Welcome to 2017!

It looks like my last post was almost exactly one year ago. How did that happen? Has a full year passed already, right from underneath my nose?

Early in January, I was presented with a challenging situation at my place of work, which more or less consumed my life for six months. Finally the situation was "relieved," however I have continued to live in the pre-June consumption mind-set and routine. Well, I'm ready to pull myself out of it. I've taken time to think about my goals these first couple days of January, and put down on paper the different things that I want. What I want to accomplish, what kinds of habits I'd like to make, or beak. How do I want to live and what do I enjoy doing?

I started by putting all of these different thoughts onto a large piece of scrap paper in pencil. This helped make it feel less permanent, and more like sketching... paper I could throw away and pencil in case I'd like to erase or change my mind. To start, I just jotted it all down without worrying about how many there were, or if they were reasonable.

The second step was to then review all of these different ideas and narrow the focus. Of course I couldn't accomplish them all, so I took a practical look at which of them I most wanted to accomplish sooner rather than later, and why. After reviewing my top priorities, I was able to come up with specific goals (some habitual, some larger scale accomplishments), and create an action plan for how to achieve them. I'm also putting into effect some new tools in order to track my progress which, for a notebook junkie like me, makes the process fun.

Enter: Hobonichi Techo

Front of Hobonichi without cover

Daily pages of Hobonichi

I use daily pages for to do lists, quotes of inspiration, drawings, pasting items from travels, anything and everything.

Monthly pages of Hobonichi

I use this page for looking back at the month and the meetings or accomplishments I'd like to remember. I have a tendency to forget the awesome things I've done, and use this page to keep tabs on myself. Tim Ferriss has recommended a "jar of awesome" so I'll start with a "journal of awesome" this year.

At a glance monthly pages of Hobonichi 2017

I use this page for daily habits I'd like to form.




I'd also like to re-read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I think it will be a helpful reminder about how to form habits, especially at this time of year when many people will forget all of their resolutions before even the end of January.

My 2017 New Year's Resolutions include:

1) Plan and execute our wedding before the end of 2017
2) Find a new place to live (not renting) before the end of 2017
3) Visit one new foreign country before the end of 2017
4) Complete 20~25 books by December 31, 2017 (approximately one book every two weeks)
5) Wake up by 6:30 am daily
6) Write down three things for which I am grateful every day (daily gratitude)
7) Exercise twice per week
8) Blog once per week

Not only do I plan to keep these resolutions in my Hobonichi and use the book to help me track my progress, but I will also post these goals somewhere in my house so that I will see them daily.

And to help bring some more art and creativity into my life, here are a few of my new images. You can expect to see a bit more macro this year as I attempt to learn how to use my new lens. I hope you enjoy them!

What are your goals this year?

All the best,
Lana

Disclaimers:
All photographs are my personal work. Please do not reuse them without permission or appropriate credits.

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Welcome to 2016!

Hello! I hope this post finds you well. How did you find 2015 to be? How are you anticipating 2016 will go?

This past year I changed the nature of my New Year's Resolutions. Instead of making a long list of things I only half wanted to do, I made a very short list of things that I really wanted to do. My 2015 goals were:

1) See one new cultural institution, public park or cultural event each month.

2) Cook one new recipe (from a cookbook, online article, magazine, etc.) per month.

Although I'm not allowing myself to go back and scrutinize over whether or not I succeeded every single month, I feel very proud that I accomplished so much! On our wall calendar I was sure to write down the one new place and the one new meal each month (sometimes accomplishing far more than one) so that I could see my accomplishments as I progressed through the year. Simply setting these goals has enabled me to do more than I would have done otherwise.

Have you thought about where you want to go in 2016? What you want to do? Who you want to meet? Where you want to be?

As you probably know by now, I'm somewhat obsessed with planners and paper products. This year I'm using a daily "To Do" style for keeping track of my tasks. I purchased this one on Etsy, made by SHP Planners in Vancouver. The style was good for me to try to keep tasks contained to the day I wanted to do them, but also because this planner can start on any month of the year that you choose. (Who says the new you has to start on January 1st!?)

I also just read a good blog post by Nathalie Lussier. She has experimented with many different styles, and shared her advice with readers here on her website.

Do you have a favorite method for planning? A favorite book or calendar?

I hope that 2016 is off to a good start for you! Here's to the new year.

Cheers,

Lana

ほぼ日手帳 2012 - My Personal Planner for 2012

ほぼ日手帳 2012

Pictures of the planner I bought for 2012.

I am slightly obsessed with books, notebooks, writing utensils, and other tools used for organization.  Last year I wrote a post about ほぼ日手帳, or Daily Planner.  You can review the blog entry by clicking the following link.

-ほぼ日手帳 2011-

I plan to keep everything organized using this one book.  By keeping everything in one place it makes it easier to see what needs to be done.  It also has a monthly and a weekly section, making projects easy to plan out and upcoming deadlines easy to see.

For those who hate organizing and planning, there are ways to make manageable goals over a period of time.  Different methods work for different people regarding how to accomplish them.  If you would like any ideas or advice regarding organization, please contact me by e-mail via the About Me: Contact tab.

Here are some other pictures:

http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2006/concept/images/p_open.jpg

http://art20.photozou.jp/pub/87/209087/photo/29643993.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNgR5SqJbLq1XR3Th6wy_wB7ULdye4R5hY0uB1EcTHoEZRfdlxREg0cIBCuzLIjUjDAIr9Vah3Bz1X5vhRjjHHevJEy_ZO59C11Uv3YYM1JqjD7JFHU082Kws0pg-nq0a3i9WAqMPeBk/s1600/IMG_0480.JPG

Happy planning!

And while we're on it, the New Year is coming up very soon!  What are your 2012 New Year's Resolutions?

My current count for NaNoWriMo is 33,055 words.  More than half way there!