From Category: Pens & Papers
It’s the end of the day. You’re lying in bed. The lights are off. The day flew by so fast. You can’t even remember what you did.
I was texting a friend on WhatsApp. She asked, “How was your day?”
That’s when it hit me. I couldn’t remember what I did in the afternoon. I didn’t even know what I had for breakfast. I've always known that I’m not very productive in the afternoons, especially between 2 and 4 p.m, but not having the faintest idea is not good at all. I started asking myself, Is this how I always spend my time?
Time and money feel similar to me. When I spend money on cute stuff at Daiso, at least I get something tangible. But with time? Once it’s gone, there’s nothing to show for it. *argh*
I’ve always been a planner girl. Even though I use Notion a lot now, I still keep a hardcover journal. Sometimes, writing things down just feels better than typing. There’s something magical about good old pen and paper!
Before, I followed a simple bullet journal method. I would list tasks, appointments, and reminders for the day. But sometimes, looking at that long list was overwhelming. Too many little tasks all piled up. Some people say, “Don’t write down every tiny detail of your life.” But if I don’t, I forget them. Simple tasks like vacuuming the floor, cleaning my diffuser, or changing my hamster’s sand bath often slip my mind.
So, I grabbed my journal and created a new template. I hope it helps you too ☺
I also added a column for tracking meals. I’ve been snacking way too much lately, and I want to cut back. It’s time to get back on track with healthier habits.
P.S.: Remember to always count your wins, no matter how small they are! I’m also practicing being mindful of all the good things in life because where you put your awareness is what you will attract more of into your life!
Let’s test this out in the final month of 2024. It’s great to have big goals, but I also want to start small and tweak things as I go. So far, it’s been 5 days into December, and I’m loving this new mini system.
Cheers to December, may all of us end the year with a bang!
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
I recently wrote a blog post 'Being Alone VS Feeling Lonely'. I wrote it purely as a braindump because I was frustrated at so people telling me that being alone is equivalent to being anti-social. To my surprise, that blog post was very well received. So I thought, instead of just posting about traveling and eating, I shall publish different topics like this more frequently too - deeper shit and personal.
For those who know me, I'm quite a pen and paper person despite having my hands glued to my phone or laptop most of the time. I have this weird obsession of needing to write my to do lists, game plans, life goals, motivational quotes in my journal, random scrap papers or post it notes. It's like...if it's digital, it's invalid; if it's physical and tangible, it's valid and it needs my attention!
Monday, November 5, 2018
Just like any stationery lover out there, throughout my life I had hoarded a hell load bunch of planners/diaries/journals. However, there was never once when I could commit myself entirely to it. It just didn't feel RIGHT. You know the feeling right?
This Molang Diary was the 1st diary that I picked up when I set my feet back into journaling for the umpteenth time (read my story of journaling here).
I stumbled upon this diary when I was browsing eBay in my bed. I fell in love with it at first sight. However, I knew myself too well - I was hesitant to purchase it because I thought I would eventually abandon it. After days and days of struggling, I gave in to the cuteness of Molang!
If I'm not mistaken this Molang Diary is the 2014 version but it came with 2015 calendar as well. It comes in 3 colours - tiffany blue, white, watermelon red. Needless to say, I choose my favourite colour! It was priced at approximately $7 USD when I bought it off eBay last year. The newer versions are definitely pricier.
Pastel pink as the front page and you have a little plastic slot to put your little miscellaneous paper items or even polaroids.
The spread for the entire year.
Every month before the monthly spread, you will have a little molang illustration waiting for you as you start your new month. Not to mention that they are all different for every month.
Every month, there's are different illustrations across the pages. You can save up on your stickers because these Molangs are cute enough to stand on their own!
For the weekly spread, you have the freedom to set the dates yourself too.
Here's how I used mine.
