This idea has been rolling around in my head for the past few days, and it felt appropriate to examine it thoroughly on the medium of discussion. My question is this: is a blog just a commonplace book that’s digital and public?

Some background if you’re unfamiliar with commonplace books. They’ve been around for centuries as a means to gather thoughts, quotes, ideas, and just stuff in general that held any particular interest to the commonplacer. I particularly enjoy Megan Rhiannon’s post about it if you fancy a deeper dive. For the past year I’ve explored different commonplacing topics, mediums, and styles on my YouTube channel to try and figure out how to best fit commonplacing into my life. Which got me wondering, isn’t a blog a commonplace of sorts?

Now I do think there could be exceptions out there that would make these theory not true. Recipe blogs for example, but even then…isn’t a recipe blog just a collection of recipes with a person’s (usually longwinded) connection to and experiences with making the recipe? I might be so far down this thought trail that I could reasonably believe that all blogs are commonplace journals at this point… I can see where a blog recounting day-to-day happenings would be more of a diary or journal, but the moment other reference materials, products, books, quotes, etc. come into the conversation, it’s a commonplace blog.

A blog is a collection of thoughts, reviews, reactions, critiques, etc. all paired with a person’s personal thoughts on those topics. On this (rarely updated, often neglected) blog, I gather together my thoughts on topics that matter to me, just like I do in my commonplace. Why couldn’t this blog just be a public, shared, digital version of the things I put down in my commonplace? I share those pages on YouTube anyway, and this way they’d be easier for you to read then squinting at tiny font in a video. A blog is easier to search by topic, operating the same way as an index would in a tangible commonplace book.

Does the fact that a blog exists knowing someone is going to read it beyond the author, change anything? Since I know I’m writing to you, does that intrinsic bias alter the content I’m creating and thus alter it from being a commonplace? Are commonplace books only for the individual user or can they be shared works? The value of a commonplace book is having a reference you can go to over and over again. Just because this pool of reference material is available to others, that doesn’t make it any less of a valuable resource for myself. I often search my own blog for the frosting recipe for my family’s cutout cookies…

I don’t know what to do with this realization. Do I scrap the tangible commonplace book (even if I do make it digitally and just print it out) or do I continue on but incorporate this blog as another format? I am a firm believer in the value of having something tangible to hold and interact with beyond a screen. And I’m constantly questioning whether I mind duplicating my efforts, so of course I’m unsure about this, too. But one could argue there is value in trying something new…

Is this as simple as a, “Huh. That’s interesting.” and we carry on with our lives?

I don’t know how to articulate this feeling exactly, but I’ll just say it and we can work from there. I feel like I’m not part of the planner community anymore. Blame it on COVID or grief over my father unexpectedly passing, it just feels like there’s the great divide between me and the planner community. I still plan. I know others are still planning. But the party went on without me and I’ve never been good at being fashionably late.

Go Wild is happening again and I’m honestly shocked people are going. And that shock kind of shocks me. Why wouldn’t people go enjoy their hobbies and passions? The world seemed to move on and I’m still stuck in 2019.

My sticker business is basically non-existent anymore. I started focusing on other things like my retail businesses, but the demand for stickers left almost in tandem with my supply of new designs and products. I still make stickers for myself multiple times a week, but I no longer see the point to creating new products for a crowd of crickets when other aspects of my life are more financially viable.

The new Erin Condren 2024/25 planners are launching soon and I’ll be purchasing one because I still love them, but all the hype and PR around them completely passed me by. I’m shocked it’s that time of year already. I’ve since been watching some really great preview videos to choose which planner I’m going to get. Which might have spurred this sudden urge to dust off the blog and rant a bit…

I guess I’m just feeling nostalgic. Missing who I was back in 2019 before I lost my father and gained 50 pounds. It’s like I see the planner community outside my window and they’re welcoming still and absolutely present, but I just don’t feel like I can join them anymore. I feel different. I AM different. My planners are still the same. I still decorate and purchase stickers from Wonton in a Million, but I’m on the self-imposed outskirts.

Am I ok with that? Do I want to open the window and jump back into the community? Or is my time up and I’m just holding on to the golden days of yore? It’s no longer second nature to turn on a camera to film about my planners or bring out my phone to snap a photo of a spread. Maybe I just need to come to terms with it? Maybe I’m just lamenting my woes for attention…

Or maybe there’s one other person who feels the same way. Some monumental shift in themselves away from a community they were once so entrenched in. My love and passion for planning hasn’t changed, but the rat race for views and PR samples has. I had my 15 minutes of fame and appreciated every millisecond of it, but I think it’s time to accept the person I am now and how she engages (or rather doesn’t) with a community she once so dearly loved.

To-do lists are an essential tool for staying organized and productive. However, creating a to-do list for the entire week can be a daunting task. Here are some tips for making productive to-do lists for the entire week:

1. List out all of your tasks and responsibilities for the week.

This could include work tasks, household chores, errands, and personal projects. It’s important to include everything, even the small tasks, to make sure nothing gets overlooked.

2. Prioritize your tasks.

Not all tasks are created equal, so it’s important to prioritize them based on their importance and deadline. High priority tasks should be at the top of your list, while low priority tasks can be scheduled for later in the week or delegated to someone else.

3. Break down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable ones.

This will make it easier to tackle your tasks and make progress towards completing them. For example, instead of just writing “write report” on your to-do list, break it down into smaller tasks such as “research topic”, “outline report”, and “write first draft”. This will encourage you to keep going on a task, and not miss anything in the process.

4. Use a system to organize your to-do list.

There are many different systems you can use, such as the traditional to-do list, the prioritized to-do list, the time-blocked to-do list, etc. Experiment with different systems to find one that works best for you.

5. Review and update your to-do list regularly.

It’s important to review your to-do list daily and make any necessary updates. This will help you stay on track and make sure you’re not missing any important tasks. To-do lists should be flexible, changing things that adjust to your day. Plans change and your to-do list needs to change with them!

By following these tips, you can create productive to-do lists for the entire week that will help you stay organized, prioritize your tasks, and make progress towards achieving your goals.

If your TiKTok for you page is anything like mine, then you probably see a lot of “that girl” videos. Now I’m not going to tell you to get up super early, drink a smoothie, and go run twelve miles, but these are the things I do to make sure I have my shit together. Just over here trying to be the best “that girl” I can be (plus Alex helps too).

Daily

• Clean as I cook: This is huge for me if I want to keep my kitchen in any state of organized. If not, I’m left with a huge mess I don’t want to clean up after dinner so I leave it for future me.

• Put clothes in hampers: The urge to leave socks in the living room and my clothes by the side of my bed is real. 

• Clean up basement of dishes: We often spend our evenings down in our basement watching TV or playing video games. For a while I got into the bad habit of leaving dishes downstairs. Now I try to take up everything I brought down with me.

• Put away cans: This goes along with the basement mess. Alex drinks a lot of bubble waters and cans tend to multiply quickly. We’ve put our can bin right next to the door in the garage so we can easily put them away.

• Throw away junk mail and counter clutter: Running a business gives you even MORE junk mail than just regular life, so I take the time every day to go through it all and deal with what I need to keep and recycle the rest.

Weekly

• Wipe down stove: Now if I’m really on my game I’m doing this while I’m cleaning as I cook, but sometimes the burners are still hot and I dropped some food near the flame. At least once a week I make sure to clean up any bits left over.

• Clean surfaces in kitchen: Another thing I’m doing daily, but weekly I do a good clean down with sprays and more elbow grease.

• Vacuum floors: Now that we have hardwoods through most of the house I vacuum way more, but at the very least I do this weekly.

• Empty litter box drawer: Our cats have an automatic litter box (that only one of them uses but I digress) that I make sure to clean the drawer out and replace with a new compostable bag once a week.

• Wash sliding doors: Definitely in the warmer months these bad boys get diiirrrttyyyy.

• Wash and fold laundry: If I’m being completely honest, this happens more like every other week. Or I’ll wash everything then wait a week to actually fold it. Laundry is three distinct steps to me and they very rarely get done all at the same time. Wash, fold, put away does not happen in a day in this house.

