When I spent time reflecting on the last year, the one thing I was disappointed about is how little I prioritized my creativity…the whole purpose of starting this blog. It’s easy to let homeschooling take over your entire identity and that’s something I really need to work on this year. That, and time management, because it’s also easy to let homeschooling and household responsibilities eat up every waking minute of the day.
I spent a little time in the productivity space on Youtube and decided to give time blocking a try. I’ve always resisted schedules in the past but I’m finding it’s actually working really well for me. I’m more focused, getting better at prioritizing and learning to be realistic about how long things take. It was with time blocking in mind that I chose a Passion Planner for this year.
I’ve been a bullet journaller for years, but this planner has space for goal setting, monthly check in’s, weekly spreads with dedicated spaces for work and personal priorities, time blocking and more. It also has a minimal appearance with infinite possibilities for creative customization so I can save time drawing out spreads but still have a little fun beautifying each week as I set it up. I keep mild liners, pens, washi tape, stickers and collage bits in this customized cigar box to use in my planner or journalling. I LOVE this planner and ritual so much!!
My creative goals for this year primarily consist of completing a bunch of courses I’ve purchased online to learn more about character design, building miniatures, and creating animals and stop motion puppets. I made a vision board to represent these goals on the inside cover of my planner and love seeing it all the time.
Over the holidays I devoured the entire IG feed of artist Mab Graves and discovered we share the same love for lots of random little things and that she’s raising her nephew while dealing with health issues and continuing to be a prolific artist. It was endlessly inspiring. I included a lovely image of her working in her studio in my vision board to remind me of where I want to be and to keep showing up no matter what. If you haven’t already explored her magical work, I’d highly recommend it!
A couple other things inspiring me this new year are this video by Ali Abdaal and the book Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. In the video, Ali discussed how he was influenced by this book and why starting a personal blog and documenting whatever it is you’re doing, whether you’re an expert or not, has value. I’m not going to pretend I don’t get paralyzed by perfectionism and imposter syndrome and this video was everything I needed to hear to give me the kick in the pants to keep going. Serendipitously, I’d borrowed the book from the library a few days prior and had it sitting on my desk. I loved it so much I asked for the whole set for Christmas. I read Steal Like and Artist years ago and look forward to reading Keep Going because that is exactly what I need to do. Make something. Share it. Repeat.
I hope you’re kicking off your new year with inspiration to do whatever it is you’re dreaming of.
Little Stream Studio 