So, I am already thinking ahead to January 2021 for planners…and then I started thinking about the things I want to track in the coming year…and how I do not want to create a spread every month for something I want to see from start to finish in one spot…like knitting a blanket or something…that can take several months (for me, anyway). Reading books can be like that too at times. Sometimes I devour a single book in a couple hours. Other books require work and digesting and thinking and pondering and more work in order to continue. This can take longer than a week, or a month, or even a year, depending on the book.

I’ve already been thinking of adding a reference book to my repertoire anyway. I have been thinking this reference material would be perfect for one of my traveler’s notebooks that I have on hand. I have several set up and ready to be used, but I haven’t really used them. My writing journal is 5 inches by 7 inches and is too big for a typical TN. My planner is typically an A5–and I have a lovely cover for that already. Not to mention, ain’t nothin’ else gonna fit in any cover with my daily planner. It’s just not. So the reference book idea needs to have its own space…and I have the space and the TN for that.

Other notebooks that I will need to have in my TN as a reference space are for my reading/books and for my knitting and crochet projects. I am also going to need one for my sewing projects. I am currently sewing up a Halloween-themed crazy quilt for my youngest…while trying to teach him how to do it as we go along…some days it goes better — with a lower need for pain meds for migraines — than others.

Now the thing I am trying to figure out is …. how decorated do I want these things? I know I am a minimalist over all…and I need to be able to see and understand the information I write down for any given project because I never know when or why I shall need to reference anything–so I cannot overload the pages with stickers and doo-dads and sketches and whatnot…ahhh…for my knitting journal especially I see that possibility–I sketch out ideas for different things…and in a dedicated journal like that, where I am working on developing something…sketches would be necessary…so I can see the need for the notebook for projects I am knitting up…as well as one for projects I am working on designing…ah ha. Light bulb. Got it.

See? Talking to you helps. 🙂

I think a little washi tape here and there, top of page, bottom of page, just to keep things separated in case one project flows over a few pages, will be fine. I have a tab punch and make my own tabs, so adding those wherever and whenever I need them, not a problem. I even make my own inserts, so again, not a problem there.

Good talk.

I am still keeping my classwork and the boy’s classwork in my main planner, because that is the one I will take everywhere with me all the time so I can work in it and update things and whatever else if I have to go somewhere and have a wait time. (Thankfully those situations are not too common of late.)

So, this is how my brain has been working lately.

More soon when I get all these different journals pulled together and ready to use. Maybe in 2021 I will actually make video flip-throughs of things.

Leave any questions and comments below.