Weekly Discussion Post

[lunabee34]

Comment to tell us about what you've been up to with your journal, planner, or other stationery related items. Tell us about a new pen or a coveted notebook. Consult the hive mind with a problem you've been having. Post a picture! Whatever goes as long as it falls in the realm of journals and planners. Remember, you can always make your own top-level post, too!

Comments

[octahedrite]

Do y'all track exercise? If so, how?

[annofowlshire]

Only in the most basic way: like at the beginning of the month I create a chart (that tracks other things as well) and fill in the box for that day if I’ve gone for a walk or hit 10k steps or whatever my goal is.

Inspired by VE Schwab’s monthly chart: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTSyGPJjSst/

[lunabee34]

Yes!

My current planner has monthly Gantt charts. Right now, I'm just listing exercise and then writing NO for each day of the month because I'm not managing to do any. LOL If I ever start exercising again, I'll get more granular with it and start listing specific kinds of exercise like walking or yoga.

[severina]

Mine is just a chart where I track date, time spent, distance, resistance level (if it's the stationary bike) and then calories burned (which I get from inputting the info into my account at Cronometer.) And then on the left hand side there's a column indicating week one, week two, etc. But I did jazz it up with a coloured-in picture of a girl doing the stationary bike. :)

[justanorthernlight]

Yes, I have 'exercise' listed on my habit tracker. I only track whether or not I've done it and what kind of exercise. I don't personally track distance/time/sets/etc, but some people who do find a way to put it in their daily sections.

[thistleingrey]

Right now I'm interested in when I *don't* exercise--postviral fatigue--so I've added a couple of lines to the Gantt-ish tracker section, similar to how others describe it. It's right under watering a few plants that need not to be overwatered, which helps me several ways. :)

[treefrogie84]

i just track yes/no for walking (my pokemon) and yoga. I keep wanting to redo my tracker, but i've never come up with something that works better for me

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Sort of. I track rounds of yardwork, which ranges from light to ass-busting levels of effort. I never really saw the point of wasting time burning calories on things that are neither fun nor accomplish necessary tasks, since I always have more tasks than energy.

A typical yardening day for me is 3 rounds. A typical round is about 15 minutes. Fewer and shorter toward the beginning or very end of the season. In mid to late spring when I have a dozen saplings in a bucket in the kitchen and the weather is mild, I may cram in as many as 8 rounds and some may run as much as half an hour. But I have to be careful not to wear out my body or exceed my short limits on heat/sun tolerance.

The yardwork count goes in either my Birdfeeding or Gardening post on days I get outside. The Birdfeeding title/tag is more for the cold season, the Gardening more for the warm season, but it depends on whether the birds are still eating -- I feed them as long as they keep emptying the feeders, so the title doesn't always switch. This is one of my main journaling activities, with a blog post about it most days.

[lassarina]

I just have a tickybox I fill in if I met [this month's metric.] Last month it was "I did five minutes of *anything* that was not sitting on my ass." Walking, stretching, yoga, dancing, all of it counted. This month it's ten minutes. If I did something Great (two-plus-mile walk, full 30 minutes of yoga) I get a star sticker too.

[annofowlshire]

I mentioned last week I’d sort of spontaneously bought myself a new journal and wasn’t sure what to do with it. I decided yesterday or the day before that in honor of the spring equinox I would start using it as a kind of season journal/planner to mark to midsummer (or whatever, I’ll see how far in the journal I am or if I’ve already filled it by then…). There is much going on to record and remember—we just got a flock of hens (squee!), I’m getting the edible garden up and running for the year… and the less fun things like doing my taxes and all that XD

I’m still debating everything I want to put in, but some ideas include marking moon phases (and the name of the moon), gardening goals (of course), maybe some sort of Statement of Purpose for the season, daily nature observations, thinkie things, a record of what I’ve planted (and maybe drawings of the plots when I inevitably forget), plus the usual daily and weekly to-dos, etc.

I’ve only got about 10 pages left in my current journal so I’ll keep using it for random things and daily notes until I have the new one up and running.

[octahedrite]

Having a themed journal sounds fun!

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I decided yesterday or the day before that in honor of the spring equinox I would start using it as a kind of season journal/planner to mark to midsummer (or whatever, I’ll see how far in the journal I am or if I’ve already filled it by then…). <<

That's a great idea.

>> There is much going on to record and remember—we just got a flock of hens (squee!), <<

You should totally take pictures of the hens. If you are at all serious about getting production (eggs, meat, feathers) or labor (pest control, weeding, tilling) out of them then you might want to track things like what if anything you feed them and how well they're performing. That's especially relevant if you got a mixed flock and what to know what to skip or buy more of in the future. If they're just pets, well, who doesn't love pictures of their pets being cute?

A trick I used to use when I had ducks: Make a stack of several layers of heavy corrugated cardboard. It will attract crickets, and earthworms will surface under the bottom layer. To treat your hens, remove layers to expose the live food. Doesn't cost a dime, and gets more use out of the cardboard. Keep a brick on top so the stack doesn't blow around.

