SYW283 – Effective Planning with Tools and Systems

[00:00:14] Jennifer Wilson: Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a memory keeper today. I'm your host, Jennifer Wilson, owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking.

[00:00:40] This is episode 283.

[00:00:43] In this episode, I'm joined by returning guest Alissa Williams to explore the systems and tools we use to plan our everyday lives, including our scrapbooking. We discuss what's working well and what we're trying next for documentation, goal setting, weekly planning, and beyond.

[00:01:02] Hey, Alissa, how are you doing?

[00:01:04] Alissa Williams: I'm great, Jennifer. How are you?

[00:01:06] Jennifer Wilson: I am fantastic today. I am always looking forward to our conversations about planners and planning. Um, but if any of our listeners haven't heard our numerous chats about those, could you share a little bit about yourself?

[00:01:22] Alissa Williams: Sure. Uh, I live in central Illinois with my husband and two teenage ish daughters. Um, I have a freshman in high school and a seventh grader. And we have an Australian shepherd with who lives with us. Who hopefully will not bark during this recording. Um, I am the director of a small public library, so obviously I like to read and I like to craft, and plan.

[00:01:47] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, you do. So Alissa, what's exciting you right now, both inside of your hobby as well as in your everyday life?

[00:01:56] Alissa Williams: So I am super excited that it's football season again. I think every fall when we record these episodes I'm like, it's football season! Um, and my mom and I have this football pool that we do and it's really fun to have some teams to root for and see if I'm winning because I'm very competitive.

[00:02:17] But I'm also like back into watching TV again. I don't know if there's something about the colder weather that makes me watch more streaming shows. And I'm very into Madam Secretary. Um, I think I told you the other day, I feel like it's very West Wing ish, especially in the second season. And I'm like, I, can't just watch one episode.

[00:02:35] I have to like watch two or three. I'm very into binging.

[00:02:37] Jennifer Wilson: How many seasons are there?

[00:02:39] Alissa Williams: Six, I think. And I'm only on, like, I'm halfway through season two. So it'll, it'll take me a while because I don't watch. I don't know. I, maybe one night a week I'll binge. It just depends on what's going on. We're very, very busy with volleyball this fall.

[00:02:53] So, and other things. So. Um, and then I am in scrapbooking. I am looking forward to some fun opportunities I have in October. I'll be meeting up with other Simple Scrapper members here in a few weeks, um, for a retreat. And so I'm getting ready for that, and that's always a great time of productivity. I'm going to do a October daily for the first time, and I'm going to put my album together during that retreat. So that I can just layer in my photos and stories every day. So hopefully that will be, um, excited. I mean, I'm excited about that. And then, um, I'm also going to a thing called Stamp Joy by Taylored Expressions. And that is going to be like, I've never been to something like that. And it's a lot of card makers, but I'm looking forward to, I love stamps. I collect them and I'd like to use them more. So I'm hoping it'll give me some new techniques to use on my pages.

[00:03:51] Jennifer Wilson: So going back to TV briefly, I wanted to share one non scrapbooking thing that I'm excited about, and we have not talked about this yet at all. And there is a new show coming this fall and I'm like, I am not really in tune with new shows. It's very rare that something catches my eye, but I really want to watch Dr. Odyssey, which is starring Joshua Jackson.

[00:04:15] Alissa Williams: Okay, I've seen the previews for this.

[00:04:17] Jennifer Wilson: It's like, uh, Royal Pains on a cruise ship. I'm, I'm, I don't know, like, he was on the Emmys next and walked out with Matt Boehmer and I love Matt Boehmer. I actually went to high school with him. But Joshua Jackson is like the new George Clooney. He was just so yummy.

[00:04:39] I'm like, Oh, he must be having a show come out. What is the show? And then they showed the, the trailer during the Emmys. And I'm like, Oh, this looks really fun. So that actually comes out in just two days later this week. And so I'm excited to see what it's all about. So far, like the initial, like, buzz about it seems positive.

[00:04:58] Um, it's a Ryan Murphy show. So he did so many different things like Glee, right? Um, and all those, uh, American Horror story things. So, um, yeah, I'm, I'm just excited.

[00:05:12] Alissa Williams: Uh, that will be very interesting. We don't ever watch anything live anymore though, like our, my girls and I are looking forward to Abbott Elementary coming back. But we always watch it on a recording. Because we just, it's so weird to me that we can't sit down and watch TV live anymore. It's like, I mean, I watch football live, but that's like the only thing.

[00:05:34] It's just like, I we're so spoiled now with all the on demand and streaming platforms.

[00:05:39] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, for sure. I was trying to explain to Emily, like what things were like when I was growing up. And then Steve, who my husband is of course older than me. Explains when he was growing up, they had three channels. That was it. And I was talking to Emily about how, yeah, even the times before there was like the guide. You know, first it was a guide channel that you had to go to and wait.

[00:06:02] And then, then it was, you know, a flip through guide and now it's just pick what you want and you voice search for it. So she's so spoiled.

[00:06:10] Alissa Williams: Yes, we, yes, everyone is spoiled. My children don't even like commercials. They get, you pay for the higher streaming on like Hulu and Disney Plus now so we don't have to have commercials.

[00:06:21] Jennifer Wilson: So this is of course our planning episode. We tend to do this a couple of times a year. This time of year in particular, we're really thinking about 2025. And I thought this time we could maybe organize it really specifically and intentionally around the functional things that we want to accomplish. So we can each share like what we've been using, what we, are we going to continue that or try something different on each of these different topics.

[00:06:49] And so I have like seven different categories here. Um, so I think it'll be interesting.

[00:06:56] Alissa Williams: I think it will be too. Cause I was looking at the outline and I was like, Hmm, I don't know what I'm going to say for some of these. So this could be a very interesting conversation.

[00:07:04] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Okay. So just starting off with, you know, this is planner adjacent, but as lovers of paper and tools and things. Uh, what are you currently using and what do you intend to use in the future for just general note taking? I do know that you want an iPad.

[00:07:23] Alissa Williams: I do want an iPad. But not so much for note taking. I mean, I at work switch to a Bullet Journal about early summer. And I take daily notes. If I need to take notes, I take them in there. Before that, I would just take them in my planner. Because I was always looking for a planner that had space for that kind of stuff.

[00:07:47] So, I mean, I, I incorporate that into whatever I'm using as my planner. Um, I take notes at home. That's one thing I like about my Get To Workbook. May she rest in peace. Uh, that had robust grid pages in the back for notes and lists and stuff.

[00:08:06] Jennifer Wilson: And so what's your plan going forward?

[00:08:10] Alissa Williams: To use whatever I'm, I mean, I don't, I like, I don't have a, I'm not, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I don't have like a separate magical notebook that I'm going to be using. I'll just incorporate it into whatever system I decide to use for 2025.

[00:08:24] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. I'm not disappointed. Um, I, this year I used primarily an eight and a half by 11 spiral notebook. I just got, you know, a very simple customized one from Plum Paper. Relatively inexpensive just to, you know, pick your cover, put your initials on it, and eventually it arrives in the mail. Um, but I've really been focused on streamlining the size and weight of some of my stuff. Uh, particularly as I'm driving all around for Emily's Volleyball Practices. I'm finding myself in the car more, at a coffee shop more. Just needing to be a little more mobile. And so that's had me think about size, and that will come through in some of my other choices too.

[00:09:07] So I did, I was almost done with 8. 5 by 11, so I went ahead and ordered an A5 from Plum Paper. I've done some experimentation with it for other purposes, but really that's going to be my core note taking, uh, item going forward. It's just a A5 dot grid spiral notebook. I got A double set of pages. So it is quite thick.

[00:09:29] Um, but I'm happy for it to last me throughout the year. Cause I often do go back and reference things that were mentioned in previous meetings. And so, and it's something that I would use for meetings of any kind throughout my life.

[00:09:42] Alissa Williams: That sounds very like smart. I, I mean, I just, maybe I think you go to more meetings than I do where you need to take notes. Because I just, I make more notes to myself, I guess, than I do for meetings and that kind of stuff.

