1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,360
Welcome to the Planner Pals 
Podcast, a podcast hosted by two

2
00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:05,560
true planner pals. 
My name is Mark and I go by Mark

3
00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:08,039
Your pages. 
And I'm Jess or Jessica in and 

4
00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,000
I'm very excited to get into 
this episode because creativity 

5
00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,480
and planning is something that 
has always been part of my 

6
00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:14,960
planning system. 
Exactly. 

7
00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,160
It's a match made in heaven, a 
perfect pairing. 

8
00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:19,760
So today we're going to be 
exploring like our creative 

9
00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,560
journey, what it means to be 
creative through your planning 

10
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,560
and everything that kind of goes
around that. 

11
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,200
I mean, everything that we can 
fit into a nicely packaged 

12
00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:28,960
episode that isn't 17 hours 
long. 

13
00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,840
But before we get into that, 
thank you so much for giving us 

14
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,320
your ideas about where you get 
inspiration from our last 

15
00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,000
episode. 
It was really nice to hear about

16
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,240
the creators that you're 
following, the different spaces 

17
00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,120
and sources that you use, the 
ones that were the same as ours 

18
00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:42,600
and the ones that were a little 
bit different. 

19
00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:45,040
Yeah, the comments section 
definitely came through on this 

20
00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:46,240
one. 
I wrote down so many new 

21
00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,000
creators that I can't wait to 
check out. 

22
00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,120
We were talking about having 
other planners outside of bullet

23
00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,320
journaling and how they're 
planning and what they're doing.

24
00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,280
So I've got my list. 
I'm excited for my research as 

25
00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,080
we get into this week and 
specifically this topic because 

26
00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,640
I feel like there's a stigma 
around creative planning. 

27
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:04,959
I don't know how it looks in 
other communities. 

28
00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,040
I guess I'll speak directly from
like the bullet journal 

29
00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,600
community where the thought is, 
is that if you are creative 

30
00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:11,440
planning, you are not bullet 
journaling. 

31
00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,000
We've all been in those 
arguments on the online spaces 

32
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,800
where people are like, you took 
too many colors on that page, 

33
00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:19,400
therefore you're not a bullet 
journaler. 

34
00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,400
And then having to somehow and 
some reason, I don't know why, I

35
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,160
feel as if we have to defend 
ourselves for how we like to 

36
00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,480
keep our planners. 
But today we're really going to 

37
00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,040
focus in on, well, what is 
creative planning and does it 

38
00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,720
have to strictly just be artsy 
or can you find ways to bring 

39
00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:37,080
creative planning into a 
functional space as well? 

40
00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,960
Yeah, I think that that's a very
big point about it, right? 

41
00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:43,000
Because creative planning 
doesn't necessarily just have to

42
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,640
be decorating a page. 
There are other ways to be 

43
00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,520
creative. 
Like if the bar for creativity 

44
00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,320
is just decorating your page, 
then it's like, oh, sorry 

45
00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,680
authors, sorry people who write 
prose, sorry anybody who likes 

46
00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:56,000
to sculpt. 
Yeah, it's actually not 

47
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,480
creativity. 
Creativity is just putting 

48
00:01:58,480 --> 00:01:59,880
pretty stickers into your 
notebook. 

49
00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,440
It blows my mind because 
especially as someone who is for

50
00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,080
the most part been on the more 
minimalist side of this creative

51
00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,520
bullet journaling space, because
I have come to disown that I am 

52
00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,880
a creative bullet journaler. 
But you don't have to be this 

53
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,560
maximalist creative planner to 
make that happen. 

54
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,000
Just using different types of 
stickers or stamps or even using

55
00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,960
washi tapes, but not kind of 
going overboard with it still 

56
00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,160
does make you a creative 
planner, but it doesn't mean 

57
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:27,880
that you can't be functional as 
well. 

58
00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,720
That's a really big thing that I
know for me personally that I've

59
00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,440
focused on when I first started 
my bullet journal and even now I

60
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,680
always focus on that 
functionality first. 

61
00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,600
Last episode I was mentioning 
that when I haven't followed 

62
00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,880
that path and went like kind of 
too far on the pendulum and to 

63
00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,840
create, then I realize that I 
don't actually have enough space

64
00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:49,880
for the things I need to do. 
So for me personally, I think 

65
00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,520
one of the biggest things that I
like to play around with is the 

66
00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,480
general layouts of my pages. 
That to me is the most fun. 

67
00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:59,760
It's one of the reasons I also 
think that bullet journaling 

68
00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,840
works so well for me is there's 
a lot of creativity and 

69
00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,200
flexibility and where I put 
things on the page, the grids 

70
00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,840
that I use, and then also 
thinking about some of the 

71
00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:10,920
creative elements that I want to
put into it. 

72
00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:13,760
But but really the layout is 
kind of the structure, the the 

73
00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,760
ground work of a bullet journal 
page, right? 

74
00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,600
You have to have a little bit of
structure to it. 

75
00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,320
And I think that you could very 
much be creative and how you 

76
00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,480
even lay things out on your page
before you even put down ink 

77
00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,360
onto your page or anything. 
Just pencil and paper and you 

78
00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,560
can have a lot of fun. 
Because creativity so often gets

79
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,240
kind of like used in substitute 
of decoration, it means that a 

80
00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,040
lot of us, I feel are kind of 
like just rolling off any other 

81
00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,000
form of creativity that can be 
in there. 

82
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:42,680
Because like you said, the 
structure, the layout, like you 

83
00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,680
know, where you're placing your 
boxes, boxes you're using, all 

84
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:47,640
of that kind of stuff is also 
creativity. 

85
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,200
It's like if I try and design A 
weekly log that's going to suit 

86
00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,080
my needs and suit my lifestyle 
and whatnot, The sections that I

87
00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,880
include in there, I'm having to 
do some creative thinking about 

88
00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,120
like, well, what do I need to 
plan for? 

89
00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:00,960
And how can I realize that in my
journal? 

90
00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:02,800
Like do I need a weather 
tracker? 

91
00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,480
No, I don't leave the house. 
Do I need a water tracker? 

92
00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,520
Probably should include one. 
Do need to hydrate. 

93
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,040
But the things that I need in 
there and the ways that I'm kind

94
00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,920
of like problem solving those, 
the creativity I'm bringing to 

95
00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,440
that problem solving is going to
be different compared to other 

96
00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:17,720
people's. 
What other types of creativity 

97
00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,760
have you seen in the Planisphere
that aren't specifically 

98
00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,280
decorating the planner? 
So one of the big things I 

99
00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:27,120
talked about some of my favorite
inspirational creators last week

100
00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:32,000
is just using black pens, 
markers on a page. 

101
00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,000
And I think most people always 
think creativity equals color, 

102
00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,760
but I think it doesn't have to. 
And I really appreciate just the

103
00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:42,960
monochromatic look of just white
paper and a black pen. 

104
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,080
And I think that you can do a 
lot there. 

105
00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:47,440
Something I've learned a lot 
from the community that I like 

106
00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,280
to replicate a lot has to do 
with like utilizing patterns and

107
00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:51,880
shapes. 
I talked last week about really 

108
00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,120
loving hexagons. 
I don't know what it is about 

109
00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:56,560
that shape, just that just like 
makes me very excited. 

110
00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,680
It's like not as boring as a 
square or a circle, but it's 

111
00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,040
also like not some like crazy 
wild thing and it fits nicely 

112
00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,000
onto a page. 
It's very nice. 

113
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,640
I like it a lot. 
So seeing other people utilize 

114
00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,240
shapes and patterns also is a 
way to express that. 

115
00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,160
And it doesn't have to be a lot.
You can put like a small hexagon

116
00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:18,000
and fill that with some line 
patterns and suddenly you've got

117
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,080
a little bit of visual interest 
on your page versus just, you 

118
00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:22,520
know, you writing in your 
handwriting. 

119
00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:24,640
Yeah, for sure. 
And I think about it in terms of

120
00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,240
like with the hexagons in 
particular, I love a hexagon. 

121
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,520
It's very what tessellatable 
shape. 