>> I’m getting the edible garden up and running for the year… and the less fun things like doing my taxes and all that XD <<

<3 gardening. I post about mine often, but it's not the usual vegetable garden. What I have is 2 acres of very casual permaculture with a few specific areas like the herb gardens and blackberry patch, and a whole bunch of random stuff scattered around like the wild onions and the mulberry trees. I love being able to wander through the yard, pick things, and put them in my mouth.

>> I’m still debating everything I want to put in, but some ideas include marking moon phases (and the name of the moon), <<

Good ideas, especially if you plant by the moon or use any of the gardening styles that involve moon work or treatments.

>> gardening goals (of course), maybe some sort of Statement of Purpose for the season,<<

Also helpful, particularly if you want to track how well those goals actually turn out.

>> daily nature observations, <<

That's one of my main things. A typical post has the weather, birdfeeding if any, birds and other wildlife seen at the feeding station, what's sprouting or blooming, and on occasion other things I've seen like owl pellets or less-common critter tracks. Sometimes I make a separate post with photos from walking around the yard.

>> thinkie things, a record of what I’ve planted (and maybe drawings of the plots when I inevitably forget), plus the usual daily and weekly to-dos, etc. <<

Records of plantings can be very helpful if you want to track what grows or doesn't. I've made a point of planting trees that are more resistant to wind or ice damage, but I also had to instate a rule that if a tree dies from a climate whammy after it's established (the first year or two doesn't count) then I don't replant that because it's not suited to the current mayhem. YMMV.

>>I’ve only got about 10 pages left in my current journal so I’ll keep using it for random things and daily notes until I have the new one up and running.<<

Consider scratch paper too, because you can jot ideas on a separate sheet and tuck it into your new journal. Another approach is to use scrap paper bookmarks to test out different section divisions in your journal. You might divide it into thirds for the summer months, then change your mind and decide you want to divide it by themes instead and try different ones.

[mothereader]

To add onto the previous comment, not only is good to keep track of what grows and what doesn't (forever sad that beans and cabbage don't grow in our garden; next to lamb's breath, my favourites), but also some plants enrich soil in the ways that are beneficial for other plants (eg. some bind nitrogen, others grow better in nitrogen rich environments), so you can plant the first kind one season/year and then put another next season/year. Having a record of what you planted where and when can then be useful.

[lunabee34]

That sounds like a wonderful way to use the new journal. Congrats on your new hens. :)

[olivermoss]

My planner layout for the week:



Kinda weak. I wanted to do something around the HardStuck guild logo but wasn't sure what to do, so I just stuck in some coin stacks and a treasure chest. it kinda works.

I want to try actual habit tracking. I saw an ad for, and read reviews of, a good habit tracking app, but my Apple ID hasn't verified any of my payment systems for a few years. Since that is off the table, I was thinking of using a pre-made habit tracker... but I find the layouts of the ones I've seen online a bit odd. So, I might try making one.

[octahedrite]

I like the piles of money 8D

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> My planner layout for the week: <<

I really admire people who do the artsy journals.

>> I was thinking of using a pre-made habit tracker... but I find the layouts of the ones I've seen online a bit odd. So, I might try making one. <<

Many sites have pictures and/or descriptions of journal pages to make. There are also sites that have lots of habit tracker printables, and more individual ones scattered around. I like printables, so I linked a bunch of them. The quality does vary. I think the ones where you color in shoes, or different parts of a shoe, to track miles are pretty cute. One of my favorite habit trackers is one where you color in mosaic pieces of the month names. It's worth browsing around for inspiration. The pictures are eye-popping.

[vriddy]

Such a fun layout :D ⚔

[annofowlshire]

You may think it’s weak, but it’s way more than I could do!

[lunabee34]

Very nice!

Looking forward to seeing your habit tracker if you do make one.

[manicule]

I just started learning a new language. I have been writing writing the days of the week and month in the new language.

[octahedrite]

Nice!

My Projects

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today I started assembling the memorial scrapbook for my mother. I got several pages done, so not a bad day's work.

These are basically just preserving things that already exist, printing out things to include from online resources, and scanning a catalog page for future use. The more artistic stuff will come later.

I'm thinking about what papers, stickers, and such I want to use. I have two pages of gorgeous cardstock stickers from Reminisce, so I'm really looking forward to those.

This community, and a couple of handwritten things I found in Mom's albums, have gotten me wanting to include at least a little handwritten journaling. I'm jotting down ideas for pages in another file. I think I want to do "The Road Goes Ever On and On" for the last page, and maybe "Warning" (the red hat poem) for Mom's fabulous hats.

Re: My Projects

[lunabee34]

I think including some handwritten pieces is a fabulous idea.

Also ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I forgot to mention this earlier: I started my new bullet journal printable for tracking plants put out. So far I've planted a peach tree and a paw paw tree. I can write the name and date on the back of the page.

Re: Also ...

[lunabee34]

Very cool.

dots

[oldtoadwoman]

I'm a journal slacker. Mine isn't pretty or particularly well-organized. But it's definitely necessary. (It's amazing how many times I glance back at a to-do list and realize that I'd forgotten I'd even intended to do a thing.)

I lucked into a stack of notebooks with dot grids at a Dollar Tree and bought the last four they had on the shelf so that will last me a good while. I love dot grids.

Re: dots

[lunabee34]

I am a convert. I did not like dot grid to start with, but now I do.

Nice score on finding notebooks!