[00:09:58] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I think I was finding that my notes were in too many different places. Like sometimes I'd send myself an email, or I'd put it directly in a digital tool, or I'd note it in my planner. Or I'd bring just like a plain notepad with me. And so just having one spiral notebook, which is the thing I always grab. Kind of, uh, decide once type of thing, uh, just ensured that I wasn't losing pieces of paper.

[00:10:24] Alissa Williams: So when I'm in a meeting, I will take notes on the agenda and then I'll process that. During my processing time. Either that later that day or at the end of the week. And any action items then get put into my system.

[00:10:36] Jennifer Wilson: Well, that's because you have systems in place to do these things. I would that those papers would just stack up on my desk.

[00:10:45] Alissa Williams: That's fair.

[00:10:45] Jennifer Wilson: Um, and so I would have, I would need like a clipboard or a folder or something because I would want to reference those later.

[00:10:54] Alissa Williams: I love a good clipboard.

[00:10:55] Jennifer Wilson: So what about memory documentation? So, things that are perhaps more in the moment. Whether you're on a trip or it's just an everyday type of thing. Or during a specific project like Week in the Life. Are you doing anything to capture words related to the photos or even just happenings that don't have photos?

[00:11:18] Alissa Williams: So when we went to Alaska and our big Pacific Northwest trip earlier in the summer. I was very intentional about keeping an Apple Note. I pre populated it with the days and kind of what the itineraries were for those days. And then I would make sure I jotted anything that I wanted to remember in the Apple note. So that I have that to refer back to, cause I'll be making a travel album for that trip.

[00:11:46] And then at the end of the trip, I asked everybody kind of, you know, what was your favorite drink, your favorite meal, your favorite activity we did. So that I can keep that. So I have that for when I'm ready to document the trip. For Week in the Life I typically will print out Ali's pages if I do a Week in the Life project.

[00:12:09] I did Day in the Life earlier this month, and I just kept an Apple Note. The other thing I have is I have a sentence a day, five year journal that I write in. Um, most every night. I have a reminder on my phone to do it. And sometimes I'll do like two or three days at a time. If I haven't done a couple days on Sunday mornings, I'll sit down and make sure it's current.

[00:12:33] So I have that I can refer back to. And when I did my big memorabilia project, I found the one that I'd kept earlier, which had been missing and I'd wanted for some journaling I was doing for some stories I'd told during that time period. So that's, uh, It's been a great thing to go back to. And then the other thing I do is I will, if it's photo related or if I take a photo. I will add a caption to that photo if it's something someone said or something specific I want to remember about that experience.

[00:13:02] Jennifer Wilson: And so you're doing that directly in Apple Photos on your phone.

[00:13:06] Alissa Williams: Yes. So, I mean, I guess the answer is I use my phone for a lot of it, and then I do have one paper record.

[00:13:11] Jennifer Wilson: So kind of connecting this idea as well with the last one. It sounds like you will print out things, use them for a specific purpose, and then process the information and put it somewhere else. And then probably discard the paper.

[00:13:26] Alissa Williams: Accurate.

[00:13:27] Jennifer Wilson: And I would say in a given week, I, I would say in a given month, I might print one thing and it's usually something a paper that Emily needs and I send with her.

[00:13:37] I just, that's not part of my kind of life routine at all. So, I don't know. Maybe it's just a function of me working from home and the printer next to me is a photo printer versus we have a laser jet downstairs. But, yeah, I don't, I don't work on information that way. So I think that's just, it's really helpful to think about as you're choosing tools, whether they are digital or paper, like what is your flow and what type of engagement do you have with pieces of paper? Maybe what you really need is a binder or something. I know there's going to be some people where that's the best solution because they do manage a lot of paper.

[00:14:18] Alissa Williams: I find that I remember things better when I write it on paper. That tactile pen to paper still really works for me. Uh, for example, like, I've been doing some more, uh, full meal planning as opposed to just dinner. And I type it up on the computer because I can kind of move stuff around. But then I print it out, and then I, like, every day let refer to it and kind of check off what I, you know, if I actually followed it or if I made a variation and I find that. I just still like paper. That's why I'm not a digital scrapbooker.

[00:14:53] Jennifer Wilson: Interesting. Interesting. I mean, I do meal planning in my planner. I write it down, but I don't, yeah, I just don't print things. So interesting. Um, for memory documentation, this is something that's been hard for me. I have tried a lot of things over the years. I had maybe some minor success in the past with like keeping a little notebook on a trip or even like live scrapbooking.

[00:15:17] I've done mini albums on some vacations that we did when Emily was really little. Um, I have experimented for the past like two years with using Day One more for either things that don't have photos. Or memorabilia I wanted to discard right away. Like, this is interesting, but I don't want to keep it. Um, so I have the photo of it.

[00:15:39] Um, I could be doing that directly in Lightroom though. So I think that's part of and part of my conundrum of like, is this really the best place to put this information? Um, but going forward, I really want to make it more of a routine. Like you're using with your one line a day journal. So I did get an A6 Hobonichi original.

[00:16:03] So it is, you know, one page per day. And I want to just make it part of everyday life to write down things that happen. Things people said. Because I can't, I think I'm going to remember it even the next day and I don't remember the exact words anymore. So, I, yeah, Steve said something the other night, it was hilarious, and I'm like, oh, that is going to be a page title. And now I have no idea what, how he actually said it, so.

[00:16:30] Alissa Williams: So this whole thing about things people say, I have been thinking about this a lot. Because

[00:16:37] in my Facebook memories, some stuff has been coming up about when I recorded things that my girls said when they were little and said cute things. But now that they're older, they also say really funny things.

[00:16:48] It's just in a different context. But like you, I struggle to know where to record those. And so I probably need to just set up a note like as we've been talking. I'm like, oh, yeah, if I'm using my phone more and I always have my phone with me. Having a note set up where I can just record those things and maybe now I need more of the context. That would be really helpful. Because I can, I can voice memo it, you know, speech to text and get it down really quickly. Because there I have had a similar experience where someone has said something hilarious.

[00:17:25] And now I can't, I remember being, it being funny, but I have no idea exactly what the words were or the context. And I would like to record more of those things that they're saying because I think it's an interesting insight into their personality. And I have

[00:17:41] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, certainly.

[00:17:42] Alissa Williams: Yeah, and I have these fun pages from when they were little of the things they said and I'd love to do something now that they're teenagers.

[00:17:47] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, no, I, I totally get it. Yeah. I remember the other night I, sometimes Emily is still very gullible. So I joked something about how did you know it's like illegal to date before you're 30? And I really think for like a good solid 90 seconds there that she believed it. So yeah, that. This is kind of an evolution thing. I'm going to give it my all. I'm going to start experimenting, uh, October through December, just in a small notebook. To kind of build up the practice. And then the Hobonichi I have starts in 2025. I want to make that more of a priority next year in support of my overall memory keeping.

[00:18:29] Because I do know, I enjoy scrapbooking stories that are interesting to me in the moment. Which could be a present thing or a past thing. And so I want more of that documentation to refer back to. Um, so, yeah, it's, it's my hope that this will just be a thing for me going forward.

[00:18:46] Alissa Williams: I love it. I will keep you accountable.

[00:18:48] Jennifer Wilson: Thank you. So what about personal journaling? Like, putting your feelings down somewhere?

[00:18:55] Alissa Williams: I don't do this. I don't have feelings.

[00:18:56] Jennifer Wilson: I know you have feelings. But it's okay to say, like, I don't express them, uh, for myself anywhere.

[00:19:03] Alissa Williams: I, yeah, I don't do this. It's interesting because I just did a page for a Write Story Kit where I photographed my journals. Because I, I used to do this. I started, I got my first diary when I turned eight. And until I was about 22. I, and especially in college, I did some pretty heavy journaling. And it is painful to read some of it now. But also like super like, wow, that really did have a big impact on you.

