Part of building an empowering and beneficial journaling practice is experimenting with different journals, pens, tools, and layout. For the last year, I’ve used Artist Loft sketchbook.

I like the size since it gives me space for two months including: Key and Index pages, month and goals page, calendar and daily post pages, month in review, plus pages at the end for journaling my dreams and other miscellaneous posts like doctor appointments, meetings, etc. I switch up my colors and washi tape based on the months and any holidays to create a festive feeling. Plus it makes me happy!

In addition to my every day journal, I also use smaller journals for writing and family history, which I’ll share next week.

Here’s how I lay out my daily journal: 

Key

• Categories to Index

• What you want to be able to find easily in your journal

• Color code for easier reference

Index

• On the first 2-4 pages title Index

• List each day of the current month in a column

• Do same on other side for second month

• The  Key and Index idea came from bullet journaling, which I personalized to what worked for me. If you want to get more specific, visit www.bulletjournal.com

Calendar/Daily Posts

• Full calendar month of February so I have an overview and make sure time spent is balanced.

• Record my personal and professional goals for the month. Each week I refer back to these goals as a reminder on how to prioritize my time.

• On the next 60 or so pages I add in my calendar on the left

• Includes top three items that are priority for the day, break down my day per hour, meals for the day, personal things to do .

• Sunday Setup: also include meal prep for the week and items to do for the week. I spend a couple hours on Sunday setting up my week based on what I didn’t get to last week and monthly goals. I’ve found that planning my meals and doing some food prep greatly reduces stress and has helped me eat much healthier.

• Daily journal posts: right side opposite the calendar is left blank for my journal reflections. It varies but I usually include:

o   Daily intention

o   What happened during that day

o   What I did during that day

o   How I felt about what I did and if I completed all I needed to do

o   If not what do I need to adjust

o   Anything else I’m tracking

Month in Review

At end of that month, I have a page to review the month based on what I have prioritized. To get more details check out last week’s post.

Then I repeat it all for the second month. Anything that doesn’t fit onto those pages like meeting notes, dreams, etc., I flip to the next blank page after all my calendar pages. The index comes in handy when tracking where your notes are. I’ll cover that soon as well.

Your journal is your pause place, your assistant, your best friend, and creative outlet. Make sure it’s fun in addition to helpful. Experiment and find out what brings you joy as well as works best for you. Feel free to send pictures and let me know how it’s going!

To learn more, join me for one of my journaling workshops