1- Planning Day! Well, planning half-day. I’m trying out one of the Organize 365 Workbox planning days (took the plunge + bought a box & Planning Day access)! Though I kind of envision my Work Box being converted to a Life Box (ie, work and the rest). I just do not have THAT many paper documents I need to collect for work. We will see if I can make it work! I’m excited!
(I took today as a day off so I could spend it planning my work . . . oh well. I’m sure I will enjoy it! And it’s only half a day, anyway.)
2- TWO great podcast eps:
Spawned: That Whole Mental Load Thing with Eve Rodsky. Her new book sounds really intriguing!
Freakonomics: Will Work from Home Work Forever? Currently I WFH most Tues / Thurs / Fri unless it’s a call week (when obviously I’m at work daily). However, I think I’m going to shift to At Work MWF because I feel like I need one ‘in person’ GME day especially once we can hold more live meetings. I think that’s a nice balance!
3- Planner hijinks. I am doing what is probably my 10th planner move since the pandemic. I know. I did not used to have this issue. I did last ~5 months in the Wonderland but as I mentioned I’m just tired of writing in tiny ball-point letters on the Tomoe River paper.
I am moving into an hourly spiral bound 7 x 9 Erin Condren Life Planner for July and I’m honestly hoping it will be my main (only?) weekly planner for the next 12 months. IE, where my hard landscape schedule AND goals/to-do lists will live. The paper is truly heavenly. It even smells heavenly. Yes, I’m weird.
4- I hate packing. Fun but little known fact. Especially when I have to pack the kids, too!! We are going on a local weekend getaway to the Keys (should be beach-centric + we are staying in our own villa). The kids are SOOO excited about the prospect of any travel. This will be an interesting test for us as our last family trip was almost 2 years ago when G was basically a BABY! I’m hoping it will be easier and more fun though I suspect we’ll reach our true family travel sweet spot in about 2-3 years. (Just in time to deal with adolescents who may not WANT to hang out as a family anymore, right!? . . . but I will optimistically assume that might not happen).
5- Fun album: I am probably not the “target audience” for this album being very far from Gen Z but . . . I like it anyway. And my kids did too, though G&C laughed every time she used bad words. (Hearing curse words = low on my list of parental concerns. Very low.)
18 Comments
My pre pandemic WAH schedule was 2x per week which was great. I would like the flex to WAH one more day if stuff came up – I wonder if that will happen. I really miss talking to people in person but have been glad to not waste time traveling while I don’t have enough childcare.
We have a small trip planned in a few weeks too. SO excited! We are going to fly which I guess is controversial but it makes it possible to do a not insanely long visit with family. Adults are vaccinated and we will all mask on the plane and airport- I don’t think waiting for the kids to be vaccinated is necessary at this point. Just my opinion!
In general I don’t love WFH and prefer to work at work most days, perhaps leaving early and logging on later for a ‘split shift’. But my favorite part of WFH, which I don’t see people mention very often (probably because most people have kids that need to be in school), is that I can just leave home and work from wherever for extended periods of time. Now that me and my family are vaccinated, I finally got to fly home and visit my parents recently, and instead of having to take off work and have a rushed visit, I stayed 2.5 weeks and worked from home while visiting. It was great!
that’s so cool – could be an amazing summer option for some, too!
I think I will WFH 2 days/week starting in 2022? I’m glad I can do some WFH going forward. The biggest benefit for me is being able to more easily fit exercise into my schedule. Pre-covid I was gone from 6:50a-5p. So I would have had to workout at 5am or 8pm. Neither was palatable to me. Now I can run or do a 21 day fix when I have downtime. It’s been so great and I’m finally getting back to running after not really consistently running since before I got pregnant in 2017.
Enjoy your family getaway! I hope it is fun! Staying in a VRBO will make for a much better experience. We took annual trips to FL when our son was 1 and 2 and while they weren’t ‘vacations,’ they were still great because it was a change of scenery – and we escaped the terrible cold in Minnesota. I’m hoping to resume annual Feb/Mar getaways next year. We don’t do plane travel when our kids as under 1. It’s just too much hassle and I like to wait until they are sleeping through the night. But I am looking forward to visiting my parents at their lake home this summer! We went once last year but will hopefully get there almost monthly this summer/fall.
I’ve been wanting to switch planners too this year, but I haven’t pulled the trigger. Do you know of any that would meet all or most of:
Weekly spreads
6 months or less (or at least with a customizable start and end date)
A5 size
Not a lot of extra paper/sections as I like something portable and appreciate the lightness
The ones I’ve found so far are usually a year (July to August), and I’d prefer trying something out for the remainder of the year.
Thanks!
ooh i have to think about that! I agree, most weekly planners are 12m. Anyone – feel free to chime in!!!
I will say Jibun Techo are very compact and come in A5:
https://www.jetpens.com/Kokuyo-Jibun-Techo-Diary-Pale-Cover-A5-Slim-Light-Pink-2021-Jan-Start/pd/29965?gclid=Cj0KCQjwnueFBhChARIsAPu3YkT3wogrBk_t8_TTDViz0J6PN1ejWyyf33wsGWSTUTCKIfCzM-T0k1kaAuljEALw_wcB
It’s not a true A5 (about as tall but more narrow), but I just moved into a Travelers notebook. One of the inserts (you can buy dated or undated) is just weekly spreads that goes for 6 months. It has the weekly on the left and grids on the right. You don’t need to buy the leather travelers cover because the planner itself has its own soft cover. I never thought I’d switch from Hobonichi or Wonderland222, but I’m enjoying this. The paper is nice too. I can use any kind of pen on it. Hope that helps! I’ve been switching planners left and right but feel good in this for now.
Plus even though the weeklies are on the left, there are light lines that go across, so you could really continue each day across the entire width when you open it.
I’m trying the Travelers notebook – thanks!
I can’t wait to hear about planning day. I have a Sunday basket and a work box, but I’m sure I don’t use either to their full potential.
I’m curious to hear your (and others) thoughts on the Sunday basket. I’m not sure if I have enough paper things to need it, but it might be helpful.
I would also love to hear about the work box and the planning day, I’m very interested but not sure how I would implement the system for work. I read The Paper Solution and made up my own Sunday Basket, which is really working well for me at home.
I just recently started the SB too and it is working so well for me so far! I ordered the workbox and did planning day with Sarah today. It was awesome but COULD also be a little overwhelming especially if you’re not using the work box yet. I have implemented it but I’m still a newby. I’m planning to do planning day again because I think I’ll learn incrementally more each time I do it. The chat during the call was also VERY helpful!
This is great to know, thank you!
I’m kinda enjoying that album, too, if I’m honest. Though I do hope her next one isn’t quite as bitter (I realize it’s the whole point/theme of this one but it does seem kinda immature). My 13yo knows every word. 😉
Hi Sarah! It was great to “meet” you on Planning Day today. <> Love all you’re doing but you and Lisa both make me tired just listening to everything you get done!! You’re my HERO! I’m sending you a LinkedIn request. Let’s connect!
Diane
Awww!! So great to virtually meet you too! I’m totally going to do more planning days! Such a cool concept!
Another reader curious about the Sunday box system and how you implement it!
Yiu never know about your kids. Mine are 21, 19 & 15 and still come on vacation with us. Willingly. Even when its just camping (and we tent). It makes me happy.