[00:19:32] Um, kind of stuff that I've maybe blocked a little bit. Um, uh, through high school and whatnot. So I have done morning pages at certain times. But morning pages are not, you don't keep those. You write on three pieces of paper and you can burn them or recycle them. So I, yeah, I just, the most journaling I do would be in my line a day journal.

[00:19:56] And there have been times where I vaguely referred to something and now when I look back on it, I'm like, what, what was that.

[00:20:03] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:20:04] Alissa Williams: Okay, be more specific. But you only have like three lines to write on so.

[00:20:09] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I, I, I follow up question first. So when you went and photographed your, uh, diaries of your youth, I don't remember what you told me when I asked, did you end up keeping them or discarding them?

[00:20:21] Alissa Williams: Oh I still have them. I have not, I'm not ready to, I'm not ready to discard them yet. There will probably come a point where I am. But for now there's still some stories I think I want to mine from there. So I'm not quite ready to part with them. But man, they, there are some things that are pretty cringy in there.

[00:20:43] Jennifer Wilson: Well, and that's a whole like, uh, emotional investment just to sit down and read them, to find those stories and to, to make sense of it all. So we don't always want to intentionally go back to the past.

[00:20:56] Alissa Williams: For sure.

[00:20:57] Jennifer Wilson: So I have a very lovely A5 Archer and Olive that I have done several pages of journaling in. And I've done some journaling on and off for the past few years, slash, past my whole life. Like you, I have a collection of diaries from very cringy times in my life. Um, but I realized recently, and this was probably over the summer, I was having some, I don't know, strong feelings.

[00:21:25] And I'm like, I just need to bitch, uh, pardon my language, I try to keep my language decent here. But I just was pissed off, and I had feelings about things that were somewhat rational and somewhat irrational. And I'm like, you know what, I just need to sit here and type. And so what I have been using Day One for is if I have those feelings, it is so helpful to just get them out to the void. Rather than, you know, say dumping them on my husband. Because sometimes it doesn't go well. Even if I'm, I say, okay, this is not personal.

[00:22:04] This is not about you, but I need to say all these horrible things. So yeah, it's been helpful just to have that. I don't really anticipate doing anything with it. I'm not keeping it for memory keeping purposes. It's just like catharsis. Just getting some feelings out so that I can move on with my day.

[00:22:25] Alissa Williams: That's very smart.

[00:22:26] Jennifer Wilson: Thanks! Maybe, yeah, you'd want to try that if you ever have feelings on a day.

[00:22:32] Alissa Williams: Maybe. I prefer to just, you know, scream into a pillow. I find that's very effective. Or cuss a lot. Now we're gonna get an E rating on our podcast. People are gonna wonder what we said.

[00:22:45] Jennifer Wilson: All right. So this one is, now I kind of transitioning more to planning. Um, and in the big picture sense. What about goal setting and reflection, whether that's on like an annual or quarterly basis?

[00:22:58] Alissa Williams: Well, my answer is boring. I do this all in my Get To Work book, which I am going to miss terribly. You know, she has reflection pages at the end of each month that I use. There's space in the monthly format to create goal lists, and I have done different things throughout the years of creating trackers or lists. And so, when I'm looking at 2025, I'm really looking at how can I replicate as much of this as possible. Um, for goals. But I, again, I really like to have, like, one source of truth, one place I'm recording everything. So I don't, I don't really have a stack of things. I just have, I use what is in my regular planners. Now for work, I do have a little bit of a separate process where I go on paper and plan out my year. And then I have a folder that I refer to every quarter when I'm doing my quarterly planning. And then again, I have paper that I print out monthly. Uh, that lists my goals for the quarter as well as the monthly goals and and things for the month to keep track of. So I am still very paper based.

[00:24:17] Jennifer Wilson: So, in terms of whatever planner you choose for yourself, for your personal life, your at home planner, that's where you'll put any goal things. Maybe independent of what, how the pages are set up for it. Like you'll, you'll draw lines or make a section if you have to.

[00:24:35] Alissa Williams: Yes. Cause I find.

[00:24:37] Jennifer Wilson: You want it altogether.

[00:24:38] Alissa Williams: I tried using a separate goal planner. I think I tried, didn't we use like the make it Laura Casey stuff or else I don't think it's hers anymore. What was that called?

[00:24:50] Jennifer Wilson: It was like a quarterly power sheets type of

[00:24:52] Alissa Williams: Yes. Power Sheets. Yes. We tried the quarterly and I just don't.

[00:24:55] Jennifer Wilson: And you, you had You had success with the annual power sheets in the past.

[00:25:00] Alissa Williams: I have, yes. But I, I just like being able to incorporate it into, now, I just like having one place. Because, I'm not doing as much on the go as you are. I mean, I'm certainly driving a whole lot. But I just, when I'm looking around my house, I have one thing to carry, you know, and that's fine.

[00:25:17] Jennifer Wilson: Mm hmm.

[00:25:18] Alissa Williams: My Get To Work Book.

[00:25:19] Jennifer Wilson: So, Yeah, and we'll get to what's gonna maybe replace your Get To Work Book. When when does this like what's your end date?

[00:25:27] Alissa Williams: December.

[00:25:28] Jennifer Wilson: Okay, okay. So for goals this year I put a bunch of stuff in the Click Up over the course of the first few months of the year and then proceeded to completely forget about it. It's been interesting to see, like, how I use tools for repository versus, like, a way to check in. Um, and in other parts of my work, I'm able to use it for, like, okay, I need to reference this regularly to know what's next. But I don't always do that with the more personal, like, here's the things that are important to me. Um, so, and I think part of it is because there wasn't, like I didn't create a process or system around it.

[00:26:12] There wasn't like a, I'm going to do this every month or quarter. Um, so when I did order that A5 spiral from Plum Paper, they have a bunch of different inserts you can get and I just had this. Uh, reflection section put in the back. And so what it has is like one page that's an annual vision, you know, you can put three words, share some values, and then set goals in five different categories. For like daily actions a year, and then maybe even like big picture life goals.

[00:26:44] And then beyond that, it just has like a monthly check in, a monthly reflection, and then a month forward planning. So, it's super simple, and I kind of want to be less, less precious about it. So I'm like, I'm glad it's in the spiral. Because I think I'll actually use it because the spiral is never perfect. You know, my handwriting changes day to day, depending on how I'm feeling. And so what's most important is that I actually take the time at the beginning of every month to do this. And see what I can learn from it. So trying to keep it more simple this year.

[00:27:21] Alissa Williams: I love that. But I'm curious what your trigger, because we've, you've mentioned a couple of times you don't really have systems for certain things. So are you going to do more monthly planning? Are you going to, like, what's going to be the trigger for you to refer to these reflection pages in the notebook?

[00:27:41] Jennifer Wilson: How about I have you tell me to do it?

[00:27:45] Alissa Williams: I mean, we all know I can do that. You want to be held accountable. I'm your girl. Um, I. That's why I like everything in my Get To Work Book. Because she has the built in pages which then trigger me to go back and refer to my big list of goals for the year that's at the front of the in January. And like I have a whole system. And I think you know the tools that I have used through the years have changed. But my system of weekly, monthly, quarterly planning has always stayed pretty consistent. And and is why I'm not quite as, I mean, yes, I, as I have referred to many times that Get To Workbook is no more.

[00:28:32] And I'm very sad about that. Um, I'm not as stressed out about what I'm going to use in 2025. Because I know, I know how to use whatever tool. I have a system. And so the tool doesn't matter. It can be digital or paper, but I have a system. And whatever I use will fold into that system.

[00:28:54] Jennifer Wilson: I, um, uh, I'm not speechless because I know this about you. But I think this is, this is a huge point. Um, that I hope is valuable to our listeners because it's super valuable to me. And the answer is, I don't know. Um, but I think it's, it's worth further like exploration. And, really defining what you need to have an effective system, like what are the bare minimum components of that?

[00:29:25] Is it, um, calendar reminders that are quarterly, monthly, weekly, to, to do a certain set of steps? And so, yeah, yeah, I don't have an answer to that. I'm, what do you, what do you use for your triggers?

