A bumpy take-off

Some random planner talk, and September '23 in review

Photo by Angelina Litvin on Unsplash

September isn’t historically a month I’m happy to just get through—because it’s my birthday month—but this year, it was quite hectic and didn’t hold much promise of routine, something I’m usually looking forward to this time of year.

(It was a lot like that run-on sentence, actually.)

My youngest didn’t start preschool until September 18 and then was sick for most of her second week, so I can count on one hand the mornings I’ve had to myself since June. Additionally, I traveled to Chicago from September 14-17 for an Exhale retreat.¹ My trip bisecting the month led to the feeling of a bumpy take-off into the back-to-school season.

All this to say, September was a full and wonky month. I don’t know if I will regularly post monthly reviews, but I am going to share my first one today.

I’ll start by introducing a few new-to-me systems/tools that led me to zoom out and start seeing projects from a monthly view.

Discbound notebooks

As I’ve become more aware of my ADHD, I’ve struggled to figure out how to keep a balance between keeping track of the things I need to do vs. the things I want to do. Then there’s how to keep track of ideas I’m not sure need to have a life or not. 

For the past fifteen years, my GTD Moleskine has served me well for capturing the many ideas that fly through my head every day, but I was beginning to need more scaffolding around longer-term projects, as well as help keeping a pulse on weekly and daily routines and to-dos.

I was intrigued by the concept of discbound notebooks that allow you to insert and rearrange pages. But, unless you want to spend a lot of money on premade pages (and don’t mind using other people’s layouts, which I do), you’ll have to invest in a special hole puncher. Before making the nontrivial investment of $38 on said puncher, I first tried out a half-sized notebook I found on Amazon for $7.99. I liked it enough that I bought the hole puncher and started designing my own pages.

About a month later, I serendipitously stumbled upon a blank letter-size discbound notebook at the thrift store for $4.99 (retail value: $36.99)!

Two-page DIY weekly planner spreads

Then, Leslie from my Exhale Voxer/Mastermind group (I am a fancy internet lady now) showed me her custom two-page, letter-sized planner spread. Hers is super pretty and rainbowy, and is set up so well to serve her homeschool family.² She graciously shared her template with me so I could make changes to suit my lifestyle.

(I was really surprised to learn you could design stuff like this in PowerPoint!)

It’s taken me a couple iterations to figure out what works for me.

Top row includes appointments (“hard landscape”), then must dos/may dos, which are planned day-by-day. The bottom left side shows three areas I need/want to be touching every week (I sometimes think of these as my “courses” for the semester). And then there’s plenty of space to write random stuff and other to-dos (“GTD inbox”) on the bottom right.

I love the amount of space it affords me and that I can easily print my own custom pages. And being letter-size, I can quickly hole punch papers I receive such as handouts from school, quotes for house projects, etc.

It’s this very discbound notebook system that allowed me to incorporate some monthly planning into my life.

Monthly Tending Lists

My Voxer group is obsessed with Powersheets. After seeing everyone’s Tending Lists I wanted my own. 

I’m too cheap to invest in something I’m not sure will work for me, and also, I like to make my own things. Until someone gets them for me for Christmas ;P, here is my handwritten version:

Some of the progress bars show the breakdown of smaller steps.

What I love about the Tending List—besides the fact that it’s called a Tending List—is that it’s a home for all the to-do items that take longer than a day or even a week (i.e., what David Allen would call “Projects”). After having used daily and weekly spreads for a while, it’s really nice to not have to migrate tasks over. And it’s helpful to have a visual of everything that’s “currently cooking.”

I listed out a few projects when planning, and also added to it throughout the month. This list helped me not get bogged down with stuff that doesn’t have to get done right now. (ADHDers struggle with “now or never” mentality, so this is a good visual holding spot for “later”.)

I also love the progress bar: it’s really fun to color in, and to see the impact of any tiny effort put towards a project.

For example, who likes to schedule doctor’s appointments? Just writing down the correct phone number or calling and leaving a message to get a call back should count for something, even if you haven’t completed the whole ding-dang task.

And when I notice a completely blank bar, it’s an invitation to ask myself, “what is the tiniest next step I can make?” 

Monthly review (September 2023)

The Monthly Review evolved naturally from having done a Tending Sheet. Many planner systems include daily and weekly review, but I’ve never been able to keep up with that. A month seems like the right chunk of time to assess and evaluate.

I drew from various sources to come up with the questions.

1. What major tasks/projects were completed? (It’s so easy for me to forget how much I’ve accomplished, so I really like this aspect of acknowledging the progress I’ve made.)

   • Attended the Exhale retreat

   • Transitioned three kids back to school

   • Started “calm kits” for all my kids

   • Started Emi at ballet (we are not an extra-curriculars type family; most neurodivergent families can appreciate how big an achievement this is)

2. What still needs to be completed?

   • Schedule my doctor appointment

   • Replace kitchen floors (they are at least 12 years old and the peel-and-stick vinyl is chipped in multiple places)

3. What am I grateful for?

   • Partnership in David: in big things (like supporting my trip to Chicago) and the day-to-day (especially handling a lot of bedtimes so that I can go to the library to read and write)

   • My Exhale Voxer group: Tabitha, Aly (@justwriteocd), Laura, Leslie, and Krista—who came up with the name Neurospice Girls :D

   • Krista’s hospitality during the retreat (she rented the house, etc.)

     

     That moment when you think you've reached the end of a bookstore but instead discover there's a whole other section. // THE BOOK TABLE // Oak Park, IL

4. What worked this month? 

   • Ballet: Emi loves it, and I’m figuring how to get some work (or reading) done while I’m there

   • More writing: I’ve been squeezing more in; posted more on Substack (including this poem, plus a recording)

5. What didn’t?

   • Rough start back to school; lots of sickness

   • Changing the chalkboard command center from a daily to a weekly view

6. What new things did I try?

   • Paid for wi-fi on a flight: I loved it!

   • Created an account on Canva and started playing around with designing things for fun (some of these things forthcoming)

   • Used Instacart for a grocery delivery

   • Called and scheduled a housecleaner to come in October

   • Tried YouTube Premium - it’s a “premium” price for sure, but you can’t beat no ads. I feel better about Theo watching LEGO instruction videos, and I do a lot of guided meditations on YouTube, so it’s nice to not have that interrupted lol

7. What habits/goals do I want to work on next month?

   1. Getting back to waking early (maybe I can just work up to 6 am, and then it will “naturally” become 5 am when DST happens?). I love the affirmation, “I am the CEO of me and I am the best boss,” but I also think I want to be a good employee of/for myself… the time I get in the morning before the kids wake up is really critical for my brain. I am a better person when I get it.

   2. Going to the library on Saturday afternoons (I’m here now) since ballet now takes up one of the two evenings the library is open late.

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Do you do a monthly review? I love hearing all things planner related!

1. I’ve written a quick post about the retreat here. (I experimented with posting without emailing it to subscribers. Hopefully that has the feel of “not having to sit through other people’s vacation photos.”)

2. I feel like I need a whole separate post about some of the concepts behind this spread. The idea of “planning from behind” (another thing I picked up from Leslie) has revolutionized my thinking around planning/recording.