122
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,040
You don't need any other shapes 
and can tessellate by itself. 

123
00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:35,080
Go go hexagons. 
So hard to draw though. 

124
00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,120
I need a stencil anytime I try 
to draw one because otherwise it

125
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:42,240
ends up like a squashed gemstone
diamond looking shape and it's 

126
00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,160
just not quite the vibe. 100%. 
Yeah, and I think also the fact 

127
00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,080
that having been a chemistry 
teacher and such, you know, 

128
00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:50,680
there's a lot of hexagons in 
that too. 

129
00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,480
So very much a love when you put
over the what? 

130
00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:55,840
The little picture of the Redken
bottle with the little 

131
00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:57,560
molecules. 
I'm just like so cute. 

132
00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,480
Look a little molecules, 
completely understand why you 

133
00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,280
use that as a design element. 
But thinking about hexagons in 

134
00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:05,680
particular, I know that one of 
the things that I've used in my 

135
00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,360
journal previously has been a 
hexagonal tracker. 

136
00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,040
So it's effectively just taking 
your regular, like vertical 

137
00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,080
column, one where each of the 
rows is a day of the week and 

138
00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,520
each of the columns is a habit, 
and then turning it into a 

139
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:18,560
different shape. 
It's like the function is still 

140
00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:20,680
exactly the same. 
It's literally color in a little

141
00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,640
box every time you did something
for each day of the month, but 

142
00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:26,280
the shape of it is different. 
And that is a form of 

143
00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:28,480
creativity. 
It's like still the same thing, 

144
00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:31,600
just looks a little bit special.
And last episode we did talk a 

145
00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,240
lot about problem solving in our
bullet journal or our planners 

146
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:40,440
as being a way to think about 
your creativity or like how 

147
00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:42,520
you're inspiring yourself to do 
more. 

148
00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,920
There was a creator years ago, 
and I forget his name because he

149
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,040
hasn't posted in a long time, 
but he had something called a 

150
00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,040
Hexadex. 
And if you're watching on 

151
00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,280
YouTube, I'll pop this up on the
screen so you can see it. 

152
00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:55,920
But essentially it took two 
hexagons and stacked them on top

153
00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,400
of each other, actually looked 
very similar to like that old 

154
00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,640
Stussy symbol from that you 
might have drawn back in the 

155
00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,400
day. 
But the way that you utilize 

156
00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,880
that and the way he utilized 
that was for time tracking 

157
00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,240
throughout the day. 
And so you would kind of use 

158
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,160
each one of those points as 
hours throughout the day and 

159
00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:11,920
then fill them in with shapes 
and colors. 

160
00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:14,880
I adopted that. 
I've kind of morphed it a little

161
00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,480
bit into something a little bit 
different for myself, but still 

162
00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,040
very much love to reference the 
Hexadex because from a 

163
00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,000
functionality standpoint, it 
works really nicely. 

164
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,480
It does take a hot 2nd to fill 
up and and create because you do

165
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,160
have to kind of create those 
shapes consistently depending 

166
00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:31,800
how you use it. 
And I really, really love the 

167
00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,200
way that it looked. 
And something that I also used 

168
00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,600
to add into that too is just 
other elements to kind of build 

169
00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:39,480
off of that. 
So I would create different 

170
00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,320
patterns in there as I was time 
blocking. 

171
00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:44,240
So instead of just doing colors,
I would also do shapes or 

172
00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,160
patterns. 
And he did a similar thing too. 

173
00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,440
And then I went even further 
with it for a while. 

174
00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,400
I was like big on water coloring
inside of my bullet journal. 

175
00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,640
And so I would do like these 
watercolor drop shadows around 

176
00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,160
the hexadexes. 
And it just looked really, 

177
00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,880
really cool to me. 
It was still functional, still 

178
00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:03,440
functional for time tracking and
time blocking, but like adding 

179
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,200
the extra elements to it though,
made it really just look 

180
00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:07,760
beautiful. 
I have some amazing collection 

181
00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,520
pages that I just, I will flip 
back through my bullet journal 

182
00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,680
and be like, remember when Mark,
you were so much more creative 

183
00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,520
and you were just in this 
exploration phase of your bullet

184
00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:18,320
journal and like you need to get
back there. 

185
00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,760
But there's a lot of really cool
things you can do to add on to a

186
00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:25,400
functional piece utilizing those
shapes or even different types 

187
00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:27,520
of graphs too. 
Like you said, a sleep tracker. 

188
00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,120
That's one thing I love is like 
infographic type. 

189
00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:33,039
So you use a bar graph or a pie 
chart or whatever you kind of 

190
00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:36,360
need and just explore with it. 
There's so many options to take 

191
00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:38,919
basic information and make it 
look really cool. 

192
00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:41,679
Yeah, I like your point about, 
you know, looking back on our 

193
00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,159
previous journals and I'm like, 
I used to be so creative and 

194
00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:45,640
such. 
And I was thinking about this 

195
00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,880
mindset that I've now found 
myself in in the late up to this

196
00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:50,800
episode. 
And I'm just like, Jess, you 

197
00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,000
bloody hypocrite. 
Like you're out here preaching 

198
00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,560
the good word that creativity 
doesn't have to be decorative. 

199
00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,680
And then you're looking back at 
your old journals being like, I 

200
00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,640
used to be so decorative. 
I used to doodle in my journal. 

201
00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,960
I used to not use stickers. 
And now I'm a cheap sellout and 

202
00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,200
all I do is use tapes and 
stickers and all of this. 

203
00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,360
And I'm just like, I'm sorry, 
what? 

204
00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,040
It's like anytime we have that 
mindset of like, oh, you know, 

205
00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:14,920
you're allowed to be a learner. 
You're allowed to, you know, 

206
00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,520
take some time to struggle 
through things and your first 

207
00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:19,320
works going to suck. 
Not mine. 

208
00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,240
I have to be perfect from the 
get go. 

209
00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,360
It's very much one of those. 
It's like, Yep, I'm going to be,

210
00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,440
you know, pour a lot of grace on
everybody else. 

211
00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:28,640
Everybody else is allowed to 
take their time with things, but

212
00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,800
I have to be 100 100% out the 
gate, otherwise I'm a failure. 

213
00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,240
We've all been there where you 
do you feel like that especially

214
00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,040
when we're sharing stuff online,
You know, a lot of people don't 

215
00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,640
like to share work in progress. 
They don't like to share 

216
00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,440
mistakes or anything like that 
because you do feel like you 

217
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,720
have to be that inspiration for 
other people, right? 

218
00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,480
You want to show them the 
finished product so they can be 

219
00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:49,480
inspired by that finished 
product to do that. 

220
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,160
But we talked about this last 
episode and it really got me 

221
00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:57,240
thinking a lot about how people 
like to digest information and 

222
00:09:57,240 --> 00:09:59,320
inspiration. 
And you talked about for you 

223
00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:01,840
personally, especially getting 
your inspiration from YouTube, 

224
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:04,440
liking to watch that progress of
things. 

225
00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:07,400
And I've taken it for myself to 
even to start to share more of 

226
00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:08,760
that. 
I feel like I've always done it 

227
00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,520
to a certain extent, but like 
finding the right way to do that

228
00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:14,920
because I think the exploration 
of a lot of this is the fun 

229
00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,000
part. 
And if you are a perfectionist, 

230
00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,000
like you're saying for yourself 
even that you might not feel as 

231
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,280
if you have the space to be able
to explore with that because you

232
00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,200
want it to be right up front. 
So I'm like, let me take the 

233
00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:28,840
bullet for the team. 
I'll go ahead and get messy and 

234
00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:31,280
crazy with it and show you what 
did or didn't work and fail with

235
00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:32,840
it so that you can be 
successful. 

236
00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,200
This idea of like creativity 
does take time though. 

