Reading Problems

I have discovered something. When I am doing a lot of writing, my brain doesn't want to read at the end of the day. It's tired and apparently reading and writing use the same part? Total guess since I can still watch TV or videos or doom scroll.

Problem two: The library loan period for ebooks is only two weeks.

Problem three: Whenever I look at my list of books and say, "oh, wow, it looks like I won't get any of my holds from the library for a while, let me unsuspend one of the books I want to read," multiple books miraculously become available. Either the library orders more copies or other people suspend their hold.

Problem four: It's a book I want to read and I think, "I can read a few books in two weeks. I used to read a book a day." Apparently forgetting Problem One, I've been focused on doing more writing every day than I used to do.

Problem five: the books (it's always plural) are now due in four days, so I spend Friday and Saturday nights staying up ridiculously late to read and finish them.

Problem six: I can't get up on Saturday and Sunday mornings and it throws my whole schedule out of whack.

Guess what happened this past weekend? Both books are read. Both books are back at the library. I now have nothing to read, but I'm scared to unsuspend a hold because I have a couple of books on active hold. All of those say they a couple of months out, but I don't believe it. 

The Face in the Mirror

I've been trying to be better about moisturizing my face. My skin is naturally oily, but over the winter, it was dryer than usual. And of course, I ended up with acne in a few select spots.

A long time ago, I used to have this blemish pen where I just touched up the spot that needed it without drying out my entire face, so I went to find something similar to that.

Instead, I bought a very big name brand cream that was for acne spots. I'd just dab it where it was needed.

This is a brand whose soap I use for my face all the time, and it was easy to say, cool, let's buy this.

It arrived while I had three spots that needed treatment. I dabbed on really lightly the first day. Day two, I noticed there was a visible film, and since I couldn't hide in the house all day, I wiped it off before I left. Then came day three. This was an at-home day, so I used the acne cream on the three spots plus another spot that appeared to be developing.

And while it sat on my face, my skin had an allergic reaction. Red, ugly rash across my right cheek and chin. Not only limited to where I dabbed on the medication, but across a wide swath. It was itchy, it was ugly, and it was lumpy.

Two days later, still red, lumpy and itchy. Three days later, the lumps begin to recede, but my cheek is still mottled red and itchy in spots. Four days later, all the lumps are finally gone, but still red and mottled. As I'm writing this it is day six. The redness is mostly gone, but still sort of there. Still a little itchy, too.

Acne cream is in the trash.

The lesson I've learned? Acne is better than a rash. Or test new stuff out on an arm before putting it on your face. 

Why So Much?

Patti, why do you blog soooooooooooo much about organization and planners?

Sorry.

This is a repeat for some of you, but I have ADHD and trying to keep myself organized is an ongoing process. I literally only share a fraction of what I test out to stay focused.

It was a little easier while my dad was still alive because I handle daily tasks like a pro because of the daily pages in my planner. I even can manage the monthly appointments, but everything else? It's chaos for me. My dad used to remind me of weekly or quarterly or infrequent items and now? I'm on my own for those.

2025 was my year of experimentation because he passed away at the end of 2024. I figured out how to keep track of more than monthly appointments (i.e. monthly tasks) relatively quickly thanks to monthly dashboard stickers. It took a little experimentation to figure out what titles to put on the dashboard boxes, but I have that nailed now and it's smooth.

But weekly tasks? No matter what I tried in 2025, nothing worked. It all just got ignored, which is why I cannot use a weekly planner no matter how hard I try. I'm completely capable of not noticing anything on a weekly layout.

2026 was the year I was determined to figure out my weekly problem. I started out with far too many box stickers laid out on the blank page my planner has in front of every week. I quickly learned that less is more. I pared down to three boxes. To Do, This Week, and Don't Forget. This seems to be working better.

So far.

I also wanted to organize my writing better. I have my kanban board for keeping track of progress. It was a game changer when I first started using it and it's still working for me years later. I am reward focused, and believe it or not, moving a Post-it Note into the Finished category gives me a dopamine rush.

That also works for checking items off my daily to-do list. There's something so satisfying about that.

I also have a writing planner now--two of them. The second one was an accident, but I ended up really liking it, and if I can find a way to get the circles that I color in on the first (big) planner into my tiny writing planner, 2027 will move me to one, but coloring those word count circles in is exciting for me.

This is my long apology for all the planner and organization posts that show up here. This is something I deal with all the time. 

Appointment Stickers

I received no compensation of any kind for this post. I paid for all items mentioned on my own.

I saw some stencils that had a small box for the time and a larger box mostly surrounding it. The idea is that the time goes in the tiny box and the big box is for what the time indicates.

Cool, I thought. But I learned that I am too sloppy with stencils and I don't like sloppy. Considering the fact that I don't even like my stickers to be crooked when I put them down, I should have realized that stencils would be a problem for me.

It's not that I never use stencils--I have quite a collection--but I use them seldomly because of my lack of skill with them. More practice?

But then I found stickers that mimic these stencils! I immediately ordered them and they are literally the best stickers I've ever used for appointments.

 

 

Here is the appointment sticker in use. My haircut appointment actually changed from 2:30 to 2pm, which is why the sticker is a little lower than it should be and that fact that the time isn't written smoothly. (Yes, I am that anal, hence the reason why the stencils are a problem for me.) I added the little scissors/comb sticker. It is not part of the appointment sticker pack, but something I bought from a different sticker maker. 

And these are the actual appointment stickers from Orange Umbrella (again, received no compensation of any kind. I bought all my own stickers). I like all the color options. My plan is to assign a color to every kind of appointment. For example, haircut is pale pink, dentist is olive green, and so on.

These stickers work for me so much better than box stickers, even the mini box stickers. The time for the appointment is in the color box because that's the important information I need first. What the appointment is for goes in the bigger white box.

I've been adding little mini icons--a tooth for the dentist, the haircut icon in the picture above, a stethoscope for the doctor.

I love my mini icons, too. I wish more sticker companies made the ultra tiny ones so that I had more options available. 

Currently Stamps

I found a new set of Currently stamps for my notebook. I'm still using the same title stamp because the new stamp set didn't have anything that worked.

The Currently Reading bookshelf and the Currently Listening box with the CD and the musical notes were so much cuter than what I was using.

The picture to the left of my Currently setup was taken before I completed it. The little box at the bottom right-hand corner also received a stamp that says "Today." I usually just add a highlight or something memorable that happened there.

I also have "Writing" and "Loving," but those are from my old stamp set because the new set doesn't have either one of those options.

This is also my daily Gratitude Journal, although I keep that up at the front in a dated section that gives me room to write, but not so much space that it's overwhelming.

I started doing this at the end of last year and I like having a separate space for this, something away from my planner or my regular journal.

 

 

This is the section where I record my gratitude for the day. This is from last fall, I think October, hence the fall colors and theme. I'm too lazy to take another picture.

 

 

 

And here is my November picture with the old stamp set I was using. Everything is plain and I like the new stamps with the Bookshelf and the CD so much more. It adds a little something.