This was such a fun interview!
Dr Christine Koh is a self-described “music and brain scientist turned multimedia creative”, and I feel like this barely scratches the surface of all she does! In this episode, she shares her planning techniques and philosophies, from concrete actionable ideas (her family calendar concept is my favorite) to the broader concept of holding plans gently. She is a Todoist devotee but recently has been making a foray into paper (possibly influenced by me 🙂 ) and is just an all around thoughtful and creative person.
You can listen to (much) more of Christine on her podcast Edit Your Life — and here’s the episode I was on last week! You can also connect with Christine on Insta or FB.
Weekend Mini-Report
I headed into this weekend with much trepidation — no screens AND Josh on call!? It actually turned out to be a generally nice one and my kids are continuing to impress me with their ability to DO OTHER THINGS (which is turns out was a bit masked by screen availability).
A lot of time was spent outside (again). I survived a rather warm and humid 4 mile run. Then I took the kids to our community pool — G is getting closer to swimming – she can now go forward. She just needs to learn how to take breaths! I think she will be actually swimming by summer.
We spent the afternoon at the playground (met up with friends) and then I made dinner + we had the kids in bed by 8:10. Josh and I actually got to watch a show and noted that this hadn’t happened in literally months. He also had a less busy day today (yesterday he did an hours-long case) and did a ton of decluttering/cleanup which is basically my love language.
If you can’t tell . . . I’m feeling a lot better about life lately, for whatever reason. I still have some big things I am working through but March has honestly been a breath of fresh air.
Okay Total Strength with Andy Time . . . Week 3 #1, here we go.
7 Comments
Oh Sarah, I have a stationary solution. We ordered a A2 academic calendar poster from Etsy (from once upon a Tuesday). We colour code for grandparent visits, my travel days, holiday, and school closures, and write in any big things. Its a supplement to our electronic calendar. It’s so useful to have the year at a glance (and academic year is helpful with my school and teaching schedule).
Yay! Do you think your lower mood was perhaps going through withdrawal from social media? I tried unplugging this weekend from all screens (phone, tv, etc), and omg it made me SO CRANKY. It made me realize how often screens blunt my emotions and offer escape.
Very good to see you on the happier side of things 😀
I can’t understand why my comment always goes under another comment thread instead of the main thread 🤔
Loved the episode! I have an idea for you for the calendar – we do exactly what you described (two 13-week views at a time) using The Essential Calendar (a Sarah powers rec!). I order the full year (4 big sheets, each with 13 weeks) and got two of their magnetic bamboo holders. At any given time, I have the current season’s calendar up (winter 2022) and then the next season’s hanging up right next to it. We put two nails in the wall so when it’s time to switch to the next season I just take down the one on the left, shift the one on the right over to the left nail, and then fill out my next season’s, pop it in the bamboo holder that held the sheet I took down, and hang it on the right nail. It’s amazing to see Jan-June at one glance right now! It’s also very aesthetically pleasing 🥰
Loved the episode! I started using the Essential Calendar which is a pre-made seasonal family calendar. I love being able to see 3 months at a time, and I also fill out the coming seasons with known items. Just in case you don’t want to make your own:)
https://www.theessentialcalendar.com/
So glad you’re feeling better!
And this: “decluttering/cleanup which is basically my love language” – Amen, amen, amen!