237
00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,280
And I think that that's possibly
something that maybe holds 

238
00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:40,640
people back from exploring more 
of their creativity through 

239
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,520
their planning. 
Because if you've got a life to 

240
00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,880
live, which all of us do and 
it's busy as heck, which all of 

241
00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,000
us can probably relate to that 
as well, like having to take the

242
00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,800
time out of your planning 
process to just quote, be 

243
00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,040
creative. 
I can understand why that would 

244
00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,760
be something that people just 
don't want to or I'm not going 

245
00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:58,800
to say aren't willing to spend 
the time on because that's more 

246
00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,040
negative than I, I really mean. 
But because it does take time to

247
00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:03,800
be creative. 
Whether that is actually like 

248
00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,880
the kind of decorative style of 
things or just the more kind of 

249
00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:09,760
generalistic style of like which
parts of the layouts are we 

250
00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:11,920
going to incorporate? 
How are we going to incorporate 

251
00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:12,880
them? 
Are we going to use mini 

252
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,280
calendars or are we going to use
a vertical tracker or a 

253
00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:16,880
hexagonal tracker, all of that 
kind of stuff. 

254
00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,240
It can lead to a point of like 
not necessarily becoming kind of

255
00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,560
like routinized with your 
planner setups and all of this 

256
00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:25,840
kind of thing. 
But that can be a very nice 

257
00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,720
point to kind of like just cut 
down on the amount of time, 

258
00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,800
effort and energy spent doing 
your planning. 

259
00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,280
So maybe previously we were more
creative because we were still 

260
00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:35,720
kind of exploring that kind of 
stuff. 

261
00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,800
We were more willing to, you 
know, spend the time on those 

262
00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:40,400
things. 
And now as we've kind of found 

263
00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,320
our style, it's like that 
creativity aspect, or at least 

264
00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,320
that type of creativity has 
taken a backseat so that we can 

265
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,200
just get on and get stuff done. 
Yeah, I definitely come across 

266
00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,400
that as I'm thinking week to 
week where I'm like, OK, do I 

267
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,320
want to take out all the gear to
do all of that? 

268
00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:58,480
Because like my form of 
creativity is stamps and it's 

269
00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,480
stickers and, and it's paint and
it's like, you know, bringing 

270
00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:03,880
all these other elements in and 
none of it's easy. 

271
00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,160
Even with fountain pens and ink 
and stuff like that. 

272
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:07,800
It's like, all right, take out 
the ink. 

273
00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:09,080
Then you have to fill up the 
converter. 

274
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:10,200
You have to clean out the other 
one. 

275
00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,000
I'm just like, do I want to do 
that? 

276
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,200
Or do I just want to just use 
the pen that I used last week? 

277
00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:19,200
Or do I just want to use, you 
know, one fine liner to just 

278
00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:21,280
make this page and then be done 
with it? 

279
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,960
I, I think through that a lot. 
I feel like it has a lot to do 

280
00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,760
with the time that you have, but
also the time that you want to 

281
00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:28,440
take. 
And the question I was going to 

282
00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,360
ask you just about about this is
like, do you think that 

283
00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,800
creativity gets in the way of 
productivity though when you're 

284
00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,920
doing maybe too much or like 
where do you think that line is 

285
00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,760
of it affecting the actual 
productivity of the methods that

286
00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:43,680
you're using? 
Yeah, that's a great question. 

287
00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:48,040
I think that it definitely can 
because they're not like, it's 

288
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:49,840
not like you can have one and 
not the other, right? 

289
00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,120
That's not, that's not the 
business and do not believe in 

290
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:53,560
that. 
And I know that you share that 

291
00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:54,600
mindset. 
So it's all good. 

292
00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,000
But I think that sometimes if 
we're kind of like trying to 

293
00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,080
create our planners or, you 
know, set up our planners and 

294
00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,400
journals and such in such a way 
that we're like trying to fit 

295
00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,280
some kind of like ideal in our 
mind of what it should quote, 

296
00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,160
quote should look like. 
It means that that kind of like 

297
00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,240
striving to make it look a 
certain way can get in the way 

298
00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,600
of the overall purpose for your 
journal or planner or whatnot. 

299
00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,240
So if we think about it in terms
of like my everyday journal, 

300
00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,760
right, My everyday journal is 
the one that gets all of my task

301
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,240
lists, it gets my monthly log, 
it gets my habit trackers for 

302
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:25,480
the month, all of that kind of 
stuff. 

303
00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,920
It is a space for me to get 
things done, which means that 

304
00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,760
in, in terms of doing creativity
in there, in terms of like 

305
00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,160
decorative stuff, if I spend too
much time in that, am I then 

306
00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,320
taking away from the time that I
could be using to just get 

307
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,040
things done? 
That's definitely a, an 

308
00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,080
argument, I suppose that the 
people who are like, you know, 

309
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,120
out there thinking that 
creativity and productivity 

310
00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,960
can't exist in the same space 
are using like, oh, you spent 

311
00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,520
all of that time stickering that
page or painting that picture. 

312
00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:53,560
Man, man, man, you could have 
gone and washed your windows. 

313
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,680
I'm not going to wash my 
windows, Hector the Nah, I want 

314
00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:58,040
to go do something fun like put 
stickers in a book. 

315
00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,240
So can get in the way, but I 
don't think it has to, and thus 

316
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,160
I don't think that the argument 
of, like you did, a creative 

317
00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:06,400
layout. 
Thus your journal isn't 

318
00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:08,480
productive. 
That is like a deeply flawed 

319
00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:10,760
argument in my eyes. 
Oh, absolutely. 

320
00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:12,840
And I think the other thing that
people don't realize and you 

321
00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,720
just mentioned this is that 
we've been doing this for a 

322
00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,040
while. 
And I feel like this is anytime 

323
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,480
you take on a hobby or any type 
of craft or anything that you do

324
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,480
over a long period of time, you 
find those tips and those tricks

325
00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,800
and those hacks to kind of speed
up that process and you also 

326
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,240
just get better at it over time.
Nothing I dislike more than when

327
00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,800
someone comments on someone's 
page to be like, oh, that took 

328
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,440
you hours to do? 
That was such a waste of time. 

329
00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:40,360
And I tell most people most of 
the times, like most of my 

330
00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:45,400
spreads for the entire week, the
spread that I use for 5-6 days 

331
00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,280
out of the week took me 25 
minutes. 

332
00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,920
So if you go ahead and figure 
that out, right, it's like one 

333
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,840
thing, if I was spending two 
days working on my bullet 

334
00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,920
journal weekly to then only use 
it for a handful of days, right?

335
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,120
I feel like the similar a little
bit, and I don't want to make 

336
00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:07,000
anyone mad about this, but the 
people who do true artwork for 

337
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,320
like their monthly like setup, 
like page, not even like a 

338
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,880
useful page. 
There's a handful of people over

339
00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:14,920
time and then none of them are 
coming to the mind. 

340
00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,360
I can see all of them like in my
brain, but like literally bodies

341
00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:24,080
of art inside of a notebook, the
most intricate line drawings and

342
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,000
like colors and all of this 
stuff. 

343
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,360
And I see that and I'm just 
like, this needs to be it's like

344
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:31,840
a coffee table book. 
Like you said, like last week 

345
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,680
about the the shares. 
It's just like you just want to 

346
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:36,800
take every month and put that in
a book. 

347
00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:39,240
But then I just come back to 
think about, but what is it 

348
00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,720
doing for them really? 
There's actually a creator with 

349
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,000
love, Miss Jay. 
She's one of the creators. 

350
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:51,160
I was thinking about her monthly
pages are beautiful but I know a

351
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,800
lot of times she'll even post 
about it and say sorry that I'm 

352
00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:55,640
late on getting this out of the 
beginning of the month. 

353
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:59,600
I'm still working on this, which
makes me feel like she's working

354
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:06,880
for days, weeks maybe to create 
that page and its purpose is not

355
00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,400
functionality really, right? 
It's a really a divider in her 

356
00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,440
notebook. 
I'm sure she feels good about 

357
00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:13,400
it. 
Like I hope she doesn't feel 

358
00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:15,560
stressed about it at all. 
But that is one of those things 

359
00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,240
though, where I could easily see
someone say like, why did you 

360
00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,720
spend that much time for like 
one page in your journal? 

