Every year I buy a new planner.
Or one is gifted to me from my wishlist.
Not because I think a planner will magically make me more productive, but because it reminds me that blank pages hold possibility.
Somewhere between the grocery lists and to-do lists, I've learned that writing things down has a way of changing how I think.
It turns "someday" into "what if."
Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. The planner mentioned below is one I use myself and genuinely recommend. f you choose to purchase through my link, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
I don’t know about you, but I love to make lists. Grocery lists, to-do lists, goal lists. And I’ve realized it can be a form of procrastination—one of my favorite things to do, apparently—when the harder work of actually beginning feels daunting.
But list-making feels productive.
And I think all that productive procrastination can actually turn into something. Like occasionally falling into a bit of clarity on what I really want. Where a story I’m writing is going. How to get from imagination to execution.
When I think about the absolute terror I had around sharing my writing just a few years ago, compared to the bit of hutzpah I have now—the ability to hear critique, apply what’s useful, and trash what isn’t—I truly think the act of putting pen to paper helped tip me into a state of “what if.”
What if I write another chapter?
What if I submit it to Scribophile for critiques?
What if I submit to that writing competition?
Every year I buy a new planner, and I’ve found one that helps me organize my thoughts and goals—short-term and long-term—in a way that I find visually effective and that helps me get to “what if.”
It’s the Freedom Mastery planner.
The Artist’s Way is another tool that’s had a similar impact. More on that later—it deserves its own journal entry.
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