“Maybe what I need to do is write about the journey and the inevitable ups and downs I have faced along the way….[And maybe] ‘there’ doesn’t even exist.” -Mariah Z. Leach
The past several weeks have been filled with much love, laughter, precious moments and healing conversations. I met each day with joy, openness and curiosity. 💓
But this week has felt like everything is in ultra-slow motion: wandery thoughts and starts and stops, 🫣 mingled with bouts of imposter syndrome …
Having experienced all of this before, I know this week is merely a reminder that everything cycles. And I know I can trust my pace.
📚✂️📝🖊️🎨 My right brain planning practice ❤️🩹 sustains me through these types of wonky times, 💁🏻♀️ and part of that practice is sharing how I map 🗺️ my way through with you, dear Braveheart. 💓
Steps of moving from distraction to moving through:
- set a timer for ⏲️ (5-10 minutes)
- be in the moment: pen-to-paper, begin listing tasks and priorities
- use lined paper; divide into two columns by folding in half
- jot down everything that comes to mind: must-do | want-to-do* ❤️
- *these items will serve as rewards ➡️ alternate between musts and wants ❤️
- reset ⏲️ timer for 5-10 minutes and begin working on ONE task from the must-list
- depending on the time needed for the task, consider using the Pomodoro method
- I use the Pomodoro timer on the Balance app
- I also found this online version of a Pomodoro timer
- resist “pushing yourself” to finish if the task begins to feel 🫨 overwhelming
- pause + resume after a break:
- nourish 😌 your senses:
- listen to music 🎶
- brew 🍵 a cup of tea
- movement 🤸♀️ or breath-work
- walk ☀️ outdoors (or into another space/room)
- audibly remind yourself of your “enoughness” and worth ❤️
- slow is fast enough
- nourish 😌 your senses:
- pause + resume after a break:
- depending on the time needed for the task, consider using the Pomodoro method
- when the first task is complete (or at a stopping point), set a timer for ⏲️ (5-10 minutes) and enjoy something from your want-to-do list ❤️
- repeat this process according to a pace that works for you, Braveheart ❤️
Slow is fast enough.
➡️ Using a timer helps us to focus (and ❤️ self-sooth); it also helps us to work with 🕰️ time (instead of ignoring it and/or agonizing about it).
Blocks of timed sessions are a way to “zoom out” and focus on the proverbial big picture of our living (instead of dwelling on our doubts, questions and the accumulation of incomplete tasks).
⏲️ Using a timer, I was able to summarize some writing notes (Monday); complete content and art for the Ko-fi lunar download (Tuesday); set-up my weekly ✂️📝🖊️ page and go from doubt to delight within the 25 minutes that followed (Wednesday). 💓
One thing leads to another …
On Wednesday, I also added in another motivating detail to keep me moving through: writing down the minutia of my dailies. This is one of the ways to literally see everything I am doing.
Please Note: This practice is not about celebrating productivity, it is about maintaining my focus + acknowledging the details I often ignore with regard to my energy and time. ❤️
After I finished the first layer of my weekly page on Wednesday, I had the focus+energy to declutter my desk and prepare an early lunch to accommodate my afternoon meeting.
- The meeting focus was to discuss a chapter from The Book of Alchemy (by Suleika Jaouad)—focused on rebuilding—the ideal topic for the way I was feeling! 😉
After my meeting, I drove to a nearby park for my daily walk with my grrl. It was a beautiful, sunny day with moderate ☀️ temperatures, and it felt so good to be outdoors! 😎
True Confession: Thursday morning I felt the same-ish way I did the other mornings … but I reminded myself of how my trusty ⏲️ timer helped me to get started, and I set out to write this post.
- Bonus inspiration: I continued working on this post during a co-creating session hosted by [the amazing] Corinne Cunningham. 💓
What does all this have to do with right brain planning?
Every day is a gift. 🎁 Simple chronicles of the details (thoughts, events and emotions) of our days is a way to cope + know ourselves + map our desires.
Tracking (and reviewing) our thoughts and routine activities reveals our beliefs and values—and helps us to discover meaning and the details of our rhythms.
Showing up for ourselves on the page, along with setting aside time and space on a regular basis for both tangible and intangible processing is how we come to identify our desires + get clarity.
- Everything is an opportunity. Everything we have experienced, lived and loved, questioned and lost is a part of our wholeness.
And, Braveheart, there is enough time and space and energy for our dreams and desires, wishes and want-to’s, and our ❤️🩹 healing (even when we doubt all of that).
Our dreams take time. