Goodbye 2020 … almost

My new Inspira Wellness Planner for 2021 arrived this week and it’s almost too beautiful to use! I’m not even kidding. Shortly after I heard a bit of a thump in the foyer outside my apartment I got a notification from the Shop app (fabulous app!) saying my package had been delivered. I opened the door to find this incredibly beautiful black and purple floral box with a shipping sticker on the bottom, the Inspira logo on the top, easily opened by slitting the packing tape, keeping the beautiful box perfectly intact to reuse, which I am totally doing! I was stoked already and I hadn’t even opened it.

When I opened it the first thing I saw inside the top flap was:

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

@weareinspira

The instagram and facebook logos are there indicating they can be found on those social media platforms and written inside the bottom flap it says, “Snap & Share, show us how you customize your planner #weareinspira” The frigging packing box is brilliant and I haven’t even gotten to the planner itself, which actually comes in a gorgeous light purple box with the Inspira logo in gold lettering on the top. This is the kind of box you can keep on your coffee table. The top comes off and inside is the matching white/ purple floral gold accented and spiral bound wellness planner. I love a spiral bound book that I can open to any page and comfortably lay flat to write in!

The cover is very sturdy, almost wood-like, it’s going to withstand a lot of wear and tear before it breaks off the spirals … if it ever breaks off the spiral ring, I think it will hold up. When you open it up you can clearly see the months are all colour-coded and tabbed for easy reference. I love tabs in a planner! But they are rare, usually you have to add your own. Before you get into the year, the months and days, you open with two affirmations … I am strong … I am capable. This is followed by Inspirations and Aspirations, where you write about who and what inspires you, your “why” for living well, your three biggest goals for 2021, your plan of action to achieve those goals and the challenges you expect to face and overcome. There is a separate page specifically for Mental Health and Self-love Goals, followed by a page to compile your gratitude list for the year listing one thing every new week. Before January begins (with gorgeous artwork) there’s a page to review your past year and set your goals for the new month.

Each month begins with a monthly calendar overview with a space specifically for body measurements, if you are on a weight loss journey or wishing to maintain your current size. In the daily view each page has two columns, either for two days or including space for random creativity, your weekly habit tracker, your weekly grocery list, etc. The day columns include a To Do space, Workout recording space, food journal space and hydration checklist. The end of each month has a page for review and goal setting for the following month. At the end of the book there are pages devoted to reviewing the year and setting goals for 2022, a recipe log, and several blank pages for notes. There’s an elastic attached to the back cover so you can easily mark your place and open to the current date. Someone asked if there was a pouch for documents/ keepsakes, which I have seen in a lot of planners. There isn’t … but there’s a whole box! (actually two boxes if you count the packing box) You can easily keep a whole box of 2021 filled with ticket stubs, receipts, cards, and any little mementos. I am excited about that too! Looking forward to filling my box with memories of 2021.

I am so excited to begin using my book. It looks promising … this could be the one planner that replaces all my others. Right now I have a daily mental health planner/ journal that I keep beside my bed, a daily work planner that I keep on my desk, and a daily food/ weight loss planner that I keep on top of the microwave in the kitchen … plus I have a 5-year journal that I write in daily. It’s a lot! It’s scattered! It would be nice to have one planner for everything plus the 5-year-journal, two books instead of four. And that is what I am going to attempt to do with this planner.

You might say I should keep work separate … but in 2020 work has come into my home full-time, it’s no longer separate. And as I have learned especially these past few months as my workload really ramped back up, I don’t shut the work down by leaving the desk, it loops in my brain anyway so I don’t think having a bit of it in my planner will have a negative impact on anything. Really I only use the work planner to record my hours, time off, and some basic to-do lists, no detailed planning or anything, all the important stuff happens in my Outlook. And often during the evening when I’m doing other things it might be good to be reminded of something I need to do first thing in the morning when I begin work.

So based on appearances alone, the Inspira Wellness planner is ticking all my boxes. I’m already thinking about who and what inspires me, my goals for 2021 … and I shall begin filling these pages while I’m enjoying a little time off from work to celebrate the holidays. I look forward to slowing down for a few days, enjoying some seasonal food, catching up on my pleasure reading and binge-watching some television series and films.

Mood: optimistic and grateful
Drinking: the first coffee of the day
Listening To: the hum of the electric heaters and neighbours waking to the day
Hair: some weirdness going on with this mop of mine, growing thicker if not longer