REFLECTION | PLANNING

How I Plan for Success and My Tools: January 2024

Bullet Journal, TickTick, The Hero’s Journal, Atomic Habits, Stoicism, and Word of the Year

Each year, I take January off and use it to reflect on the year gone by and plan for the year starting. I’ve written about this before here.

There is just too much happening in December (all the usual stuff plus holidays, end-of-year gatherings and breakouts) to mindfully sit down and reflect on the year past.

I like to read through last year’s BuJo (Bullet Journal) and Hero’s Journal. Look at what worked and what didn’t. Make decisions about open tasks and projects. Read Atomic Habits. Again.

Then intentionally and mindfully plan the new year. Set goals. Plan holidays.

About 10 years ago, without knowing about The Bullet Journal Method, I created a similar system for myself. Then about 5 years, I picked up the book at the library and took it fully on board. A couple years ago, I read Atomic Habits and The Daily Stoic and added them to my overall system. Finally, last year, the Hero’s Journal and TickTick crossed my path and found spots in my system.

Each of these tools serves a different and unique purpose in my overall system which, I know, sounds complicated but I find it works quite smoothly and keeps me on track.

Bullet Journal

BuJo is still my preferred planning, project management, and thought collection space. I use both Ryder Carroll’s short-form journaling method for daily logging and my long-form journaling method when I need to write out (think all the way through) a problem or solution.

Spreads I use include a future log (shows all 12 months with space for planning holidays and other big events), monthly log (with space for undated tasks dumping, recording special happenings, and progress on projects), daily log (to-do lists, notes, one-off tasks, etc), daily habit tracker, business planning collections, brain dump collections, and whatever else I need even if it is only a need of the moment and I don’t ever go back to it.

I love the flexibility of the BuJo. It doesn’t judge me when projects don’t take off and fly. It meets me right where I am and allows me to go forward in the way that suits me best.

In the index, I can find what I’m looking for easily without having to page through the whole journal to find it.

TickTick

TickTick came into my world through a video on YT you can watch here. I jumped into it full-on with project planning as well as habit tracking and it wasn’t long before I knew it was too much all at once. The project planning part looked great in the video and made sense when I set it all up, but I wasn’t able to stay up with it so I let it go for now. And that’s ok.

I do love the habit tracker though. Starting, I put all my daily tasks and habits in there from getting out of bed in the morning to going to bed at night and loved ticking them all off. Over time though, I culled what I keep in TickTick down to just what I do every day on the computer that isn’t work-related.

For me, getting on the computer ( or phone) to tick off a non-computer/phone task or habit too often resulted in me getting distracted and losing time.

The habit tracker includes a few data compilation tools that I enjoy — monthly check-in that shows how many times I completed the task in the current month, total check-ins that shows the total number of times I completed the task since I began tracking it, monthly check-in rate which shows the percentage of how many times I checked in this month compared to the total number of days in the month, and current streak that shows the number of days I’ve completed the task without breaking the streak.

These are not earth-shattering data points, but they are fun and informative, and I like them.

Another feature of TickTick that I like but haven’t entirely worked out how to implement is the Pomodoro (red tomato) timer. Pomodoro timer is a 25 minutes on/5 minutes off timer system developed by Francesco Cirillo back in the 1980s.

The Hero’s Journal

I LOVE my Hero’s Journal!

I LOVE being the hero in my own story. I know it seems obvious that each of us is the hero of our own story, but it is new to me. Ok? Ok.

The Hero’s Journal is a fantastic 90-day goal-setting, story-telling journal that the journalist is the main character of. It is the ultimate nerd meets personal growth journal.

Each spread is a page in the story and also a daily log page with date and day at the top, gratitude prompts, a lined section for plugging in a daily schedule or appointments, the 3 Quests for the day toward the goal, a dot-grid for note-taking, and spaces for both the allies and threats along the way.

“It’s so cool!” she said in her best nerdy voice.

Every 7 days, there is a reflection spread as well as at the 3-, 9-, and 12-week points. The questions in the journaling prompts vary and point to different types of growth and discovery along the way.

There are 3 styles of journal: the adventure story (think Lord of the Rings), the magical story (think Harry Potter), and a space-based story (think Star Wars).

The over-arching theme of these journals is the Hero’s Journey as put forward by Joseph Campbell in his book Hero of a Thousand Faces.

Atomic Habits

The book Atomic Habits* by James Clear which I wrote about here, is so full of tips, tricks, and techniques for developing new habits and mindsets that I read it every year and always take away something new.

My book collection is small and specific. I’ve curated it down to the books that I go back to regularly rather than having lots of books that I just have to dust regularly. Atomic Habits is a cherished friend on my shelf.

The Daily Stoic

The book The Daily Stoic* by Ryan Holiday is a wonderful study guide for learning about Stoicism and applying it to daily life. The book is laid out so each month’s quotes focus on a particular topic and there is one quote for each day followed by some comments on how that quote can be applied. The comments supply context.

Each day I read a quote and then write and publish my thoughts about how I will apply it to my life. Nothing profound, but just thinking out loud and writing about it makes the learning deeper and more meaningful.

Here is a short list of Stoic articles I’ve written.

Word of the Year

This is the 7th year I’ve had a Word of the Year although last year I had 2 that I wrote about here and here.

Until the first time I chose a Word of the Year, I didn’t believe there could be one word that would be useful across the entire year, but now I do. It’s like when you are looking to buy a yellow car thinking there aren’t many of them, but suddenly you see them everywhere.

Having a Word of the Year is the same. In 2017, I chose SIMPLE and every time I found myself in a situation, I would think to myself “simple” and that prompted me to rethink things and keep the situation as simple as possible.

For 2024, my Word of the Year is RELIABLE.

Synonyms include trustworthy, punctual, consistent, dependable, strong, and predictable.

Not long ago, I realised that while I am highly reliable to my friends, I often let myself down. And that’s not good.

My aim going forward is to be reliable to my friends AND myself. This is important.

Those are the tools I use for reflecting, planning, and tracking myself, my projects, and my daily tasks.

Look out 2024, I’m coming for you with my tools in my backpack!

What tools are you taking into 2024? I’m looking for Allies to join my band and would love to have you. No expectations are attached. Just drop a comment below.

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