[00:29:44] Alissa Williams: Well, typically on Thursday nights, I sit down and look at the week ahead. And it's just kind of routine at this point. Uh, and then at the end of every month, I usually the last weekend for home stuff and the last work day of the week for work stuff. I block out two hours on my calendar to do my monthly planning. And, and if it's, well, that's two hours if it's monthly and quarterly planning. I only need about 45 minutes to an hour for monthly planning. And I go through, you know, it's a little different at work than it is at home. But at, but at home I go through, you know, my, you know, tickler file where I keep things that I want to be reminded of.

[00:30:29] I go through the calendar for the month. I kind of look at the big picture and then I can zoom in to you know what goals need to move forward this month or what things I need to remind myself of later later. And then you know for quarterly again, I look at the overall big picture and then kind of keep narrowing down the focus.

[00:30:51] And I mean, I do this for my crafty goals. I don't look at my crafty goals on a monthly basis. I find I used to do that. However, I found that was too short of a runway, just kind of similar to how you move the journeys to be two months in the membership. So I set up a quarterly plan of attack for my memory keeping. And what I want to accomplish in the next 12 weeks. And then, you know, month to month, it ebbs and flows depending on the time available to me. And, and also my energy for certain things. I have been in a season where I've been pretty prolific in getting things made. I just spent the weekend going through, uh, Best of Both Worlds Kit for August. Which is probably one of the closest, usually when I have Best of Both Worlds, it's several months before I get to them. But I have actually this year kept up with them more.

[00:31:47] I did the July kit in August. I'm, did the August kid in September. I actually have already started working on the early pages from September that she's already done. So I'm in this season where I want to create, where I have the time and space and energy to make pages. I have stories I want to tell. So it, but it, but I know that it ebbs and flows. So, I try to be realistic about what I can get done in a quarter. And then I make kind of monthly assessments. But I don't hold myself to certain monthly rhythms when it comes to my actual scrapbooking.

[00:32:18] Jennifer Wilson: You're very impressive.

[00:32:21] Alissa Williams: Well, I mean, I, I don't, I just.

[00:32:24] Jennifer Wilson: No, I, I appreciate how your brain works for sure. No, I know. And like, you're like, every Thursday I do this and I'm like, how do you even know it's Thursday sometimes?

[00:32:34] Alissa Williams: Cause I go to rotary on Thursdays. So Thursday nights I sit down. It's like it's Rotary Day. I went to Rotary. I got to sit down and plan. I don't know.

[00:32:43] Jennifer Wilson: I think that like my baby step would be to be thinking about that month transition. And if I can create a small set of steps that I want to do probably at the end of every month. Then that's something that I can add and I can put it on the calendar as a reminder. And to get into the groove before I try to add different layers to it. Because I think it's when I've tried to create more structure at multiple scales at once that I easily get overwhelmed and, and feel behind on it.

[00:33:18] Alissa Williams: So I have two more things to say. One, I think you should set a reminder on your phone for like the 29th or 28th of the month that says check in on my goals, on my monthly goals. And that's all you commit to doing for the next three months. Like don't try to build even two, a two step process. Just one step of on the 28th of the month, because then that gives you a couple days.

[00:33:46] Like if it's not a good time on the 28th, you've got two or three days before the end of the month. And see how that feels having that reminder pop up externally. I use my reminders on my phone so much now. I rely on it quite heavily and I love to set myself future reminders. And then, I guess the other thing is that I'm just very good with lists and plans and really wanting to use my time well. Like I have not felt in the past, like I've used some of my evening hours as well as I could. And some of that just depends on my energy. Like I work a full time job. So there are some days where I'm just ready to zone out and watch some Netflix. Or watch a show with my kids. But there are other days, like last night was an example where by six o'clock everybody had eaten dinner and gone to their various things and my kids just don't need me as much. As they don't need to be entertained.

[00:34:41] Jennifer Wilson: Mm.

[00:34:42] Alissa Williams: In the evening. And so it was like, well, what am I going to do? And I, I was like, well, I'm going to make a scrapbook page. And then that turned into two pages. And then it almost turned into three, but it was like nine, 10. And I was like, no, if you, if you make another page, like you'll be up too late. So it's, I've, I mean, I'm, it's not that I'm super regimented, but I like having a list to refer back to.

[00:35:06] So I, when school started, made my ideal week schedule and sort of planned out like, okay, on Monday nights I have this free time and I want to either do X or Y. And Tuesday nights, well, that's going to be a volleyball night, so, you know, my goal is just to take out the trash and either run the dishwasher or see where the dishes are for the week.

[00:35:27] And so just having those different rhythms to my week. It started last year when I implemented my Sunday reset list. And that has been, I don't want to say transformative because that makes it sound like. But it has been super helpful to have those rhythms. Now that I have that Sunday structure very heavily in place. In fact, I believe it was this planning talk last year. I said, well, I'm going to try this Sunday reset because we're going into this busy fall season. And that has just saved my life because I, I know now when I'm going to process my household papers and certain things are just going to get done on Sunday mornings.

[00:36:02] Jennifer Wilson: And how is that different from your, like, thinking about the week ahead on Thursday nights?

[00:36:07] Alissa Williams: That's more of like logistical planning, meal planning. Um, what do we, what's, what's coming up? What do I need to be ready for? That's more like scheduling details. The Sunday Reset is more about going through all the mail from the week, paying all the bills. Going through, getting my inbox to zero as much as I can. Uh, you know, updating our family calendar so the family knows where everyone's supposed to be, going over it with the family. You know, setting up all my medicine boxes for the week, doing a quick, uh, decluttering, tidy of the main living areas that people see.

[00:36:47] Jennifer Wilson: And so would your kind of prep time on Thursday give you things that you might need to tackle on Sunday as part of that?

[00:36:56] Alissa Williams: Maybe, or it might give me more of an idea of how my evenings are going to be, like.

[00:37:01] Jennifer Wilson: Mm hmm.

[00:37:01] Alissa Williams: You know, there are some months, some weeks of the month where I have a meeting Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night. So I'm not going to get any scrapbooking done. So then that means that if I really want to have a project that I'm working on or get something done, I need to do it Saturday afternoon or Sunday. Or see where that space is available to me.

[00:37:19] Jennifer Wilson: Certainly. Okay. Well, let's transition into like kind of what we typically talk about in terms of planners and planning tools. So what are you using for work to do bigger picture planning. Um, we're talking about projects, um, storing lists of information, not what you're doing today.

[00:37:43] Alissa Williams: Well, like I said, I do my year long planning on paper and I do my quarterly planning, within a worksheet that I got from Productive Flourishing years ago. And I, I tried using Asana earlier this year, but It's just too much for what I need.

[00:38:04] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:38:05] Alissa Williams: So now I went, I switched systems again. Like I just cannot get my work system. I have tried so many different tools. Really, I have a system. It's the tools that I'm using that I keep changing around. And so.

[00:38:22] Jennifer Wilson: Do you need to use any of these tools in collaboration with your coworkers?

[00:38:26] Alissa Williams: No.

[00:38:26] Jennifer Wilson: Okay.

[00:38:28] Alissa Williams: I think it would be different if I did. I think then I might be more inclined to use, you know, a digital tool more regularly, but just for myself, it's just, it's too much. And so what I switched to doing that I has worked very well for eight weeks now is I have a Microsoft Excel document that has different you know, sheets in it for different lists. Uh, and I have one master projects list. Because that was what I could never quite get in some of these digital tools, is a master projects list. And then I'm, what I like about it is I can have the project, the status, and then I can have a notes field. Where I can quickly see kind of where the next action is, or what I, what it is I'm waiting for, the date I sent it out. And, and then I have another sheet where I can track my staff projects that I've delegated out or things I need to know about. And so we just started doing our quarterly check ins for fourth quarter and I can reference that and be like, okay, where are we on this, this and this? And that simplicity of the tool has helped me and I find myself wanting to use it and keep it up to date more. And I'm liking it so far. So sometimes the simple tool is the best tool and you don't need a digital tool.