361
00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,640
Yeah, I think that one of the 
things that I I find around this

362
00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:28,000
space is people have this 
tendency to be like, oh, you 

363
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,080
wasted time on that. 
I'm like, I'm sorry, how what 

364
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,320
gives you the right to dictate 
how I spend my time? 

365
00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:36,920
So I like to think of it more in
terms of like I spent time on 

366
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,800
that, like I made a kind of like
specific choice to put my time, 

367
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:42,560
effort, energy into that 
project. 

368
00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,720
And I also think about it in 
terms of these creators who are 

369
00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,320
doing these very beautiful, 
elaborate things and such. 

370
00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,160
One, maybe the purpose of it 
isn't actually like productivity

371
00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:55,360
in the sense of what I consider 
productivity or like what I I 

372
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,240
and maybe society deems 
productive. 

373
00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,080
But you know, if we think about 
it, that idea of like you can't 

374
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,280
pull for a minute, maybe cup and
all this and self-care is 

375
00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,880
important and all of that. 
I'm saying it with a tone, it is

376
00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:06,640
actually important. 
But hear me out here. 

377
00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,319
It's like if we can't pull from 
an empty cup and if self-care is

378
00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:11,760
important and we want to be our 
most productive selves, maybe 

379
00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,440
the way that they feel their 
well is doing this thing. 

380
00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:16,960
So it's like the effort and 
energy and time they've spent 

381
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,319
into that is part of the process
that they take to do their 

382
00:17:20,319 --> 00:17:22,839
self-care to feel more connected
to their craft and all of this 

383
00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:25,119
kind of stuff. 
So it's like just because it 

384
00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,119
doesn't necessarily fit with 
what I would deem productive or 

385
00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:30,440
deem a productive way of 
spending my time, doesn't mean 

386
00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,200
it's not like productive and 
helping them for how they're 

387
00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:35,640
spending their time and being 
their most productive self and 

388
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:37,200
taking care of themselves and 
that kind of self. 

389
00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,720
I also think about it in terms 
of like me, the novice, the one 

390
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,080
who can't paint or watercolor or
really draw. 

391
00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,320
I know I can kind of draw, but 
guys, it takes a hot minute. 

392
00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:50,080
I'm not a drawer as I have we're
going to get to another point as

393
00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:51,600
well because I was about to say 
I'm not an artist. 

394
00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:53,720
Oh my gosh, so many points in 
this video. 

395
00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,960
But by by coming at this kind of
like inspiration pictures and 

396
00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:00,400
stuff that we see online and 
love Miss J. 

397
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,440
Oh my God, gorgeous work. 
And I know how long that would 

398
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,200
take me because I do not have 
the current skill set. 

399
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:08,560
Like it's not within my 
wheelhouse to be able to do 

400
00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:10,120
that. 
So I look at this being like, Oh

401
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:13,360
my God, that would have taken 
like 3 weeks to draw with her. 

402
00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:17,040
It probably only takes like 2 
weeks or maybe I saw whatnot. 

403
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,480
I know, for instance, Isabel 
Hoops, she was one who used to 

404
00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,800
do a lot of kind of like very 
artistic styled stuff in her 

405
00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:25,960
journal. 
She's literally an art teacher. 

406
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:27,160
Guys. 
Like, that is her. 

407
00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,080
That is her job. 
So the amount of time she's 

408
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,920
going to spend doing that is 
going to be significantly less 

409
00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,760
than the amount of time it would
take me to do the same thing. 

410
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,320
So I think it's kind of hard to 
see these pictures online and 

411
00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:44,360
see these very inspiring, very 
artistic style layouts and such 

412
00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:46,840
and kind of come into this lens 
of like, Oh my God, that would 

413
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:48,360
have taken such a long time to 
do. 

414
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:51,000
And it's like, well, yeah, 
creativity takes time, takes 

415
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,440
effort, but maybe not as much 
time and effort for them as it 

416
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,800
would be for, like, me. 
Yeah, and thank you for 

417
00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:58,600
mentioning Isabel. 
She was the other one I was 

418
00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:00,480
thinking about. 
And I remember that because she 

419
00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,240
had been in a few of our chat 
groups too, years ago. 

420
00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,440
I think she actually illustrated
a book, like her illustrations, 

421
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,280
her drawings were so amazing. 
You hit it on point just which I

422
00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,720
think is a really good counter 
to this and kind of sometimes 

423
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,600
the effect that I think a lot of
people feel when they see 

424
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,320
amazing artwork like that. 
And you just said I'm not an 

425
00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:20,160
artist. 
And I think that's the same 

426
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,160
comment we hear when people get 
into a journal and they think 

427
00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,920
that they have to be a certain 
way where they say, but I'm not 

428
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,000
creative. 
I wanted to hear kind of your 

429
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,560
point on that, on like how you 
feel because that is something 

430
00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:33,200
where you know me as a creative 
person. 

431
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,200
Like everyone can be creative. 
I hear it all the time at work. 

432
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,680
Like, Mark, you need to write on
this board because you have 

433
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:40,960
fancy handwriting. 
I'm not creative like that. 

434
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:44,320
You are creative in other ways. 
It doesn't mean that you OK, so 

435
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,120
you can't let her. 
That's a practice thing. 

436
00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:47,960
But I'm sure you're creative in 
other ways too. 

437
00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:49,720
Like what's your perspective on 
a comment? 

438
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:51,920
If someone says, well I would 
like to do that but like, I'm 

439
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:52,680
not creative. 
Oh. 

440
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,400
I can't, I cannot, I cannot. 
Even when people say I'm not 

441
00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,720
creative, I hate how fixed of a 
mindset that is. 

442
00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:01,840
We have this like thing in my 
household at the moment where 

443
00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,400
anytime somebody speaks in like 
finite terms like that in a 

444
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:05,840
negative way. 
Well, I don't know. 

445
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:07,760
That sounds like a fixed mindset
you got there. 

446
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:09,440
I think you should put on your 
growth mindset. 

447
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:11,280
I don't even know why it 
started, but it's like a thing 

448
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,480
now. 
But when people say I'm not 

449
00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,280
creative, it it makes my soul 
hurt because I'm just like, just

450
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,440
because your version of. 
Creativity is not like my 

451
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,800
version of creativity does not 
mean that you're not creative. 

452
00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,440
So for instance, my bestie, her 
name's Rachel, what a gem. 

453
00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:26,840
I mean, of course she's my 
bestie. 

454
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,480
So I'm a little bit biased here.
But in terms of your decorative 

455
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,760
planning and such, the style of 
layouts that I do and not the 

456
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:35,560
style of layout she does at all 
kind of a thing. 

457
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,280
And every so often she says 
like, oh, you know, I do more in

458
00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:40,920
my journal like that, but I'm 
not creative. 

459
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,360
I'm like, I'm excuse me, fine 
lady, what are you talking 

460
00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:46,120
about? 
I have seen the way you put 

461
00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:48,960
together a theme party and it is
literal goals kind of a thing. 

462
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:52,200
It's like your creativity 
doesn't have to be in your 

463
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,320
journal and in that way, like it
doesn't have to be drawing, it 

464
00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,240
doesn't have to be stickers, it 
doesn't have to be washi tape, 

465
00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,400
it doesn't even have to be 
planner based kind of a thing. 

466
00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:03,840
Your creativity could be writing
songs, music, sculpting, 

467
00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:05,800
painting that's not in a 
notebook. 

468
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,080
It could be like planning 
parties and events and all of 

469
00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,960
this kind of thing. 
So I think that oftentimes 

470
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,360
because we're thinking about 
creativity in the planning 

471
00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:17,760
space, we kind of almost put 
like blinders on to what 

472
00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,680
creativity can and should and is
being or whatnot. 

473
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:23,920
That was all bad English, but 
hopefully you get the point. 

474
00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,480
I think that it's just, it just 
hurts my, hurts my soul when 

475
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,480
people say they're not creative 
because I'm like, no, you 

476
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,000
probably are because you're a 
person and people are creative 

477
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:34,720
by nature. 
That's like kind of our thing. 