Throughout all these years, I was trying to hard to find D Diary for myself. Buying a diary is just like buying a guitar or choosing a boyfriend - sorry, but that's the best analogies I could come up with LOL! You gotta learn through the painful way via the trial and error method. Before you found your right one, you would go through some that you thought you would like it or be able to accept its flaws (too small, too big, too thick, too thin, bad paper quality, boring template or designs etc). Then eventually you would give up and dump it aside. Until...one day, you meet the true love of your life then the magic happens.
This Molang Diary was the 1st diary that I picked up when I set my feet back into journaling for the umpteenth time (read my story of journaling here).
I stumbled upon this diary when I was browsing eBay in my bed. I fell in love with it at first sight. However, I knew myself too well - I was hesitant to purchase it because I thought I would eventually abandon it. After days and days of struggling, I gave in to the cuteness of Molang!
If I'm not mistaken this Molang Diary is the 2014 version but it came with 2015 calendar as well. It comes in 3 colours - tiffany blue, white, watermelon red. Needless to say, I choose my favourite colour! It was priced at approximately $7 USD when I bought it off eBay last year. The newer versions are definitely pricier.
The very best thing about this diary is that it's UNDATED. I was totally blown away that time when I discovered this fact. I could write in it whenever I wanted and it's not so much of a major commitment. It's no longer a problem if you go about a few months not using it or whatsoever because you are the one in control of the dates.
Okay, enough of my rambling, let me show you the pages in the diary :D
Pastel pink as the front page and you have a little plastic slot to put your little miscellaneous paper items or even polaroids.
Then you have the message to yourself / note to self column.
The spread for the entire year.
I ignored the 2014 calendar completely when I was using this diary in 2015. Anyway, even if I were to use it this year, it still wouldn't do much harm to me because all the spreads are undated, so why bother?
Every month before the monthly spread, you will have a little molang illustration waiting for you as you start your new month. Not to mention that they are all different for every month.
A list with check boxes. Good for your list of monthly goals or things that you can't categorise.
An empty monthly spread. It comes without the months and dates. You have the flexibility to start the diary whenever you want. No longer having to start your diary in January anymore. I hated the idea that if you decided to start organising your life some time in the year and you had to leave a bunch of pages blank at the earlier dates of your diary and it seems life's so disorganised again.
Every month, there's are different illustrations across the pages. You can save up on your stickers because these Molangs are cute enough to stand on their own!
For the weekly spread, you have the freedom to set the dates yourself too.
Here's how I used mine.
Molang Diary was my diary from October 2014 - September 2015 before I switched to my Midori Traveler's Notebook. I loved it a lot for it's flexibility in numbering the days and months on my own as well as the size of the diary and the small little illustrations in its pages. I made my change because I wanted something that allows me to have more writing space so I could doodle/ramble and write whatever that pops into my mind. Molang Diary is good for usual to-do list but it you were going to incorporate more things into it then it will be rather tricky unless you have microscopic handwriting to be able to fit hell lots into it. Nonetheless, Molang Diary is a good choice for yourself or as a present to a stationery junkie friend. I highly doubt that there's someone who can say "No" to such a cute notebook right?
Up till this day, I am glad that I actually picked this Molang Diary up because without it, I wouldn't have had returned to my journaling days. Not only that, ever since I bought this diary for myself, I have been obsessing over Molang the character! My bestie bought me a Molang cup for my birthday, a little Molang plushie for Christmas and I got a set of Molang stickers for my Midori Traveler's Notebook too.
Stay tuned for the next blog post under the category of "Pens and Papers" where I will be sharing more of my journaling stories/tips and tricks/DIY/flip throughs.
It's 11pm right now and I shall end this super long blog post and finish up this episode of Gossip Girl that I am watching at the moment (Yes, I know I am late for the trend but whatever HAHA)~ Good night xoxo
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Ever since I was a kid, I had always had this insane obsession with stationery. I guess my mom needs to be given credit for this because she used to buy me a lot of cute stationery whenever she went on a business trip. There was once when she went to Hong Kong and she returned with a huge pile of pens, rubber stamps, stickers, pencil cases and rulers. So, growing up, I had excessive stationery lying in my house. I didn't own a lot of toys but I sure did own a massive amount of stationery and other adorable collector items.