[00:39:40] But again, I've always had the same system of where I follow David Allen's Getting Things Done for the most part. Both at work and at home. It's a little more helpful at work. Where I, you know, check in, I do a weekly review of my, where I am and my projects and whatnot. And getting my inbox to empty and all that.

[00:39:59] So, my system has pretty much stayed the same for several years. It's just my tools have changed. So for big picture planning, I like to do stuff on paper and then I'll transfer it to a digital tool. If it's something I need to keep, sometimes just going through the paper is enough. It just sort of depends. And then, like I said earlier, I've been using a bullet journal where I have done some of that bigger picture planning, just as a, non precious writable surface to use and have my notes to reference back to in one spot.

[00:40:27] Jennifer Wilson: And that's for work.

[00:40:29] Alissa Williams: That's for work.

[00:40:30] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Okay. Um, so my approach this year has been very much to dive in, to ClickUp and we are using that quite, um, aggressively with my work team at the university. Um, I would say that most of our, our staff, at least, and now we have like, I think we have 10 people now. Um, are on board and have a reason to check into it regularly just because we have so many moving parts.

[00:41:00] So I would say we could, we could do better, but, uh, we are performing where we need to be in terms of keeping track of numbers. We have so many different deliverables in terms of blog posts and documents entered and newsletters sent and podcast episodes and webinars, all these different things that keeping track of all of that so then we can report on it every quarter has been essential.

[00:41:28] Um, so that part is going well. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want to use ClickUp for Simple Scrapper and for my personal life. I've certainly the, on a personal side, there's been some good kind of repository and we'll get more into the Creative Hub aspect later. Um, but right now a lot of Simple Scrapper is still on Trello.

[00:41:57] Uh, we have a whole team board. We have multiple team members interacting there with kind of our, uh, monthly and bimonthly rhythms. And then there's another board specifically for this podcast that, that I share with Helen. So maybe ideally I'd like to move off Trello, but it's not hurting anything in the moment.

[00:42:17] And we do have quite a, kind of a groove going. And so I am using ClickUp on my own to just kind of keep track because I like to be able to see things across all these different domains. But I can't say anything is super fancy at the moment. So if that makes sense. And sometimes, like you said, I just make a Google sheet for, or a Google doc for a certain type of information, because that's the most effective thing.

[00:42:43] And it doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

[00:42:45] Alissa Williams: Yes. I mean, I said that I don't need to share tasks with my coworker or my staff, but if we do need to collaborate, we are in the Google environment. So we'll do a, a Google sheet or a Google doc depending on what it is to kind of stay on track with things. We did that earlier this year when we were celebrating our 100th anniversary and we had a committee and that was actually where I got the idea to set up my own project, Excel sheet. Because we had used that to keep track of the different things for our committee for the anniversary and the different pieces everyone was working on and I found that to be a pretty effective way to manage it. I just prefer to have an Excel document versus having it as a Google sheet. I don't know why.

[00:43:32] There's a little more.

[00:43:34] Jennifer Wilson: Interesting.

[00:43:34] Alissa Williams: I feel, I feel a little more comfortable with the Excel software and having it do different things for me than I do so with the Sheets.

[00:43:44] Jennifer Wilson: Are you using it as like an actual file that you email? Is it kept on a shared drive or are you using.

[00:43:51] Alissa Williams: I just use it for myself and so it's just on my computer then I can reference it.

[00:43:57] Jennifer Wilson: Interesting. Cause yeah, it's as I've gotten more and more into the Mac world here at home, but then at work there, Macs are not allowed basically. So I end up, if I am using something that has to be Excel, I end up using it in like using the browser version, even though I have Excel, but in terms of collaboration. Um, we ended up just using like the web version to make it easier. But in the end, that's why a lot of things end up being a Google Sheet instead.

[00:44:29] Alissa Williams: Interesting.

[00:44:30] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, one thing as I was, I was thinking about though, in terms of what we're doing with Trello and the things that I do with the entire Simple Scrapper team, um, Trello is only, you know, our, our, our paid staff and then our creative team gets their assignments inside of our community. So, it's almost that things are so dialed in everyone knows what they're doing because it's all at this point most of it is routine. Like this is what you do on a monthly or every other month basis.

[00:45:02] Um, so there's not a lot of like dynamic other than this time of year when maybe I'm I create a document where we're doing some planning for the new year and discussing some different issues. So I think that's one, I don't know, just like just one point that. I think can be relevant is what type of interaction do you need in your tool, or is it just making sure that everyone knows what they're doing?

[00:45:30] Alissa Williams: Yes, I think that's an important point. Whether you're collaborating with your spouse At home, you know, that might, like if, if we were sharing lists and stuff, I might be using a different system, but because we don't do that kind of digital collaboration, I can use paper tools that work for me. And just like at work, I'm not often collaborating more.

[00:45:52] I'm dictating, here's a pro, I'm assigning projects out. And then I just need to reference that I assign that project to someone, but we're not necessarily working on the project together, if that makes sense.

[00:46:03] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, yeah. And like, Steve and I do share a grocery app called AnyList, and it's been really helpful for making sure that whoever's going to the store knows what we need. Um, now sometimes I'll be in the, in process of creating like a pickup order and I start using that as my list and that can kind of get us into trouble.

[00:46:24] Um, but having a shared list has been really, really helpful. Because we not, I may not be in the kitchen when somebody uses the last thing of milk or whatever. Um, so he can just, we both add it to the app and, and sometimes Emily asks one of us to add something to our app and, uh, it, it helps to make sure we get what we need.

[00:46:44] Alissa Williams: That would be helpful. We're old school here. We have paper, paper list on the fridge.

[00:46:47] Jennifer Wilson: So. I mean, we're just now getting to kind of the, I don't know, the big dog here of what you are using on your desk every single week that you're looking at to write down, I need to go pick up the prescription. I have this meeting. Um, what does that look like for you? Because in our past conversations, you've always had very, you've chosen to have very separate home and work systems.

[00:47:15] Alissa Williams: I do still. Uh, and I was just going to say, I don't write down. I need to pick up the prescription. I put a reminder on my reminders app and say, pick up prescription 11:45 when you leave for lunch. So like.

[00:47:27] Jennifer Wilson: I would never do that. So that's so funny.

[00:47:29] Alissa Williams: Yeah, well, especially cause with the reminders app, you can do location base. Like when I get to home, remind me to do X, Y, Z.

[00:47:36] And when I, so I like that, uh, feature.

[00:47:41] Jennifer Wilson: Like, so it's, it knows where you are. So it's saying like, don't forget to get gas on your way to whatever.

[00:47:48] Alissa Williams: Mm hmm.

[00:47:48] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Interesting.

[00:47:50] Alissa Williams: So. At work, I'm using a bullet journal, and I create a week in it. I don't, I still don't love it. Uh, because what I'm finding challenging about it is, like, I want to remember to do something on, you know, later in October, and right now, I don't have a great way in the bullet journal to trigger that. I could put it on my calendar, but is that really the right place for it?

[00:48:13] So then I'm using my reminders app, which does work a little bit, but I don't know if I'm going to continue to use the bullet journal, but I found that I didn't quite need the heavy layout planner that I was using. I needed a place where I could take notes on meetings and have everything together more.

[00:48:33] And I didn't quite, since I use my Google calendar, I didn't quite need that planner days of the week. And since my task list is a little more, yes, I want to do certain things on certain days, but I could set it up differently. I don't know. I just wanted to try this bullet journal method and it has its pros and cons.

[00:48:52] So I'm not, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to use for work in 2025. I have looked at some different planners for work. I found one that was fed to me on Facebook. That's by a company, a small company called Colibri. And I think that's how you say it. C O L I B R I.

[00:49:14] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. I like that one.

[00:49:15] Alissa Williams: Yeah, and it, it had a layout that I thought would work for me.

[00:49:19] Um, so I might switch to that. I was using a Blue Sky Planner at work. But like I said, I just found it too, I didn't need the weekly layout. And it was too bulky isn't quite the right word, but it just wasn't working for what I was doing anymore, especially as I transitioned to some more digital tools at work. At home, I use my Get to Work book, and that is the big thing I need to replace in 2025.

