I am not using the ECLP as a traditional planner as I use my Outlook calendar at work for everything that needs a set appointment (which has a lot of advantages as my team shares calendars and no one will put a meeting during my dedicated gym time!). Instead, it is more about journaling, tracking habits, and keeping personal projects on my radar, including:
- Inspirational quotes;
- Fun things like date nights, day trips, vacation, Netflix binges, etc;
- Blocking time for knitting, sewing and stitching;
- Timelines for gift-crafting;
- Gratitude list;
- Tracking exercise, self-care, spending and moods.
It has helped me with mindfulness so I spend less, cultivate positivity, remember the good stuff and focus less on the bad stuff, and actually get to my craft projects so they don't languish. Ravelry is still great for managing stash, my queue and as a database for projects. But what I really needed was inspiration to spend time on my projects during busy times, during crafting slumps and generally keeping projects on my radar.
As a result, I have done way more knitting since I started using my planner in September than I had the rest of the year. Among other things, I picked up the Christmas knitting I didn't finish last year. I finished all of those UFOs and was able to give handknits this year.
I will have general tips, including how to get started with the ECLP, in my next post!
Happy New Year!