When I first started this blog, my only intention was to make it an outlet for myself. I didn't care about anything or anyone, it's purely for my own personal sake. However, as time goes by, this blog grew and I had to filter some things out which can't and shouldn't be put online because I realised that I will be the one accountable for the things I have chosen to put in public.
I tried opening another blog which was completely private and that didn't really work for me because whenever I was blogging there I would be thinking "if I have the time to blog here and ramble here, why don't I just devote this time into my original blog" and I would just give up on everything.
When my beloved darlings Daphne and Chanwon started sharing their passion for journaling, I started to dig deeper into it...Long story short, I fell in love with it.
To some people, like Chanwon mentioned, this habit of journaling would seem to be a useless thing to do and it's a waste of time. Why bother sitting down and taking out your so called planner or diary because we aren't Anne Frank anyway :S
However, after fumbling my way through this journey of journaling, I have started to love it.
Journaling is a really nice and sentimental way to keep your memories. Nowadays, people don't print out photos anymore, let alone penning down the stories behind those photos. At first when I started to do this, it's like a chore to me especially when I was falling behind on some days...Nevertheless, no matter what, as long as I pushed myself to replace those diary entries, the feeling of satisfaction is insanely AWESOME. Page by page as you flip through, those memories are so vivid and you get to relive that very moment.
The ironic part for me is that since I have a blog, then what's the point of me writing down my memories in a diary? Let me assure you, it's really different. Yes, you get to share whatever you want on your blog but there are things that are inappropriate / personal / irrelevant to be put into a blogpost. Just because it's interesting to me, it doesn't mean that it will be interesting to everyone, especially those inside jokes that I share with my friends. Sometimes, it's pointless. So, those things will go into my diary.
Journaling also keeps my life organised. I implement the bullet journal method because that's the first system that I came across under the recommendation of Chanwon and I am glad that it's working for me :D I was skeptical at first because the very last time I had a to-do list, I was at the age of 9 - I had my very last notebook which I used to jot down what homework I had for that particular day and what books to bring to school the next day. That's it. After that, I just went on memorising everything in my brain - which thankfully didn't really fail me often HAHA! Of course, being a human, I would have a system glitch once a while but overall it worked surprisingly well.
However, as I went into university, I realised that life's not like high school anymore. There are no teachers who will keep an eye on you all the time and check on you on regular basis, you need A LOT of self-discipline, motivation, organising skills and time management skills to get your shit together. Things could be overwhelming one day and the other day it would seem like there's nothing major going on at all. Hence, that's when I started to return to my journaling habit.
I made this mental rule and promise to myself - if I write something down on my planner, then I must get it done no matter what. Being an OCD, I love to cross out the boxes on my to-do list. What's the point of having a to-do list if you don't get the satisfaction and accomplishment of crossing things out?
In addition to that, I find journaling's a good way to unplug myself from the digital devices. If it wasn't for my journal, I don't think I would even bother looking away from the computer screen. I basically read, blog, eat in front a screen all day err day. But, when you have a journal, it's like having a puppy, you have to add "walk the puppy" in your daily routine and that's the same thing for journaling. It gets things off my brain. I love writing it with some soft music in the background and my scented candle burning by the side - it's therapeutic.
Right now, I have been living up to my habit of journaling for nearly 1.5 years and I am glad to say that I'm enjoying it. It's a passion that not a lot of people can relate to but at the same time, I have found myself a good bunch of friends who love journaling and it's a topic that we can go on and on for hours. It's a journey that you will love once you are on board, if not, you will be judging from afar and that's alright!
From now onwards, I will try my best in composing more blog posts regarding my journaling journey which will include a lot of handwriting, stickers, sticky notes, rubber stamps, washi tape and last but not least my Midori Travelor's Journal which I love very dearly.