478
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,760
So maybe you just haven't found 
the style that resonates with 

479
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,520
you or the way that you kind of 
express your creativity and it 

480
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:43,600
might not be in a planning 
space. 

481
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:45,320
What are your thoughts on that 
one? 

482
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,560
I'm the same way. 
I don't like when someone says 

483
00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,400
I'm not creative. 
I just always say, but you are. 

484
00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,720
You just haven't found what you 
like to do just yet. 

485
00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:56,120
I think we're trying to mimic 
other people's styles and we 

486
00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:58,920
don't succeed. 
That's the immediate thing, that

487
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,040
fixed mindset. 
Well, I can't draw like Isabella

488
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:03,800
does. 
I'm not creative. 

489
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,360
No, I'm not an illustrator. 
I can't draw a realistic 

490
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:09,520
anything. 
There was someone else. 

491
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,600
Oh gosh, years ago. 
I cannot think of her name, but 

492
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,360
again, I can see all of her. 
She's still a lot with colored 

493
00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:20,760
pencils all the time and literal
like photo realistic in her 

494
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:21,560
journal. 
Right. 

495
00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:26,480
I could probably learn 
eventually how to do that, but 

496
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:30,040
it just wasn't my style. 
It didn't really resonate with 

497
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,520
me and I was totally OK with 
that. 

498
00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,000
But it's a mindset though. 
I have a design background. 

499
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,160
So like I feel like from the 
very beginning, it's just beat 

500
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,520
into you as you come up in the 
design space that like you have 

501
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,200
to find your style, you have to 
learn the basics before you can 

502
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,520
like really explore that. 
And I think the same thing 

503
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,760
applies to journaling as well. 
When someone's like, I would 

504
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,640
like to do that, but I'm not 
creative, then don't do that. 

505
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,760
Start where you do feel 
comfortable if you even want to 

506
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,880
be creative in your planner. 
I think that's the other thing 

507
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,360
we have to like shop from the 
mountain tops is that you don't 

508
00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:04,280
have to do anything overly 
stylistic in there if you don't 

509
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,840
want to. 
Some of my favorite graphic 

510
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:11,280
design is just letter forms, 
honestly, and that is an art 

511
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,600
within itself, proportions and 
size and shapes and all those 

512
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:16,680
great things. 
So you just have to kind of 

513
00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:18,800
explore it. 
What you don't do well at, you 

514
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,480
just don't touch anymore. 
I've stayed far away from 

515
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,720
doodles or anything like cutesy 
or anything like that because I 

516
00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,800
just don't have that. 
I have to follow a tutorial. 

517
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,520
And I was going to say that is 
kind of the next point here too,

518
00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,480
is that if you don't know how to
do that, there are a lot of 

519
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,000
creators that do show you the 
way to do that. 

520
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,120
And again, I'm doing so bad with
like remembering these accounts,

521
00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,040
but there was 1 specifically 
that I used to follow years ago.

522
00:23:42,840 --> 00:24:10,840
And she used to do step by 
Like there's a lot of people out

523
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,360
there that will show you how to 
do that and take it step by 

524
00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:15,320
step. 
That personally helped me too. 

525
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,160
I love you're like oh I don't 
doodle. 

526
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,680
Like you literally hosted a 
doodle challenge. 

527
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:21,880
Why are you guest lighting the 
plan about? 

528
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,280
Because I'm not good at it. 
That's exactly why I would do 

529
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:26,520
that. 
I was doing that with Nicole 

530
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,720
from Plans of Blossom, who 
again, that account does show 

531
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,560
you step by step how to doodle. 
Don't want to forget about her 

532
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:34,760
at all there. 
But like, I just was never good 

533
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,680
at it. 
So it was a way to challenge 

534
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,120
myself to do that. 
And let me just tell you how 

535
00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:43,640
often I did have to find 
inspiration from the Internet to

536
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,760
be able to draw some of those 
characters, because this brain 

537
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:48,640
just doesn't work that way for 
any type of art. 

538
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:50,480
No, I think that's also a good 
point. 

539
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,680
It's just like, you know, we 
say, oh, I'm not an artist. 

540
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,320
I can't draw a rah rah. 
I'm like, who gives a shit? 

541
00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:57,920
Just do it badly. 
Like you don't actually have to 

542
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,360
do things to the level that 
you're seeing online. 

543
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:02,720
Like, OK, there are obviously 
accounts out there who are 

544
00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,080
showing their like, you know, 
messy work kind of thing. 

545
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,480
And I'm talking, I'm talking 
messy. 

546
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,520
I'm not talking a work in 
progress and to be messy. 

547
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,280
All right, One account in 
particular that OK, now as I've 

548
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,400
said that now I feel like I'm 
throwing this person under the 

549
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,080
bus I'm not It works actually 
really great. 

550
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,160
So let's just like cut that and 
pretend that we're not just 

551
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:19,120
cutting things. 
But still. 

552
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,880
So the account that I'm thinking
of, they were called last week 

553
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,120
in doodles or maybe that's what 
this series was called. 

554
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,720
But it's like they were just 
doing daily practice of their 

555
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,080
doodle work and you can kind of 
scroll back through their feed. 

556
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,240
They have had so many weeks of 
doodles, but it's like comparing

557
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:34,360
their initial work to what 
they're doing now. 

558
00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:37,160
Like it's still kind of like, 
you know, messy in the sense of 

559
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:40,600
like, it's not like, you know, 
photo realistic art kind of a 

560
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:42,280
thing, but we're allowed to have
different styles. 

561
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,520
It's it still looks good. 
All right, Like otherwise I 

562
00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:47,320
wouldn't bring them up. 
It still looks good. 

563
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,960
But if you scroll back to the 
start of their feed and see like

564
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:52,920
how their style has developed 
over time and such, just like, 

565
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,720
you know, doing their reps doing
this every week during their 

566
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,320
three to five doodles a week or 
whatever it is that they've got 

567
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,880
like you get better at things. 
That's just the way that things 

568
00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:03,480
work. 
I think I liked your point 

569
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,920
before that you had about when 
you've been doing this for a 

570
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:07,960
while and when you've kind of 
found your style, you found the 

571
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,080
layouts that work for you and 
such and you kind of put that 

572
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,920
creative energy and upfront you 
get faster with things. 

573
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:16,280
You also can find that happens 
in a very short span of time as 

574
00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:18,560
well. 
For instance, I recently put 

575
00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:20,880
together a giveaway journal 
where I kind of like set up all 

576
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,040
of the layouts in the journal 
and gave it away to somebody 

577
00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:24,960
like some mystery person 
effectively. 

578
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,440
And even just looking at the 
weekly layouts that I was doing 

579
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,240
in that journal because I'd use 
the same style of weekly for 

580
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,320
each of the months. 
So it's like February's weeks, 

581
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,520
all the same layout. 
March is weeks, different 

582
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,400
layout, but all the same ones. 
And just timing myself for 

583
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,840
seeing how long it took to set 
each of those up. 

584
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,640
The first one, like, you know, 
20 minutes, The second one took 

585
00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,560
18 minutes, and then we got down
to like 13 minutes by the last 

586
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,440
one. 
Just like by doing the same 

587
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,640
style each week, you do get 
faster with these kind of 

588
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:51,920
things. 
And the same idea for these 

589
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,200
doodles that this guy's doing, 
he's probably getting faster and

590
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:55,360
he's been getting better at 
them. 

591
00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:56,760
So you're allowed to be a 
learner. 

592
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:58,240
You're allowed to take time to 
get into it. 

593
00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,360
You can just start and just do 
it badly because you'll learn 

594
00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:03,320
along the way. 
One of the best things that I 

595
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,720
used to do, I used to make it 
more public, I haven't done it 

596
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,760
in a while, is that after every 
week, I would kind of look over 

597
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:11,160
my spread and talk about what I 
liked and what I didn't like 

598
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:12,920
about it. 
What worked, It didn't work. 

599
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,040
It was a really great way to 
self edit. 

