A Lot of That and a Little of This--Mostly A Journal Update

Monthly and daily goals example

I started strong using a bullet journal in August. I refined a few pages and was making great strides again in September. Mid way through September, I came down with a nasty cold. For about four weeks, which meant into October, I didn't do much!

Habit tracker page, 2019 planner and 2018 planner

My current bullet journal is one that I had on hand. It doesn't have enough lines on a page for a month so making a habit tracker and the monthly calendar took a bit of a redesign of the space. I printed a habit tracker from my laptop thinking that it would be useful. I found I didn't use it!  In November, I went back to writing by hand my tracker activities. I do know that using color helps me work in the journal and I need to integrate more art and color into the pages.

Pages that I didn't use in my planner

In November, I purchased my new calendar/planner. This time, I purchased one that will fit in my purse and it will last for two years! I spent $11 instead of $18. Seven dollars for two years isn't a lot of savings. When I purchase my next journal, I'll probably spend my savings; but, not having to shop for the next planner in twelve months will be nice! Being able to put my notes in the journal is helpful for me. I found when using the planners, there were many pages that I didn't use or the occasional times when I needed more space! With the bullet journal, it is easy to use another page if I need more room. The index lets me find the page later when I want to review the information.

As far as my journal progress, I'm still refining what I want to track and how I want to track it. I thought I would be tracking project time in a particular way. Then realized I didn't track one bit of a project after I had finished and was writing the label! Now, each evening I'm entering the time I worked on a project.

I have found that my daily lists are short. Before the journal, my daily lists were long! I don't generally list cleaning activities; but I might list cooking or baking an item. (My dear husband is a great cook so I might cook a couple times a week.) A short list means most of the time I complete the list at the end of the day. I have found writing a monthly goal list to be helpful. When I didn't come close to finishing my October goals, I reviewed the goals in November and determined that I had worked on all of the projects in October so I did make progress. Had I not reviewed the goals, I wouldn't have realized the progress I did make!

Spoils from being a FAL winner

I thought that I would use the future list pages of my journal more; but, perhaps that will come in time. I did add a couple envelopes inside the inside cover of my journal. Sometimes, there are items like a receipt or a note that I like to keep. Now I have space to keep it! I'm considering adding tabs to the pages I like to frequent as that would make it faster to access the page I want.

When I make my quarterly goals, I purposely put more on the list than I can possibly finish. One reason I do this is because I need variety. Working on only one project would kill my creativity because when I got stuck progress would be halted. Having options allows me to work on something else while I ponder my approach about getting unstuck. Options also allow me to work on other projects when my body can't sit and pull for quilting. I do try to be more realistic with my monthly goals. Time management and I, however, are passing acquaintances. We need to become better friends!

Posting my quarterly goals with the Finish-A-Long program and posting my monthly goals have also helped with making better progress on projects. I'm more focused and less apt to jump to the next cool project. Although, I'm still attracted to those cool projects!!!

Once I've posted my monthly and quarterly goals, I review them each day. I pat myself on the back for the projects I've finished and for the progress I've made on other projects. I think about the progress I'll be making on future projects.

Two inch squares for the Star Patch Sew Along

I was a second quarter winner in the Finish-A-Long (FAL) program. Posting about finishing my guild name badge holder, posting about it and linking that post to the FAL quarter finishes won me a $25 gift certificate from Mad About Patchwork. It took me months to decide what to purchase as there were too many cool and fun choices!!! In the end, I picked a ruler and then I bought a companion ruler. I like hexagons and thought. . .why not??? I've held off playing with it because I wanted to make a bigger dent in my projects waiting to be finished!

I won a copy of "Modern Patchwork Home" from Teri Lucas whose blog is TerifiCreations. The book has many striking projects in it made by a variety of quilters.  She also included a copy of "Generation Q" where she was a contributing staff member. Unfortunately, this publication ceased printing some time ago.

Bonnie Hunter mystery fabrics

I'm not sure what project I'll stitch from the book. . .that cover quilt is dynamic. For now, I'm drooling over the pages.

Teri and I share the love of machine quilting. I met her through The Quilt Show and physically met up with her when she was in Portland to teach a class through MQX a number of years ago. I enjoy following her blog posts. Thanks again, Teri for the book and magazine!

I started two quilts. One is a "Star Patch Sew Along" with Amber over at Gigi's Thimble. It started October 29 and runs through December 22. So far, I'm keeping up! The other is the annual Bonnie Hunter mystery. For at least the last five years, I've thought about joining in; but, didn't leap. I generally got stuck at the fabric selection stage. This year, I leapt which is a crazy move for me!

My goals for December will be to continue quilting the BOM mystery quilt and to stitch as many gift items on my 4th quarter Finish A-Long list as possible!