[00:49:47] Jennifer Wilson: So do you have an idea of what you want to choose?

[00:49:50] Alissa Williams: Well, I have looked at a couple different things. I am most likely going to try the Erin Condren monthly. Because I don't need the weekly layout as much as I did in the past. And especially since I use my digital calendar, I don't necessarily need, there are some weeks when I need a weekly spread, and there are some weeks when I don't. Or I just need a list for the week, which you can do in the Erin Condren. I could keep my goals, I think I could do most of what I need to do for my personal stuff in an Erin Condren. So I probably am going to try that. I like having a monthly calendar to write it all out. So I can kind of see where my spaces are for my activities.

[00:50:44] So I like to do that at the beginning of the month is write everything, even though I have the digital calendar, the monthly view is not my favorite. I I'm really good with a week view, but the monthly view sometimes can get hard, especially more for like weekends and stuff. I like to know where I have free time on the weekends.

[00:51:02] So I like having a monthly calendar. But I also like how she has the pages in between each month where I could, you know, make the meal plan or make a page for each week if I wanted to. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna try that I think because I don't want to go, I thought about going full on bullet journal at home too, but I really want a monthly layout. Because there are certain seasons where I really need to see that month in a holistic way.

[00:51:34] Jennifer Wilson: Now on that monthly view in your paper planner, Is that where you would write down that you want a scrapbook tonight?

[00:51:43] Alissa Williams: No.

[00:51:44] Jennifer Wilson: Okay.

[00:51:45] Alissa Williams: But it would be where I would be able to identify pockets of scrapbooking. So, for example, I knew that my, we didn't have big plans in August, on the weekends. And I saw that on my monthly view. And so I knew I had like kind of from the end of July until Labor Day. And then once Labor Day hit, it was full steam ahead.

[00:52:09] But then I knew I had the last two weeks of September for some creative pursuits. So then I went to my creative hub and I wrote down each weekend and kind of mapped out what I wanted to accomplish each weekend, like what my plan was for the weekends. And that having that kind of list and knowing that I had this time before we entered the super busy season of September and October and then the holidays was really motivating.

[00:52:37] And even though like halfway through, I had either done work, worked ahead so much or done the stuff. Uh, that my list sort of didn't make sense anymore. Uh, it just knowing I had this space to use. Maybe use it. And you get into that like excitement and that creativity and you know more scrapbooking creates more scrapbooking I guess like.

[00:53:04] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, for certain, it does. Well, I can, I can say that having, I've used the monthly Erin Condren in the past, and actually, of all the Erin Condrens I had purchased. Which I don't even know how many it is, but it's, embarrassing, an embarrassing number. But that is the structure that I actually used for almost a whole year. Um, that I really enjoyed just the, the freedom of it.

[00:53:28] And it was what I needed for that particular time in my life. And I don't think I've really found anything else that is so generous with the, the pages in between. You know, there are probably some where you could specifically add them, but if, are they going to be in the right spot? I don't know. Um, So yeah, I think that's, I think that's a really solid choice for you.

[00:53:51] Alissa Williams: And maybe I'll use it for work too. Maybe that would like maybe I'll get one for work that actually now that I think about it since it's got the note pages that might, that might actually. Because I also.

[00:54:03] Jennifer Wilson: You'd never want to have one that you brought back and forth.

[00:54:06] Alissa Williams: No, no, because I want to leave my work at work. I mean, it's a little hard because of the position I hold. But I don't want to see, I see it on my calendar because my calendar is integrated. But I don't want to see all those notes about certain things for work when I'm at home. I just never really have. So I've usually had a, I tried at the very beginning to have one when I took this job back in 2015. But I just, and now there's just too much going on. Like between the girl's commitments and my commitments. It's just, the calendar pages would get really heavy. So I just prefer to keep them separate. And I don't, I don't like to drag stuff back and forth. I just don't. My, I mean.

[00:54:56] Jennifer Wilson: Get that.

[00:54:57] Alissa Williams: My work stuff stays at work. Now, if I go to a conference or something, I'm going to take it with me. Uh, but my home stuff basically stays at home. I don't, because my calendar is digital, that has freed up a lot of that kind of stuff. And if I need to put something in my planner or a reminder to, to do something, I just set a reminder for 5:30. And then I add it to my, like yesterday I was at lunchtime.

[00:55:23] I was reading an article about, um, what shows to watch if you liked the West Wing. Cause I was, once I realized that whole Madam Secretary, I was like, there's gotta be more shows like this. And so then I was like, Oh, I want to remember to add this to my, I want to add House of Cards to my watch list. And so I just.

[00:55:42] Put a reminder for 530 in my phone. And then when that dinged up later that evening, I, you know, turned on the TV, even though I wasn't going to watch TV. And added it to my watch queue.

[00:55:54] Jennifer Wilson: So the reminders help create that bridge between work and home.

[00:55:58] Alissa Williams: Yes.

[00:55:59] Jennifer Wilson: That's an interesting way to handle it in terms of I'm not, I can't handle this now, so I'm going to give myself a ping later where I can handle it and then to do it in the moment.

[00:56:10] Alissa Williams: Cause I would write myself notes, like sticky notes, but then I'd lose them in my purse or I'd forget to pull them out. But my phone's going to, if I tell my phone to ding me at 630, it's going to ding me.

[00:56:19] Jennifer Wilson: Which is what I would do. Yeah.

[00:56:22] Alissa Williams: But at the end of the day, I have to clear out those reminders because I hate having, I hate.

[00:56:27] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, overdue.

[00:56:28] Alissa Williams: Yes, I hate having the, like the two in the corner of the app, like it drives me nuts.

[00:56:34] Jennifer Wilson: I think in Steve's Outlook he has reminders that are like 987 days old or something. It drives me nuts when I have to sit down at his computer.

[00:56:44] Alissa Williams: I could not deal with that, Steve. You gotta clean it up, buddy.

[00:56:47] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. No, this is really interesting and I'm not ready to think about having more kind of work life separation. Because I just don't really. Uh, maybe.

[00:56:58] Alissa Williams: You're in a different role. I know you do your work for your university, but you're at home, so you know you're working from home.

[00:57:09] Jennifer Wilson: I think the challenge comes is that I don't want to come back to my office to do leisure things because it's my office.

[00:57:16] Alissa Williams: Sure.

[00:57:18] Jennifer Wilson: So, and, and there's probably no good solution. You know, there is a, there is a boundary between kind of upstairs and downstairs. Even though I actually, you know, the bedroom is up here.

[00:57:29] When I'm upstairs, I'm often in my office. And when I'm downstairs in the living room, it's, you know, it's leisure family time. Um, so yeah, it's just something kind of back of mind that. Was jogged as you were, you were talking.

[00:57:44] Alissa Williams: That's fair.

[00:57:44] Jennifer Wilson: So I am excited that I have a package that has been shipped, uh, for a planner that I only just discovered. But I have my, all of my fingers and toes are crossed that this is going to be like the thing. Um, for a few weeks, I have been looking for a planner that was vertical weekly, but the vertical part is only on top.

[00:58:11] And I had previously only seen this in like a May Designs book. And it's super simple. There are, you know, six lines to divide the seven days at the top of the page. Uh, it is on just plain white paper, non grid, and then the bottom is like a small grid. And I used that actually for a very long time. And it was really effective for me. But as I have used more and more dot grid notebooks, I don't like writing on unlined paper anymore. Because I just can't write straight. So I really appreciate having lines. It helps me when I'm using my highlighters, like it just makes everything a little bit more cleaner and organized. And so I found this planner company called Mossery and they're out of Malaysia.

[00:58:58] Uh, and I, I looked on YouTube and there were a bunch of reviews and often reviews like, you know, Mossery versus Hobinichi versus Take A Note. And, um, so it's not like this is just a completely, you know, off the grid brand. But they have, um, A5 planners in both horizontal and vertical and their vertical has weekly on top, in a dot grid, and then the bottom is open for lists. And I'm like, oh, this is how I've been doing, really, for the past year plus. I've been using various sizes of dot grid notebooks to draw that out for myself. And I don't, I don't hate the process of drawing it out, but sometimes it'd be like, I just, why can't I just have some structure to start with?