600
00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:18,240
If I look way back into the 
beginnings of my bullet 

601
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,400
journaling, I had a lot of 
spreads that had a lot of things

602
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,560
going on. 
It'd be like weekly overviews 

603
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:25,640
and there would be all the 
trackers and all the things. 

604
00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:27,640
And then I would get to the end 
of the week and I'd be like, I 

605
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:29,160
don't really want to use that 
tracker. 

606
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:30,720
I'll try it one more time and 
see. 

607
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,400
And after like two weeks of not 
using it, like it's a waste of 

608
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,400
space, like put something else 
there. 

609
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:37,880
I would also take a look and say
like, well, what worked and 

610
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,760
didn't work with the grids and 
the layouts even of the page, 

611
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:44,200
like not give myself enough 
space for tasks and notes, but 

612
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,600
gave too much space to like the 
daily overviews. 

613
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,840
And I would just take a moment 
and look through it and really 

614
00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,680
kind of critique myself in a way
to then take a look at next week

615
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,080
and then make it better. 
So I would even say for those 

616
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,160
who are just getting started or 
not even incorporating a lot of 

617
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:02,280
other elements in there, that is
also creativity and just 

618
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:04,960
thinking about how things are 
laid out and how they could work

619
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:06,200
better. 
It's an art. 

620
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:08,680
It is definitely a skill. 
It's like people who like 

621
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,960
decorate your home and talk 
about the way things are facing 

622
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,000
and what colors and patterns go 
together, right? 

623
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,200
That is a skill that is a 
trained thing. 

624
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,320
You can learn that you also have
that interest in it as well. 

625
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,000
But just taking that time and 
really thinking through it, I 

626
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,680
think also can make you a better
person and how you're planning 

627
00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,120
and utilizing your spaces. 
And again, effectively you're 

628
00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:32,080
being creative, just not with 
like a super ultra visual way 

629
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,080
necessarily. 
Yeah, I think that this is going

630
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,120
to be the hill that I die on in 
terms of creativity. 

631
00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:37,400
Like it doesn't have to be 
decorative. 

632
00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:39,960
And I like that the examples you
gave them were all very much 

633
00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,920
like functional things, but 
you're bringing your kind of 

634
00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:45,720
like creative license to it. 
You're bringing your creative 

635
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,160
skill set to it by thinking 
about like, how can I tweak it? 

636
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,360
How can I change it? 
How can I make this work better 

637
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:51,920
for me? 
Because that's very much 

638
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,560
something that I'm pretty much 
constantly looking for in my 

639
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,160
journal. 
The constant question is like, 

640
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,320
how can we do this better so 
that it like fits the purpose 

641
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,400
better, not so that it kind of 
like meets somebody's bar or 

642
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,240
expectation for what a 
decorative journal should look 

643
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,640
like. 
I'm very curious as we think 

644
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,720
about our own creative journals 
and creative journeys, really 

645
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,520
more than all journeys in 
journals is really how it's 

646
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,720
been. 
How's yours change If you look 

647
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,280
back from like your very first 
one, your very first pages like 

648
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,640
bullet journal number one, to 
where you are now. 

649
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,800
We have several bullet journals 
in a year now, very different 

650
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:28,880
I'm sure, maybe the one you 
started, but how have you 

651
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,120
evolved or how have you changed 
from the very beginning to now? 

652
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,840
One of the things that really 
stands out is where certain 

653
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,680
people or certain creators or 
accounts had been inspiring my 

654
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:40,560
journal. 
So you look back on the first 

655
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,960
one, it's like, oh look, it's 
her Barry from New Zealand kind 

656
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,760
of a thing. 
Like she, she was the the top 

657
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,800
dog in the community and thus we
were all copying her. 

658
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,040
But that's all good. 
It's like, you know, copying is 

659
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:53,240
how we figure out what does and 
doesn't work for us, provided 

660
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,720
you, you know, apply that kind 
of critical lens to it. 

661
00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,520
So that was kind of where I 
started with things using. 

662
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:02,440
It's also interesting to think 
about like the supplies I was 

663
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:04,000
using. 
So like you know, using colored 

664
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,200
pencils in there because that's 
literally all I had. 

665
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:08,800
And then a week later I decided 
that I was going to stick with 

666
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:10,960
bullet journaling for a good 
while, so I bought Tombos. 

667
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,720
So they arrived like 2 weeks 
later and then it's like, oh, 

668
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:15,720
got my first Tombos using those 
in the journal. 

669
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,200
Oh look, can't blend colors 
because it bleeds through on the

670
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,960
Lt. 1917. 
So it's also interesting, I 

671
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,480
guess, to see how my creative 
style changed or developed with 

672
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,920
the materials I was using, Not 
just like, you know, the pens 

673
00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,440
and, and anything like that, but
also the journal itself. 

674
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:33,080
It's like, cool, can't do a lot 
in this one in terms of laying 

675
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,080
down a bunch of inks because 
it'll bleed through and that 

676
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,720
will give me the heebie jeebies.
But then when we get into the 

677
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,240
thicker paper notebooks and 
seeing how that kind of like 

678
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,360
opened up the doors, I suppose 
in terms of what I felt I could 

679
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,440
do in my journal, that's the 
kind of thing you can do 

680
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,520
beautiful work in thin paper 
notebooks. 

681
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:51,120
I know there are people out 
there doing it. 

682
00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:52,960
I'm pretty sure her name's Dutch
Dots. 

683
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,640
She does really gorgeous 
watercolor work in an Lt. 1917 

684
00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,400
because obviously the wrinkled 
paper and any kind of bleed 

685
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:01,800
through or whatnot that she's 
experiencing doesn't bother her.

686
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,880
It bothers me by going to those 
thicker paper notebooks and 

687
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,600
getting kind of more into like 
doodling in a more kind of like 

688
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:12,760
traditionally arty sense quote, 
quotes everywhere, mad quotation

689
00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,720
marks, traditionally arty. 
And then eventually it just got 

690
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:18,960
to a point where I couldn't be 
bothered anymore. 

691
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,720
Like the idea of having to 
doodle in my journal was the 

692
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:24,680
most unappealing thing I could 
think of. 

693
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,040
Not necessarily. 
Like I still do an occasional 

694
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,280
doodle in there or whatnot, but 
nowadays my creative style in 

695
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,960
there in terms of decoration is 
much more akin to tapes, 

696
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,280
stickers, starting to get more 
into collaging. 

697
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,920
It's not a comfort space for me.
But even like we said before, 

698
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,920
even just in a very small span 
of time, going from my kind of 

699
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,600
like first reading journal 
collage to where I'm sitting 

700
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,520
now, which is only like 8 
collage pieces or whatnot, 

701
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,280
definite improvement. 
I'm feeling very good about it. 

702
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,160
What about you, once yours kind 
of adapted? 

703
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,240
I mean, if I think all the way 
back, I mean, I started my 

704
00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:01,880
bullet journal journey with one 
notebook and one pen, just a 

705
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,560
waterproof thing was a Micron 
pen, one of those type of fine 

706
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,920
liner pens. 
And that is really all I used 

707
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:11,440
for a good bit because I was 
figuring out how I was bullet 

708
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,000
journaling, what it really 
meant, how I was going to do it,

709
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,880
how it worked inside of my life 
and being a creative person. 

710
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,120
Again, with that design 
background, always being 

711
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,920
artistic and using different 
mediums, I started to experiment

712
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,360
a little bit more. 
I probably did the same thing as

713
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,480
you. 
I saw everyone using Tombos and 

714
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:29,440
I thought, well, of course I 
need brush pads. 

715
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,800
But then I realized like I don't
do like brush lettering with 

716
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:34,640
Tombos. 
So then I started to find 

717
00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,840
different ways to use them. 
So just doing colored drop 

718
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,680
shadows or you know, filling 
around some of the fonts I was 

719
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,840
doing or things like that. 
I think one of the coolest 

720
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:46,760
things I ever learned with 
Tombos is because they're water 

721
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,480
based is that you can basically 
watercolor with them. 

