At the beginning of the year, whether we like to call them “resolutions” or not, people like to take advantage of a new calendar as a way to get their lives in order. There can be so many ideas about what you’d like to change, who you’d like to become, and which thing is the most important. I’m spending today organizing all those thoughts in to lists, and finding the best way to track my progress. I am a bit old school, in that I really enjoy actually writing my lists with pens on to paper. I know that there’s probably an app for everything that I’d scribble down, but old-fashioned or not I love the feeling I get from making an actual check mark in a box.

Here are a few (albiet archaic) tools to help you organize your life!

I imagine that along with about 80% of the American population you are looking to increase your exercise efforts. I have this journal, and what I enjoy most about it is it’s motivating pictures and quotations that come along with the easy-to-use record keeping pages. Eating clean is the way to go! Really, I love anything written by Tosca Reno. It’s just good, basic health!

If you’re looking to keep a handle on your day-to-day schedule this journal is a great way to organize your time. I used it for several years as a student at the University of Oregon, and since graduation have continued to enjoy how functional it is for my life. It has everything that I need, and the price can’t be beat. You can choose August to August, or January to January. The colors are really cute and bright, but I sometimes even cover them up with some motivating pictures just to personalize it even more. Maybe someday I’ll prefer a more grown-up/leather-bound format, but it really gets the job done!

I think that within your stack of journals, it is important to have a notebook that is just for writing down whatever comes to mind. Something that is a little more intimate and allows you to just free write. Everyone has ideas, dreams, thoughts, goals, jokes, heartbreaks, and lives that are worth being captured and remembered in written form. Think of this last suggestion as getting back to your roots of writing a diary, and expressing whatever in the heck you need to. There are so so many to choose from, but I think this one is pretty adorable.

And if one of your goals for this year is to be as eco-friendly as possible, this spiral-bound one is great in green!

Feel free to let me know what you decided to start writing down! I’d love to hear how you’re doing.

<3 R