[00:59:49] Because I do like the other parts of the planner, I would say that's the one thing that I've been missing. While I am willing to draw out a week and, you know, have fun with the sticker part. I don't really want to do it for other parts parts. I don't want to do like a yearly grid or a habit tracker or all the other bullet journaling things that people love to do.

[01:00:11] I just don't have that kind of patience, um, beyond just drawing a few lines for a week. So I'm, I am super optimistic, um, on this. And hopefully my order will be here sometime in the next week and I'll be able to report back in the future. Um, it is a, I was able to order, uh, what they call an insert. So you can order it with a cover, and it's more like a kind of a hardback book cover. Uh, and they have all these beautiful designs from a number of different artists. But I have an A5 Hobonichi cover from a previous year, and so I'm, I have every expectation that this will fit in it just fine, and so I am planning to use that cover, um, going forward. So.

[01:00:58] Alissa Williams: Very exciting.

[01:01:00] Jennifer Wilson: I feel good about it. You know, my, my dot grid notebooks have served me well. I will continue to like use them up and I have used up the majority of everything that I've been using. Um, but yeah, I, I feel, I feel good about it.

[01:01:16] Alissa Williams: I can't wait to see how this works out for you. I'm very intrigued.

[01:01:21] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. My one decision though, is am I going to continue my sticker subscription? Because, um, I was looking at a number of completely undated planners, like from Aura Estelle and Sterling Ink that would better support lots of like adding the dates and days of the week with stickers. But, I honestly did not want to use Tomoe River paper for my everyday planner.

[01:01:51] Like, I'm going to be fine with it for my, my journaling Hobonichi for what's happening. But in terms of using that paper with lots of highlighters and dot markers and pens, it ends up being just a little too smeary for me and it ends up messy. Like. Yes, I know there's some that work better than others, but I want it to dry instantaneously.

[01:02:19] So this has like bright white, you know, heavier weight paper, um, so that actually ended up being the deciding factor. It was the type of paper.

[01:02:31] Alissa Williams: I would think you would need your stickers subscription. Because the planner will come with the days of the weeks on it. And like, I mean, I guess you could add some flourishes and flowers and stuff. But like, I wouldn't think you would need that with the structure you're going to have, but maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. Cause what are you going to do with all those days of the week stickers?

[01:02:52] Jennifer Wilson: I don't know, like I could probably put them, yeah, I don't have a good answer. It's probably time. And I have plenty of washi tape that I could use to still maybe add some decoration. Not to mention just, you know, overflow stickers from so many months. Um, but that is kind of a current decision that I've, that I need to make very soon here. I guess I kind of want to see like I want the planner to arrive and I want to touch it and use it and make sure like I feel 110 percent on this before I go ahead and cancel the stickers.

[01:03:27] Alissa Williams: Okay, that's, that's fair. And you can do that before the end of the year. I, I support this choice.

[01:03:33] Jennifer Wilson: Thank you. All right, wrapping up here. Uh, you've already talked a little bit about your creative hub, but can you share, you know, last time we talked about this, you were almost done with one book. Have you purchased a new one yet?

[01:03:50] Alissa Williams: So I actually was last night, I was counting how many pages are left in my creative hub, which is a Leuchtturm Bujo style notebook that I have used since 2019. And I, cause we're getting ready to go into the last quarter of the year. And I was like, Ooh, am I going to be able to make it? And I'm pretty confident I will.

[01:04:13] Uh, so, I will be buying a new, I will start a new one for 2025. And I was just thinking like, am I going to order the same color? Am I going to have a different color? Uh, what am I going to migrate over to the new one? Like I have certain lists in there that I kind of refer back to, or am I going to have that in volume one and then just move forward in volume two, but I love my creative hub.

[01:04:39] I love that it's, um, you know, a bullet journal, bullet journal style. And I can index it and I love that I can just do the next list or the next notes that I need, um, on the next page. It's just been really helpful the last several years to keep track of my projects. Like now when I go to crops, a weekend away, I plan out what I want to do and I have a sense now of how many layouts I can make on a weekend crop. Because I've kept lists of what I wanted to do and then at the end, I I like data and statistics. So I'm like, okay, I made 14 layouts and one mini book. So that's been super helpful. I just, again, I am really at heart, a paper person. Which is why my personal planning is still a combination of a paper planner and my digital calendar. Especially for my scrapbook stuff. I I just love my, I know a lot of people use Trello, but I just love having it as a Bullet journal. And just being able to do the next thing in it and take notes in it and just have everything in one place.

[01:05:43] Jennifer Wilson: I love that, and I love, like, I don't, I don't say this in a negative way at all, I love how disorganized it is.

[01:05:51] Alissa Williams: Yes.

[01:05:53] Jennifer Wilson: I think that makes it something that's very usable, approachable, it reduces that fear of adding something to it. Because I think sometimes, as I mentioned earlier, like, when we become too precious with a planner, we hesitate to add things and to use it in a functional way. And so I love how you've been able to use it up. And if something becomes outdated, I think I've seen you cross all section off, right? Um, you have, if, if you rewrite it in a, you know, here's the updated version. Um, I, yeah, I just love that it's been so practical for you.

[01:06:26] Alissa Williams: Well, and it's it's not precious. And yes, it is disorganized in a way. But the, the big things that I want to track, I, I write those page numbers in the index. So I can find, like, I have a list of, I finally had to make a list of what have I done for December documenting for the last, you know, 20 years. And so I can tell you and look at what I've done for each year.

[01:06:48] And so I have that list in there. Now, am I going to migrate that list over to my next one? I I'm thinking at this point, maybe not. Uh, but it'll be interesting to see how it evolves. And also it's evolved over time. Because I've set it up, I originally set it up kind of with your recommendations, for your, that you had in the class.

[01:07:06] And, and then I used it in different ways. And, uh, I like, I just like it. I like having the, I like to make lists and it is the perfect tool for that. And then I love taking notes when I watch, uh, a class video, or if I'm on something as a member of the Live Your Story group, or if I'm in a, you know, a Simple Scrapper training, you know, I, I have my notes from different planning parties through the years.

[01:07:34] Uh, In fact, I'm thinking about even this year for the planning party, not even printing your worksheets. Cause that's the one thing I can't quite put in there. I'll transfer my final product in it, but my, my working notes, I might just do all on my creative hub if I have the pages left. Um, but yeah, it's been such a useful tool.

[01:07:52] Jennifer Wilson: I think you need to buy the same color so that on the shelf, like it's like volume one, two, three, et cetera.

[01:07:58] Alissa Williams: I, I am leaning that way. Yes.

[01:08:02] Jennifer Wilson: So in contrast, my approach has been very digital. My creative hub was originally developed in Trello. And at this point, what I have in Trello is mostly, uh, image repositories. Primarily for December Daily. I have like one really big board with like all the inspiration I've saved over multiple years for different types of December Daily pages.

[01:08:26] And then I have a separate board that I created for last year. Um, with like here's like my page plans and paired with inspiration so like story plus inspiration together. And then here are my final pages. And so I've used it as like tracking. And I would say that's the one thing that I feel like Trello does much better is, handling of images and images as the main feature of the individual card.

[01:08:59] Alissa Williams: Yes.

[01:09:00] Jennifer Wilson: And so that's been like one kind of thing that's kept me on Trello. And so as of right now, it's not hurting anything. Um, I have moved my lists over to ClickUp in terms of albums and pages. And I'm trying to, as we've talked on the podcast about trying to do a full page inventory.

[01:09:18] And I do like how ClickUp has more spreadsheet like features. Um, so I'm, I'm in a little bit of a, a middle place right now. And I know towards the end of the year, I'm going to want to clean it up a bit. I, basically I need to, um, shoot or get off the pot here, I guess. In terms of, uh, ClickUp, because I am paying for both ClickUp and Trello. And I kind of don't want to be paying for both of them. And so I really need to make some decisions and move everything into one place. Um, and I, and moving things back to Trello is actually not off the table because of those image features.