722
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,320
So being able to take those 
markers and like use like a 

723
00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:54,400
piece of plastic and then adding
some water to it. 

724
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,600
I think it was the first time 
that I water colored in my 

725
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,560
journal because I was like, 
well, if I can draw with these 

726
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,720
markers, I feel like I can add a
little bit more liquidy stuff to

727
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,240
it. 
Maybe we'll see, but over time 

728
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,200
it was just finding new ways to 
do that. 

729
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,520
I think from a creativity 
standpoint, not necessarily a 

730
00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:13,440
material standpoint, I was all 
about collection pages because I

731
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,280
feel like that's all we saw 
online. 

732
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:19,040
So like one of my very first 
like themed collection pages was

733
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,360
like all the upcoming movies and
TV shows for the a year. 

734
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,160
So it was just like each month 
it was like what movies are 

735
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:27,520
coming out with TV shows are on 
that I'm interested in. 

736
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,480
It ended up being a very helpful
spread in the long run. 

737
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,680
But I spent hours working on 
that because not only did it 

738
00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:37,640
have to be like popcorn TV movie
themed, then I had to do all the

739
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:40,720
research as well to figure out 
like how it got filled up. 

740
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,680
I spent a lot of time exploring 
layouts and thinking about how 

741
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,360
it was organizing my information
on the page. 

742
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,080
And there is definitely some 
wins and some losses when it 

743
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,120
came to that. 
And then I honestly feel like 

744
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,320
anytime I tried to add doodles 
in there, it always went the 

745
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,120
opposite way. 
I think episodes ago I shared 

746
00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:00,600
about the fails where I tried to
draw the cacti spread and they 

747
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:02,920
ended up looking like penises 
instead of cactuses. 

748
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,560
That's a good example where I 
was like, Mark, stay away from 

749
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:08,280
that doodling style. 
That is not you. 

750
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,600
And then over time, I started to
uncover something that I think 

751
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:13,800
really made a really big 
difference to me, which was 

752
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:18,120
utilizing doodles and utilizing 
creativity, but incorporating 

753
00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:20,120
that into the functionality of 
my page. 

754
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:24,000
I just created one for myself 
this week where I used stickers 

755
00:34:24,199 --> 00:34:26,000
inside of there. 
I'm not like a big sticker 

756
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,440
person necessarily because I 
don't just kind of put them 

757
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:30,800
Willy nilly, but I use them with
my headers. 

758
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:32,360
So it'll be like the sticker or 
whatever. 

759
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:33,719
And then I'll write Monday next 
to it. 

760
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:36,280
And then the box where I write 
all my information or when I 

761
00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,639
write tasks or notes and 
including it there. 

762
00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:41,480
If you've seen any of my bullet 
journal setups or reels, you'll 

763
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,040
see that's how I utilize stamps 
and stickers. 

764
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:46,880
And that creativity in there is 
like, I want to include it, but 

765
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,440
I don't want it to take away 
from the functionality of my 

766
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,120
page. 
And so over time, as I've edited

767
00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:54,760
them down more and more, what's 
working, what's not working, 

768
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,680
what do I need? 
They definitely have changed. 

769
00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:00,440
I just the other day I was 
looking through an old journal 

770
00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:02,240
and I was just trying to get 
inspired by something. 

771
00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:03,800
I wasn't really feeling it in my
new one. 

772
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,360
And I was just looking through 
the page and I was like, Mark, 

773
00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:11,120
did you even have a job? 
Because now I fill my pages with

774
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,000
so many notes and tasks 
throughout the week at that 

775
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:15,840
point in my life. 
And that's also I love looking 

776
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:18,840
back on journals. 
I could fit, you know, my task 

777
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:23,640
for the week inside of like a 20
by like 8 box like rectangle. 

778
00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:27,080
I couldn't do that now if I 
tried to. 

779
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:30,360
It's just so funny how even like
time has changed the needs of 

780
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,440
the journals as well for me. 
So I think I've just really 

781
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,640
become comfortable with it. 
I found a love for stamps and 

782
00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,440
things like that, which also had
a lot of fun but functionality 

783
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:41,720
into it because you can buy 
functional stamps to include and

784
00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:43,760
it looks nice. 
So I think really just kind of 

785
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:46,520
refining my style over time. 
But honestly, sometimes I look 

786
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:50,000
back at that one pen and think, 
wow, Mark, you did a lot with 

787
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,920
one pen, so anyone can do a lot 
with one pen. 

788
00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,400
Well, yeah, I liked your point 
about, you know, creativity 

789
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,000
doesn't have to involve color. 
It can just be black and white 

790
00:35:58,000 --> 00:35:59,920
and such. 
And you look at some of the work

791
00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:03,480
that people do in just black and
white and it is wow, just wow. 

792
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,760
It's absolutely amazing. 
And I know, I know it must take 

793
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,840
them a hot minute. 
It would certainly take me a hot

794
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:10,680
minute. 
Like being able to even just 

795
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,400
like the really graphic kind of 
graphic, not in the sense of 

796
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:15,840
gore, right, Graphic in terms of
like circles and lines and 

797
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:17,120
stuff. 
Just, you know, keeping it on 

798
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:21,600
that point, but like the 
precision that comes with those 

799
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,680
styles of minimalistic designs. 
I'm just like, as soon as you 

800
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,320
smear a line, Oh my gosh, like, 
you know, the ink catches under 

801
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,360
the ruler ruined type of a 
thing. 

802
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:33,080
But I like your point also about
the creativity. 

803
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:34,840
Again, we're going to keep 
coming back to it because it's 

804
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:35,680
important. 
All right? 

805
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:37,880
We don't want to define 
creativity just as decorating 

806
00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:40,480
the creativity that comes in 
presenting information in 

807
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:42,680
different ways because that's 
something that's always been of 

808
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:44,400
interest to me. 
That's always something that I'm

809
00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,320
kind of on the lookout for in my
journals. 

810
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,480
Like how can I either rotate a 
table or take something that was

811
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:52,400
tabulated and turned into more 
of a Kanban wild board style or 

812
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,000
something like that. 
Like whatever way is going to 

813
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,840
fit better with my brain. 
I also I'm just gonna like go 

814
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,400
through all of your points now 
it seems this is what I'm doing.

815
00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:03,480
I'd like to point about like how
do I fit all of this information

816
00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,360
for the week into this tiny box?
I have exactly the same thing 

817
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:07,840
because I looked through my old 
journals. 

818
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,440
I'm just like how did I manage 
to fit one week on one spread? 

819
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,800
Like was nothing going on? 
Was I just sitting there 

820
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,920
twiddling my thumbs? 
Nowadays I use at least a spread

821
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,000
and a half if not 2 full spreads
for my daily locking for each 

822
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:21,480
week. 
It's mind blowing. 

823
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:23,800
I think one of the biggest 
things I learned too is thinking

824
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,600
back to one of the guys early 
guys that I followed, Pacific 

825
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:28,960
Notation. 
His name is Dan. 

826
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:31,400
He used to do a lot of great 
work, which is black and white 

827
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,640
lettering. 
I used to think that he just 

828
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:38,400
used like he could figure out 
letters and numbers on his own. 

829
00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,840
And then one day I realized he 
was using black numbered 

830
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:46,400
stickers in his journal and it 
completely blew me away and was 

831
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:50,360
like, you know, smoke was gone. 
I saw through the behind scenes 

832
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,400
of the magic trick and I was 
like, holy crap, all this time 

833
00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:57,120
I'm like looking up to you is 
this amazing precision hand 

834
00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:58,800
letter and you're using 
stickers. 

835
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,000
And then I went out and I bought
those damn stickers and I felt 

836
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,480
just as amazing. 
I think that one of the biggest 

837
00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:07,680
things for me too is realizing 
that you don't have to just use 

838
00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:10,320
your own hands to create things.
You talked about stencils 

839
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:13,520
earlier. 
Give me a letter stencil any day

840
00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:16,120
of the week because those help 
you figure it out. 

841
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,000
You, you draw it in pencil and 
then you draw over top of with 

842
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,800
the marker and then it looks 
like you've got perfectly done 

843
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:24,880
letters and numbers and 
everything else, right? 

