Hey friends! I feel a good portion of my life is spent either reflecting (which so much of this blog is about!) or planning (either school work, or blog posts, or my thesis project, etc.). I figured I would share with you my process for reflecting and planning, especially since it’s only evolved over the course of this year and with COVID, I needed a new system that would allow me to be flexible AND consistent. So here’s my time reflecting and planning!
REFLECT
Sunday Summary
The Sunday Summary is a very recent innovation inspired both by Emily P. Freeman and @totallygraced on Instagram. Emily P. Freeman would post these are the days stories on her Instagram stories on Sunday nights and Grace would post a weekly wrapup on Sunday nights, so I kind of took their ideas and made one of my own.
I’ve gotten into the habit of capturing a ton of photos over the weeks starting my third year, which was my first COVID semester but fully on Zoom. I just let these photos sit in my camera roll. But having a time weekly to reflect every Sunday has been nice. I usually will share photos of my week and then my own twist is that I’ve added two segments – lessons learned and a blessing section.
It can be hard to realize that we learn things as the days go by, so this reminds me to be aware of what wisdom I’m gaining through my days. The blessing component isn’t not anything religious, but it’s just words to imbue your week with sacredness.
Related Post: What I’ve Learned From Journaling
Once I finish with Sunday Summary (which can take a while), I head over to my Next Right Thing Journal. Doing the Sunday Summary gives me a good perspective on what has happened in the week and I can write my own these are the days. There’s also a section where I can write what I’ve read, what I’ve watched, what I’ve listened to, and what I’ve made. My what I’ve listened to section is usually pretty long as I listen to A TON of podcasts. The Next Right Thing journal also has other sections, but it’s really a journal to help you keep track of your weeks and the questions you have while making decisions. I plan on getting another one to start my 2022 off. I’ll definitely be making a blog post dedicated to this journal and how it has enhanced my journaling in addition to my daily night journaling.
Related Post: Planning for Winter Break in 2020
PLAN
How?
After COVID hit, I needed to change the way I planned. I could no longer use the weekly planner I’d get at Target. The pandemic just ruined my sense of time and honestly, our plans continually got wrecked. It was just impossible to put something down only to know how likely things could change. So I developed a simple bullet journal routine. It’s definitely refined itself over the course of a year and half, but I like it a lot right now, and I’m sharing it with you!
Colors
In my third year, I first developed a similar system to the one I have now and the color combos were established. I was given a gift of colored pens my first year and only put them to use starting my third year. The color combos are blue and red, purple and pink, orange and dark green, brown and yellow, and light green and black. One color is for text and the other is for crossing off to-do’s. Once I’ve gone through one set of color combos, I switch the color for text and the color for crossing off.
Quote
The quote was a pretty recent innovation. Like week 6 of the semester. I just saw a good quote from a Saint, and I wanted to write it down. So yeah, I have a weekly quote. Sometimes it’s from an Instagram quote, a podcast, or it’s something I’ve looked up. I definitely do love a quote I stumble onto a good one!
Related Post: Fighting for faith on a winding path | quote series
Weekly
My weekly section is usually a section of 3 (but sometimes 5) things I definitely want to get done during the week. It’s usually a big project, a paper, someone I need to contact, the key things I’d most likely forget if I didn’t write it down.
Phrase
The phrase or song lyric I choose can be a myriad of things. It can be a song stuck in my head. An old blog post. A quote lingering in my brain. A question I have. A prayer. It’s the most interpretative element of my planner.
Here are some evolutions of my old planning style to now. It hasn’t changed too much, but it has gotten a little bit more formal.
You definitely don’t have to adjust your style to mine! I just wanted to provide my style of planning and reflecting. It’s a routine that I definitely would say has impacted my life to be more aware of my day to day and be intentional with the way I spend my time.
Thanks for joining me on this reflecting and planning journey! Let me know if there are any questions you have. As for the Next Right Thing Journal and my current journal, both are from Amazon!
Remember, friends, you are not what you do. You are loved for who you are!
Signing off,
Gigi