• Mow the lawn: In the dead of summer this is more like twice a week, but I actually really enjoy mowing our grass. It’s a good time to listen to some music and get some fresh air.

• Plan meals for the week: Now this definitely doesn’t happen every week, but I try to at least make a game plan of what we want to eat so I can do the next step.

• Get groceries based on meal plan: We are a once a week type of grocery shopping family. Any longer and we won’t eat what we bought or will just have fast food.

• Clean water dish for cats: The boys have an automatic water fountain that gives them moving water, but we like to wipe it down regularly.

• Clean cats’ teeth: They hate this. We do it anyway.

• Water plants: I’m very strict with my plant watering schedule and sometimes I’ll go longer than a week depending on what my plants are telling me to do.

• Go through Monday bin of bills and paperwork: I keep a bin I’ve labeled “Monday Bin” filled with all of the paperwork and bills I need to take care of. Monday morning I’ll go through the bin, write checks, mail payments, and deal with everything I’ve added to it over the week. This is usually when I’ll write birthday cards or send wedding gifts, etc.

Monthly

• Replace kitchen sponge: Depending on how dirty it is I may do it sooner, but I always switch it after a month.

• Clean toilets: Spot cleans happen on the regular, but a deep clean once a month is good for us.

• Clean showers: Sammeee.

• Rotate mattress: I often try to do this every time we change the sheets (so every week and a half or so)

• Wash mirrors: If we’ve had guests over they tend to be more smudgy than usual

• Rotate houseplants: They gravitate towards the sun so I rotate them every month to keep them looking straight.

• Weed whack: In the summer we take care of growing weeds around our edges once a month. I’m sure our neighbors wish we did it more often, but that’s just not going to happen.

• Prune houseplants: Once they’re rotated it becomes obvious if things need to be snipped off.

• Cut cats’ nails: Or whenever they really start to hurt when we’re playing.

• Empty basement trash: We keep a large trash bin in the basement for movie nights and guests, so it takes a bit longer to fill up. If it doesn’t start getting a smell, we do it about once a month.

Seasonally

• Dust houseplants: It’s alarming how dusty these guys can get.

• Clean out pantry: I try to do this at least twice a year because things can get pushed to the side and won’t get used.

• Clean out fridge/freezer: Nobody wants random things growing in a forgotten Tupperware dish in the back behind the milk.

• Clean interior of garbage can: A good rinse down always does the trick.

• Change HVAC filter: We are religious about changing our air filters. Our Maincoon cat has crazy long hair and really dirties up the works.

• Wash bath mats: Honestly I probably only do this once a year if I’m being honest. That’s probably gross.

• Weed flower beds: I honestly hate weeding. I love indoor plants but outdoor plants with weeds are the worst.

• Take care of plants based on season: Outdoor ones I kind of just let do their thing.

• Fertilize houseplants: Indoor plants get special VIP treatment.

• Clean out utility drawers in kitchen: We don’t really have a “junk” drawer, but I make sure to clean out our kitchen drawers of any unnecessary things and reorganize them.

• Wash cat beds and blankets: More frequently if they start to show piles of Gallifrey’s dark hair.

Yearly

• Wash windows: Definitely an Alex task. I hate it.

• Mulch: Every year I try to black out the last time we mulched because it is awful.

• Repot houseplants: These girlies like their breathing room!

• Clean gutters: Alex on a ladder.

• Power wash house: Alex never lets me do this…I don’t think he trusts me…

• Repair caulking on windows and counters: We don’t do this every year, just touch ups where needed.

• Winterize sprinklers: We call a guy.

• Organize coat closets and clean: Our coat closets get messy and somehow accumulate random things we immediately forget we had.

• Organize front door closet and clean: This closet is the weirdest closet we have that often gets random things put inside of it to store. Like there’s a random bin of kid’s toys in here. We don’t have kids.

• Clean out and sweep garage: Usually this happens when spring starts to get rid of all the salt and gross dirt from the winter.

• Schedule vet appointments: You know it.

• Schedule yearly appointments: Get these on the calendar early so you aren’t waiting ages to get in.

Did any of these tasks stand out to you as weird or unusual? Is there anything I’m missing that is glaringly obvious to you? Let me know in the comments!