The Holy Grail of Day Planners?
Ok, I’m kind of a journaling planner-junkie. Except, not kind of.
My quality of life revolves around the tools I have for note-taking, planning, dreaming, and executing, so I take those tools seriously. Also, good gear brings me joy.
After decades of refining my choices, I felt pretty stoked with my bullet-journal + day planner combo.
I’d use two things:
1) A gorgeous 5x8 journal with plain, unlined pages, by either Moleskine or Leichturm. (After having a preference, I decided there aren’t any deal-breaker differences.)
2) And then I used a compact day planner in a binder that has since been discontinued, or I’d mention it. (Oh alright, it was the START Fancy Pants A size.)
I needed both because I needed the freedom of the Moleskine for daily notes/thoughts, and the structure of the day planner to keep meeting notes on the right days, plan the future, and have a time-line history of what transpired.
Well, that was before I discovered Jessica Yen’s genius idea of combining both elements together into a gorgeous bullet journal-quarterly planner combo.
Not only did she combine them, but with her added business coaching features, the Daily Work Journal is like having a mentor and accountablility partner in your bag. Its format encourages you to form (new to me) habits of daily reflection and assessment. I’m still adjusting and learning to do this.
I have no problem throwing down my to-dos, scheduling things, and even taking massive notes as things happen……..but to sit down and actually reflect upon what happened in order to adapt, change direction, prioritize follow ups? That’s a work in progress, and I appreciate this book nudging me toward a new reflective me.
The incredible Daily Work Journal by Jessica Yen - a quarterly bullet journal/planner combo that feels like a business coach in your pocket.
What I love about this planner:
It’s elegant, simple, black, and well constructed. Feels good to the touch.
It’s undated so you can jump in at any time
There’s finally enough space for daily notes because she did what I’ve always craved and left the daily scheduling area open-ended so you don’t have wasted space by not filling in all the empty hourly time slots. That always bugged me! If I only had a 10 am meeting penned in, but then didn’t want to write my notes for the day all over the other hours. (Yes, I’m particular!) Now you can make your daily notes what you want!
It creates a consolidated record of both what happened - and what you thought of it, so you can watch your own evolution.
It’s got just enough “extra” features to optimize, but it’s not overcomplicated and fussy. I hate when day planners have five jillion components and you feel bad that you’re not checking off the glasses of water you drank that day. (Cuz who has time for that?!)
Use recommendation (based on my mistakes):
Commit to using it daily and jump in on the first day of a month. And even better (if you’re like me), jump in on the first day of a fiscal quarter. I misunderstood what “undated” meant at first (doh!) and thought I could flake out for a few weeks without wasting space. But no, these are fixed 3-month books. So when you start, really start, and know that it’s a life-changing 90-day commitment. I am filling up my accidental wasted space by using the pages for extra journaling space and note-taking.
If you’d like to have an incredibly organized, documented, inspired and invigorating Spring quarter (and maybe rest of your life), try out the Daily Work Journal!
Code: MAMAHOOD for 10% off thru March 31, 2022.
https://www.dailyworkjournal.com/products/daily-work-journal