I've been wanting to write a blog post for over a month. I've started it at least four different times. But I seem to be doing all the things I coach people out of doing! So I haven't been writing it. The funniest part is that it's about my desire to share more (probably a lot more) about my love of planning and to-do lists and goals and how I feel like as a creative I need to adjust how these things are usually done.
Luckily, Effy Wild launched a thirty day blog challenge for April. I saw it yesterday and signed up to do a post a day this month. Having that deadline, plus an audience, should shake those words right out of me!
I'm doing one other new thing this month. Even though I love love love planners and lists and apps and systems, I have balked at using habit trackers even though I'm always attracted to the way they look. They just seem overwhelming--so many things to track! So many spaces to fill in! It's like my whole life would be micro-mananged.
But some people in a class I'm taking have been showing theirs, and they talked about only tracking a few habits a month, and I thought I could do that. I realized I already use a sort of habit tracker with my monthly exercise calendar (I'll show a picture of that maybe tomorrow). And with the trackers I use for my 365 Mile Challenge and The 100 Day Project. I thought maybe I might be thinking of them the wrong way, so I decided to experiment a little bit.
I went looking for different types of trackers and found these cool mini mandalas from The Artisan Life, and I jumped right in to using them this month. I'm going to track my daily blogging. The other two I don't plan to do every day, but I want to do them more days than not. I'm going to track cleaning things in small bursts (tiny, tiny bursts of 2 - 5 minutes) and to work on story writing (also in tiny increments--even 5 minutes is going to count). I can't wait to show you the colored-in trackers at the end of the month!
Is there anything you'd like to get done? Break it into small steps, and let's do things together! Drop me a note and let me know what you're going to work on this month so I can cheer you on.
I love lists. I love tracking. Everything and anything, when I think of it... but I hear you: it can feel way too overwhelming (and honestly, sometimes I like to keep my head in the sand regarding some areas of my life lol).
So happy to read you all month-long 🙂
Hi! I'm so happy to see you! And yes, I think you're onto something here. When I'm avoiding tracking, I might also be keeping my head in the sand. LOL But here's me, picking my head up and looking around. 😀
I used to use habit trackers but there were too many elements and it faded out again so I am thankful for this reminder to keep it simple. I may try this again 🙂
Good luck! I think anything that's supposed to help us get things done but feels like too much just isn't the right tool. I hope something simpler is useful for you!
I love the mandala trackers. I'm not a pixel person, so those trackers don't appeal to me.
I keep thinking about doing some habit trackers, but I haven't gotten started. I'm afraid I might not like the end result. (code for not following through on forming said habits lol)
I hear you! I think I have some of that worry about the end result going on, too. Just trying to remember that getting some things done is better than none, right? 🙂
I love this idea! I am creative but my tracking is very left brain... spreadsheets and ColorNote app and daily checklists on the blank side of index cards and lists everywhere! I am going to try this out!
I love checklists and apps (have to check out ColorNote--I don't know that one!), but I also love it when you can have a useful tool that is also pretty. But really, index cards are the best things for so much!
What an awesomely creative way to track! I know that when I track things I get more done so I'm not sure why I don't track as often as I could 😉
I am the same! I know that it works, and yet so often I don't make use of it. That's why I'm saying out loud here that I'm doing it--peer pressure. 😀