Planning My Journal

I've always used some sort of planning system, from a pocket diary, which I would carry about in my handbag, to a Filofax which I use now. I mentioned a while ago that I'd bought a Hobonichi Cousin to use next year, though this will be used as my journal, not for any sort of planning. I really like the planning system I use in my Filofax and it works well for me so I don't want to change that, however, as the Hobonichi Cousin is meant for planning rather than journaling, there are lots of pages which I won't need, so I'm trying to work out what to use them for.

With the Hobonichi Cousin you get a page per day, these are the pages where I shall do my journaling.

Then there's the whole year set out over four pages. You only get a line per day here so I thought I might record my daily steps. I use a Fitbit, mainly to see how much I'm moving about, and though I do go for a walk most days, my step count could be better. Perhaps recording my steps in this way will encourage me to walk more. At the very least I'll be able to see how I'm doing over a longer period and if there's any patterns to see where my steps drop off. I think this could be quite interesting.

The monthly pages are set out one month to two pages with just a small box for each day. I'm really not sure what to use these pages for. I thought I might print out a tiny photo each day, but that would depend on being able to size the photos down and set up some sort of template in order to be able to print the photos out at a size which will fit into the boxes. That's definitely beyond my technical capabilities but Mick should be able to help me out with this. It would mean that I'd have to remember to take a photo every day though, that could become a bit of a bind. I really can't think what else I could use these pages for.

The weekly pages are set out seven days over two pages and each day is set out vertically with times at the side. I'm going to record my crafting and hobbies here with the help of some lovely stickers I bought recently. I've got stickers for walking, reading, knitting, crochet, cross stitch and sewing. Whenever I do one of these things I'll use a sticker and write underneath either where I went, the book I was reading or the project I was working on. I think it'll be good to have a record of this.

So the way I intend to use the planner pages are really just an extension to my journaling rather than any sort of planning and I think it'll be useful and interesting to see how they work out as I've never recorded these things before.

Are you making any changes to the way you plan or journal in 2022?