law and grandkids next year and wanted to know every piece of information I could bestow on her! I also caught up with my lovely friend who's recently opened her own shop in town. The two knitting groups I attend are definitely my self care slots. Even if I'm having bad day and want to miss group, I know that if I can just get out of the house and get to the group after 10-15 minutes I will feel better. I know that once I get through the door someone will watch Jaxon if I just need to go have a little cry in the corner or someone will hug me tightly and tell me it will be okay, maybe not right away but it will be okay. And you know what, right now it's exactly what's needed. There's been various things on top of the holiday club crazy and I've been so grateful for those lovely ladies picking me up and giving me a hug.  

 You can find me here: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Blog. 

Imagine a messy desk with just about enough space for the keyboard. That’s my desk, so the idea of sitting at my desk to journal or create anything more than the odd scribble has been a challenge. Working hasn’t exactly been easy with no space on the desk but it’s worked in it’s own way! Back in May we went to Paris for the weekend and then to Disneyland Paris for a week. I’d spent all week collecting train tickets, paper place mats from the restaurants and photos galore to then journal about it when I got home. Just like I’ve done with so many other trips. Well, we arrived back on the Sunday evening in theory ready to go back to normal life, however at the end of our trip, my son Jaxon had gone down with Chicken Pox. While my husband went back to normal life, Jaxon and I were sort of in quarantine. This is where working for myself comes in handy but between one thing and another journaling about our trip was getting further and further down the list. It’s now the middle of July and I’m writing this post. Jaxon is in bed and Chris has gone out for the evening (I have a Bear Grylls series playing on my iPad – now that’s a crazy adventure there!). Now some people are doing One Book July this month and it did cross my mind to join in, but it’s only now that I sort of have a plan in place. (About time right?) Passion Planner



For months maybe even years it had crossed my mind to get a Passion Planner but having not got on with other hourly based planners I wasn’t sure it was right for me so kept putting it off. When I sat down with another independent business owner here in Bedford and I saw what her Passion Planner looked like, I was convinced – I’d print off the tester PDFs from the website and see how it would go. Well that lasted all of the time it took me to fill in the next few weeks – I decided to order the undated version and get on with it. Well the classic is a bit big (it’s A4) but works wonders! When my stickers arrived from July’s Sticker Club, I carried them around tucked in my planner for  a few days and got a few ideas together like alternating the sticker washi with normal washi tape. Then when Chris was out at the church youth group and Jaxon was in bed, I attempted to get some filming done before it got too gloomy. I’m not sure it’s my best recording but it was fun to have the camera out for the first time in a while.

 

Journaling



 When you consider all the delays about writing about the Paris trip, I think I got further and further away from wanting to journal about the trip because there was more time that had past since we had got back. In the end I sat down and did it. I knew by getting on with it, I’d actually be able to clear both some of my messy desk and the pile that was growing underneath my desk (and would regularly get kicked and messed up!) Also I’ve been collect items since our holiday so they are taking up more space too! My go to for journaling is usually some kind of TN insert, for a long time I’ve been in a TN but something recently has taken me away from that and I’m not entirely sure what it is that has put me off. I’ve been working my way through the notebooks and inserts I already have. Some are as big as A5 and others are smaller size TN inserts. My current notebook is a Midori MD A5 notebook with grid pages. I’ve used some of the collage sheet from previous Patreon collections from Anna to decorate the outside and then used some of July’s Patreon collage sheets to decorate where I’m starting in the notebook. This will be a bit like a bullet journal in that it will carry my to do lists but it will also work as my journal to write about what we’ve been up to and how I’m feeling etc. Also it will be a bit of a “catch all” so there might be photos and things too along the way (maybe a flip through will follow at the end of the book). I’m hoping now that I have this plan, I can clear my desk a bit, I can feel a bit more clearer in my head and come up with a plan to move forward. After all what’s the point in getting caught up in all the decorative planning if you don’t actually get any plans done?

Hannah You can find me here: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Blog.

Coffee & Planners

Following the crazy of back to school, it always feels like October should be calmer before the crazy of Christmas kicks into full swing. Not this time round! October feels like it's been more crazy than September was this year. Following a mad two weeks working on stuff for one of my clients I spent a lot of the month catching up on my journal (And even now I'm still behind - do I jump a chunk or just keep going?)

In addition to this, I had "Planner Wunderlust" and couldn't figure out which planner I wanted to be in. As I write this, my TN is in my "new" rucksack and my A5 Filofax is on the arm of the sofa. I even printed more of these coffee cups so that I could copy over my Gilmore Girls countdown! Following the release of the October Brimbles Box, Anna added these printable Project Life Journaling cards to her Etsy Store. With some technical magic, I shrunk them into these stickers.