[01:10:03] So. Trello plus, it's basically Trello plus lots of Google Sheets or ClickUp. Um, that's kind of ends up being the, the difference between them. Because Trello doesn't do you know, sortable lists nearly as well. But, and, and even more so since our conversation today, I am very curious about what I can include in the new Mossery Planner.

[01:10:28] And, in terms of creating better systems and following the systems that we've created in Simple Scrapper to give myself those reminders on a, on a routine basis, whether it's weekly, monthly, every other month. Um, to make sure that I'm making progress towards my goals. I still see a digital tool as primarily like storage of ideas and lists.

[01:10:55] I don't see myself having a bullet journal style like you do. That kind of hurts my brain a little bit. Um, but in terms of like setting small, uh, short term goals, um, and knowing what's up next, I can see using the paper planner for that.

[01:11:11] Alissa Williams: It's just so interesting how our different brains work and what is useful to one is not useful to the other. And that's what I hope people, you know, take away from this conversation is there's not one right tool. There's not one right way to do your planning. Uh, but you can adapt hopefully what we've talked about here to maybe how it might apply and help you in your own life.

[01:11:36] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, for sure. Like, I'm not going to go start adding reminders to my phone. I'm sorry.

[01:11:41] Alissa Williams: I'm disappointed in you, Jennifer. I think you'll find it life changing.

[01:11:46] Jennifer Wilson: But I am curious to think, um, more, a systems perspective about how can I head more that direction, um, in different areas of my life?

[01:12:02] Alissa Williams: Anytime you want to talk about systems. I'm, I'm here. I'm here for that. And you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to be putting a reminder in my phone to remind you to do your monthly planning. Because that's how we keep people accountable.

[01:12:15]

[01:12:15] Jennifer Wilson: It is. It is. Yes. And, uh, I love all the different ways and I love not only, you know, we're just one small example of accountability partners that have come out of the Simple Scrapper community. And I love how so many of our members are supporting one another. On a day to day, within a day basis to move towards their goals and everyday objectives.

[01:12:38] Alissa Williams: So, on Gretchen Rubin's podcast. This is a shout out for Kim. Uh, she always refers to herself as a happiness bully. And I think of myself as the accountability bully. Because, you know, I recently, um, as we were getting ready for the, the in person crop, I had a, another friend of mine from the community reach out.

[01:13:01] And say, Oh, I need to order these prints from Persnickety. And I'm like, Oh, so do I. And so we kept each other accountable, but like, like literally I was texting her like every day, did you place the order yet? Have you decided the pictures you're using? And I'm like, probably not happy that she asked me to keep her accountable. Because, um.

[01:13:20] Jennifer Wilson: You will do it.

[01:13:20] Alissa Williams: Was a little, I was a little mean, I don't know if I was mean, but I, I'm a little, I'm a little persistent when you asked me to keep accountable. So, I don't know. So if you, so if any Simple Scrapper needs some real hardcore accountability on moving a project forward, just let me know. Send me a message and I'll, uh, I'll be sure to, uh, bully you into getting that finished.

[01:13:44] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I'm sure there's some that that promise will appeal to. So I appreciate that you're there.

[01:13:49] Alissa Williams: Yeah, well, I, yeah, just call me the accountability bully. Like Gretchen Rubin is the happiness bully. I'll be the accountability bully.

[01:13:55] Jennifer Wilson: All right. Any final thoughts on your, uh, your planning tools for 2025?

[01:14:04] Alissa Williams: Well the one thing we did not mention in this discussion, probably because of the way we went through our stack systematically. Is that I'm really in a different season. And one of the reasons that I feel compelled to move to an Erin Condren is that I don't need the weekly layout as much as I used to. To keep track of everything.

[01:14:28] And, you know, our needs change as we go into different seasons. And I'm really recognizing, um, this different season where, you know, my older daughter is kind of managing her own schedule in a way that I don't have to keep track of things anymore for her. And we have a much different, um, rhythm and routines in our family life.

[01:14:53] And so in a way there seems to be like for volleyball season, for example, games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Like, that's just when they are. And whereas when we were playing in our private school, they were a little more spread out and they weren't as consistent as they seem to be at the high school level. And so in a way that makes it that I don't have to track as much. Because I know if it's Tuesday, I'm going to a volleyball game. And just like you said, how do you even know it's Thursday? Well, on Thursdays I go to Rotary every week. Currently president of my Rotary club. So there are certain things that I have these external triggers for in a way and routines in my life and my schedule. So I don't need as robust of a planner as I may have used to need. And plus, as the years have gone by, I have different, you know, I've, I've fine tuned my process enough that I don't need so many external reminders to do things. Because I just know it's the end of the month. And so I'm going to do monthly planning.

[01:15:58] Jennifer Wilson: Sure, sure. No, I don't think I think that is so. Such a huge aspect to understand. You know, last night you mentioned that you need to kind of better optimize your Monday evenings. And I'm like, how are your Monday evenings so consistent? I don't feel like any Monday is the same as the last. Um, and that's just my particular season of life.

[01:16:18] Alissa Williams: Right. And, well, and you mentioned even in terms of, deciding on what planning tools you want to use, you're looking at size because you're out of the house more. You're waiting, you know, you're driving to different locations and then having to wait there while you support, you know, Emily's volleyball career.

[01:16:35] So, um, You know, you have different needs in this season too. You're looking more at size and weight, whereas I'm looking at, you know, not needing such, you know, I don't need daily pages anymore. My, my schedule's not so busy every day that I need a daily page. Now there was certainly a season where I used Simplified Planner by Emily Ley with a daily layout and that saved my life that season.

[01:16:57] But, you know, I'm, I'm not, my Monday nights right now are pretty consistent. You know, we, I pick her up from volleyball practice at five o'clock. We come home and have dinner and my husband goes and shoots a pool in his league and my girls do their homework. And, you know, I just have this space that I haven't had before.

[01:17:15] And for probably the next couple of months, that's what Monday nights are going to be like. So I, I don't want to just, I'm saying waste with air quotes, but I seem to have enough energy on Monday nights to do, to move something forward and to, and, and to do something on my own. And I don't want to just, not think about that. I want to be conscious of that and use that time well.

[01:17:43] Jennifer Wilson: Well, and, you know, we've had the conversation, um, about effortful versus effortless before. And I think that, that evolution of every week. We, we have more of that on, uh, say Monday through Wednesday for the effortful type things. Than we do like Thursday evening through Saturday evening.

[01:18:03] Alissa Williams: Right. I you know, it's just interesting.

[01:18:07] Jennifer Wilson: It is. It is. And I think that's, that's why these conversations are so valuable is because we're all different. And we also are all, always changing. Our circumstances change or life situations change. And so what works for you in one season may not work in the next. And, if you love a planner, then what better reason to go look for a new planner than, I have new needs. So and fortunately there's so many options out there to hopefully help you find one that works.

[01:18:32] Alissa Williams: I hope that this Erin Condren works for me, too. And I'm now as we've been talking like maybe I need to just jump in and buy one for work, too. But I don't know I can't I gotta decide about that.

[01:18:44] Jennifer Wilson: I can't wait to find out. And I, yeah, similarly, I hope the Mossery is the, the holy grail planner that I think it will be. All right, Alissa, this has been wonderful. Can you share where our listeners can find you online?

[01:18:57] Alissa Williams: Well, they can find me inside the Simple Scrapper community. I usually chime in on the Friday Post and the Monday Joy post. Uh, but also I am on Instagram. I don't really post a lot of my scrapbooking stuff there since I'm mostly copying Shimelle's Best of Both Worlds layouts. But you can follow me at Alissa Recommends.

[01:19:17] I post book recommendations and stuff about our family, but it is private account so you will have to request that.

[01:19:24] Jennifer Wilson: All right, sounds good. Thank you again for spending time with me and to all of our listeners. Remember that you have permission to scrapbook and of course plan your way.