I was setting up my weekly spread for 4 years before a friend pointed out my big mistake

I always drew out my weekly boxes on Sunday night, but I'd cram everything into tiny spaces and get stressed by Wednesday. My friend saw my journal last month and said, "You know you can just use two pages for one week, right?" It sounds so simple, but I'd been stuck on the idea of one week per spread since I started in 2020. I tried her way for a month, giving myself way more room for each day, and it totally changed how I plan. Has anyone else had a basic rule they followed for way too long?

3 comments

3 Comments

jenny4724d agoTop Commenter

That "stuck on the idea" thing is so common. We get a picture in our head of how something should work and just never question it. It happens with everything from planners to how we load the dishwasher.

jenny4724d agoTop Commenter

Honestly, I'm the queen of that. I used to fold towels in this super specific, complicated way because I thought it was the "right" way. My friend saw me once and just asked why I was wrestling with a bath towel. Took me a minute to realize I was just doing extra work for a fold that looked the same as the simple one in the end. I mean, I had a whole system and everything. Felt pretty dumb when I said it out loud.

sandra_bennett5924d ago

Totally agree, it's like your brain puts up a roadblock. What finally helped me was asking someone to watch me do the thing, like loading that dishwasher. My husband pointed out I was making extra steps for no reason. Seeing it through another person's eyes broke that mental picture. Now I try to explain my "method" out loud every so often, and it sounds so silly that I catch myself.