844
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:27,160
Like get me a stencil. 
And I've been using a lot of 

845
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,440
like distress oxide ink, right? 
And like using those stencils in

846
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:32,000
my journal. 
Like that's a great way to make 

847
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:34,840
things look amazing and creative
without having to hand paint and

848
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,320
do anything like that. 
Like it's all about finding 

849
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,640
different ways I think also to 
explore and do that and like 

850
00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,320
demystifying what you're seeing 
online. 

851
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,120
Yes, there are some pieces that 
we talked about where it's true 

852
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,160
skill in artistry and other 
people just find like a really 

853
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,960
good hack to figure that out, 
like lettering. 

854
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:55,200
I even know those existed for a 
journal and they look so cool. 

855
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,440
And then I was like, Yep. 
Or just the way he was using 

856
00:38:57,440 --> 00:38:59,600
washy tape even to create his 
straight lines. 

857
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:02,720
Like for a long time I thought 
he was just hand drawing those. 

858
00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:05,760
Or even with like a ruler. 
Like son of a bitch is using 

859
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,720
black washi tape and his stuff 
looks cool. 

860
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:12,680
Just check out Pacific Notation 
if you don't already follow him.

861
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,560
I don't think he posted anymore.
I haven't seen him post in in 

862
00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:17,800
years honestly. 
But take a scroll back, you'll 

863
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,720
see exactly what I mean and you 
now you'll know that most of the

864
00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:22,720
stuff it's a sticker. 
I love that. 

865
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,040
Like when you have those moments
though, it's like what I found 

866
00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:27,600
out that one of the creators 
that I watch on YouTube only 

867
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:29,320
wears glasses so they look 
smarter. 

868
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:31,560
Like they used to wear it 
because they needed it, but then

869
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:33,840
they got laser eye surgery and 
now they just wear it because 

870
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:35,800
it's like, now I feel more 
credible kind of thing. 

871
00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:37,840
And I'm like, that's totally 
fair. 

872
00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:40,600
Because I, I, I don't know why 
subconsciously I treat you as 

873
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:42,920
more credible because you're 
wearing glasses, but it's that 

874
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,200
kind of thing, right? 
Like just because you're using 

875
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:48,240
tools that make things faster 
or, you know, mean that you 

876
00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:50,800
don't have to do everything by 
hand, doesn't mean you're like 

877
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:53,400
cheating, right? 
You're not cheating if you're 

878
00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:57,000
using stickers or stamps or 
stencils or whatnot to do that 

879
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,320
kind of creative element in your
journal. 

880
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:01,960
You're just making the most of 
the resources available to you. 

881
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:04,280
I totally understand the feeling
though, because sometimes, you 

882
00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:06,680
know, see something online. 
It's like, you know this little.

883
00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:08,760
Thumbnail on YouTube like, oh 
wow, that's beautiful. 

884
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:10,200
I want to go see how they 
created that. 

885
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:11,800
They slap a sticker down on the 
page. 

886
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:16,480
I'm like betrayal, but I'm like,
but now I could also do the same

887
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:18,760
thing and it wouldn't take me 
very much effort. 

888
00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:22,600
The world of big fat stickers 
has really opened my mind. 

889
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:25,200
Archer and Olive, I think did 
this with a lot of theirs for 

890
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:28,520
like some of their past sticker 
packs that they had, or even the

891
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:30,480
ones you get inside of the 
subscription boxes. 

892
00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:33,480
I'm always like, gosh, this is 
like this monster sticker that's

893
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,840
like half the page. 
Like what would I even use that 

894
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:37,920
for? 
And I was like, it's a monthly 

895
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:39,720
page. 
You slap that in the center of 

896
00:40:39,720 --> 00:40:43,360
your page and you're right March
underneath of it and there you 

897
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:44,680
go. 
You don't write much. 

898
00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:46,880
You don't write much. 
You stencil much or you type it 

899
00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:49,120
out on a computer and you print 
it out and cut it down and stick

900
00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:51,280
it in. 
Exactly however you want to go 

901
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,920
about it, but it's exactly it 
like finding ways to kind of get

902
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:58,400
over that and still be creative.
It doesn't matter at the end of 

903
00:40:58,400 --> 00:40:59,680
the day. 
I know I sound very like 

904
00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:03,280
accusatory, like Dan use the 
sticker, a stencil, but he just 

905
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:06,160
figured it out before I did and 
he did a really great job at it.

906
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:09,000
It's not hate, it's love, but 
it's just, you know, there's 

907
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:11,760
nothing wrong with that and that
could lead us on a whole other 

908
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:13,880
conversation. 
I feel like Jess around like 

909
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:17,280
computer generated and AI and 
like how we're utilizing that 

910
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:19,160
for things too. 
But we are not touching that 

911
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:23,640
with a 200,000 foot pole today. 
We're strictly sticking to 

912
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:25,560
creativity in your bullet 
journal. 

913
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:28,840
Now, I think that we've touched 
on some pretty good points 

914
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:30,280
though. 
I mean your creativity and 

915
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,840
productivity, not opposites. 
You can have both. 

916
00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:35,680
You can also have only one. 
And I guess technically you 

917
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:37,560
could have neither, didn't 
really touch on that. 

918
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:39,920
But I suppose that thing, if you
have neither, do you just have 

919
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:41,920
nothing? 
I feel like that's probably what

920
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:44,200
you would have. 
I mean, it's hard to say because

921
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,360
someone would say like you're 
ultra minimalist and you're 

922
00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:49,200
like, I literally just write the
day of the week of my task and 

923
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:50,600
notes. 
Like I don't do anything else. 

924
00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:51,880
But then I'm like, what pattern 
are you using? 

925
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:54,320
What inks are you using? 
You're creative and how you're 

926
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:55,840
expressing it. 
I mean, I can make anything 

927
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:57,880
creative. 
Yeah, other things like, you 

928
00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:00,280
know, your hand lettering is 
your own personal style of 

929
00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:03,280
thought, isn't it? 
But I really, I enjoyed this 

930
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,960
topic and I'd really be eager to
hear what you have to say. 

931
00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:08,920
Planner Pals, So in terms of 
creativity in your planning 

932
00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,800
system, in your journal or 
whatnot, what does creativity in

933
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:13,640
that space look like and mean 
for you? 

934
00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:16,640
Is it kind of like strictly in 
the decorative kind of space? 

935
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:19,120
Or are you thinking more 
creativity as also being the 

936
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:22,080
kind of structures and layout 
estimates that you're using? 

937
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,680
Let us know either in the 
comments or you can e-mail us at

938
00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:28,880
plannerpalspodcast@gmail.com or 
over on Instagram Planner Pals 

939
00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:31,200
Podcast. 
It is going to be great in the 

940
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:32,560
comments. 
I love reading through the 

941
00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:35,360
comments on YouTube videos. 
I know that's a very weird thing

942
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:37,080
to hear people say, but it is a 
story, story. 

943
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:38,840
It is sharing and it's 
inspiration. 

944
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,840
I learned so much from the 
Planner Palace that are sharing 

945
00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:45,000
with us as well. 
Next episode, Jess, I know that 

946
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:46,680
people are going to love this 
topic because I feel like 

947
00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:49,320
anytime we talk about things 
like leaning towards the 

948
00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:51,680
negative space, people are like,
give me it all. 

949
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:55,040
We are going to talk about our 
Planner X. 

950
00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:58,960
What are those things that give 
you the just hibbie jibbies and 

951
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:02,320
just make you want to throw 
whatever you have in your hands 

952
00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:04,400
away? 
Specifically when it comes to 

953
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,960
planners, bullet journals and 
all the icky things that are 

954
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:11,000
evolved with it. 
That is definitely a topic I'm 

955
00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:13,720
looking forward to because I 
just love to complain. 

956
00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:17,320
Obviously, I'm looking forward 
to hearing what yours are and 

957
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,280
also what the Planner pals have 
for theirs. 

958
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:21,760
But today, Planner Pals, thank 
you for watching.