 

Yep, earlier in the year I near enough binge watched Gilmore Girls getting ready for the new episodes to come onto Netflix in a few weeks. So the countdown is needed! Anyway, back to the creative-ness. I attempted to write a Autumn Bucket List using lots of stickers from the 12x12 sheet along with some of the washi tape. (The black and white in the background is the bag that the goodies came in)

 

Using some more of the stickers from the October box along with a few from the September box, I finished up with decorating the front of my current TN insert. Although they were different themes, they still work together in a way. (Oh the random spotty washi tape was from a penpal letter - I stuck it there temporarily and it kind of stayed! Oops!)



Although it wasn't entirely completed when I snapped this picture I think this is my favourite. I started by adding orange, yellow and red watercolours across the pages to create autumnal colours. Having seen Ali Brown using her Dymo labeller in her journal I invested in one to use in my journal and I love it! (I have a Dymo Junior as that's what they had in the shop but I'm sure there are different options out there). Using then stickers and printed out photos, I got arranging my layout to get writing about these couple of days in October. Pen wise I was using my Herlitz My,Pen Style Calligraphy cartridge pen - I think I've done something to the nib so I'm not entirely sure how long it will last but we can see.

 

Meet the new design team - Hannah

This is exciting and so daunting at the same time! Hi I'm Hannah! I pop up in the Social Media world mostly as HannahJPlans but also for worky bits as Daisy Media. My planner adventures tend to get shared on both!

So, where to stay with who I am..? What a question! And then there's how I got here? I'm thirty something and live in Bedford with my boys. There's Jaxon (in the picture above), my hubby Chris and our Foster Son a.k.a Our Sidekick. Like a lot of people I had no clue what I wanted to do through school. I wanted to be a teacher, vet, lawyer, paramedic, doctor, archaeologist and anthropologist at one point or another. I even wanted to be a Forensic Pathologist at one point - blame watching Silent Witness for that one! Somehow I settled on Performing Arts at University although with support from my parents I took an evening class in Sociology too. (In the end I would get a higher grade for Sociology than I ever got at school for my drama and music classes!). While being a student, Chris and I got together and although we weren't at the same school together we are kind of "High School Sweethearts" - that's probably a longer story for another time rather than here! We got engaged and then in 2007 got married. Oh and about two weeks earlier than that I turned 21 and handed in my BA Degree Dissertation - nothing like doing everything at once right? (That's me on the far left - this was our last performance but the first in the new University Theatre - yeah! And yes they are vegetable crates from a well known supermarket!)

 

I think my love of planning comes from my Mum actually. Growing up she had this gorgeous green leather Filofax that contained every piece of information about our family that you should need. If you wanted the packing list for the holiday, try Mum's Filfofax, if you need to add something to this week's shopping list, it was in there too. On the downside, I think it gave up the ghost in the end because of the amount that was stuffed in it - imagine an exploding over stuffed holiday suitcase and that was this green Filofax. If I thought my Mum would have use for it I would try and track down and replace that one. With uni finished I eventually found myself in proper Grown Up Permanent job, I was working in Customer Service and Admin - not what I think I dreamt of as a kid but it was paying the bills! I ended up staying for five years and although I could have probably stayed longer it wasn't right for me and in the end I did leave. It was only when I did leave did I realise what a detrimental affect it had been having on my well being. Throughout university and then through my first jobs, my planner had started to make more of an appearance but it was still just a way of keeping my diary rather than actually anything of a fun nature. I kept trying to keep a journal but it kept turning into the "Dear Diary" sort of thing which didn't entirely work and I'd end up miles behind and then not know what to write.

 

Following that job I worked in data entry for an energy company, again not really what I had thought I would be doing. Once my manager realise I could do all sort to an Excel Spreadsheet except tell it how to make a cup of tea or fold the laundry, he gave me extra responsibility working on the biggest spreadsheets I've ever worked on. (We're talking 20,000 plus lines - that's a lot of data!). So while my work world couldn't find it's own route, family life was getting interesting. Around 5 years ago, I went to work one morning and our household was Chris, Our Housemate and Me and I came home to being a foster carer - the story is longer and messier than that but my sofa became Our Sidekick's bed for a couple of weeks. Now we're sort of into the current history. Three years ago almost to the day, Our Sidekick had been with us two years and we found out I was pregnant with Jaxon. Rather than going back to work I decided to go self employed which meant I was even more reliant on a good system to keep all my work on track. I'm currently alternating between my A5 Original Aqua and my Personal Malden (oh yeah it's lovely and sort of fell in my eBay basket lol). My journal is in my Meadowgate Traveler's Notebook which also still has my diary inserts in it so I can switch again if I want to! I'm still figuring out which inserts work right for me. The back ones are by ChasingPlannerPeace and the Personal ones are by Wendaful.

 

-- Hannah J han.l.johnson@gmail.com http://www.daisymedia.me.uk @daisy_media