If you are a planner / stationery lover like me, by default, we are friends :D YAY!
When I first started this blog, my only intention was to make it an outlet for myself. I didn't care about anything or anyone, it's purely for my own personal sake. However, as time goes by, this blog grew and I had to filter some things out which can't and shouldn't be put online because I realised that I will be the one accountable for the things I have chosen to put in public.
I tried opening another blog which was completely private and that didn't really work for me because whenever I was blogging there I would be thinking "if I have the time to blog here and ramble here, why don't I just devote this time into my original blog" and I would just give up on everything.
When my beloved darlings Daphne and Chanwon started sharing their passion for journaling, I started to dig deeper into it...Long story short, I fell in love with it.
To some people, like Chanwon mentioned, this habit of journaling would seem to be a useless thing to do and it's a waste of time. Why bother sitting down and taking out your so called planner or diary because we aren't Anne Frank anyway :S
However, after fumbling my way through this journey of journaling, I have started to love it.
Journaling is a really nice and sentimental way to keep your memories. Nowadays, people don't print out photos anymore, let alone penning down the stories behind those photos. At first when I started to do this, it's like a chore to me especially when I was falling behind on some days...Nevertheless, no matter what, as long as I pushed myself to replace those diary entries, the feeling of satisfaction is insanely AWESOME. Page by page as you flip through, those memories are so vivid and you get to relive that very moment.
The ironic part for me is that since I have a blog, then what's the point of me writing down my memories in a diary? Let me assure you, it's really different. Yes, you get to share whatever you want on your blog but there are things that are inappropriate / personal / irrelevant to be put into a blogpost. Just because it's interesting to me, it doesn't mean that it will be interesting to everyone, especially those inside jokes that I share with my friends. Sometimes, it's pointless. So, those things will go into my diary.
Journaling also keeps my life organised. I implement the bullet journal method because that's the first system that I came across under the recommendation of Chanwon and I am glad that it's working for me :D I was skeptical at first because the very last time I had a to-do list, I was at the age of 9 - I had my very last notebook which I used to jot down what homework I had for that particular day and what books to bring to school the next day. That's it. After that, I just went on memorising everything in my brain - which thankfully didn't really fail me often HAHA! Of course, being a human, I would have a system glitch once a while but overall it worked surprisingly well.
However, as I went into university, I realised that life's not like high school anymore. There are no teachers who will keep an eye on you all the time and check on you on regular basis, you need A LOT of self-discipline, motivation, organising skills and time management skills to get your shit together. Things could be overwhelming one day and the other day it would seem like there's nothing major going on at all. Hence, that's when I started to return to my journaling habit.
I made this mental rule and promise to myself - if I write something down on my planner, then I must get it done no matter what. Being an OCD, I love to cross out the boxes on my to-do list. What's the point of having a to-do list if you don't get the satisfaction and accomplishment of crossing things out?
In addition to that, I find journaling's a good way to unplug myself from the digital devices. If it wasn't for my journal, I don't think I would even bother looking away from the computer screen. I basically read, blog, eat in front a screen all day err day. But, when you have a journal, it's like having a puppy, you have to add "walk the puppy" in your daily routine and that's the same thing for journaling. It gets things off my brain. I love writing it with some soft music in the background and my scented candle burning by the side - it's therapeutic.
Right now, I have been living up to my habit of journaling for nearly 1.5 years and I am glad to say that I'm enjoying it. It's a passion that not a lot of people can relate to but at the same time, I have found myself a good bunch of friends who love journaling and it's a topic that we can go on and on for hours. It's a journey that you will love once you are on board, if not, you will be judging from afar and that's alright!
From now onwards, I will try my best in composing more blog posts regarding my journaling journey which will include a lot of handwriting, stickers, sticky notes, rubber stamps, washi tape and last but not least my Midori Travelor's Journal which I love very dearly.
If you are a planner / stationery lover like me, by default, we are friends :D YAY!
Thursday, April 28, 2016
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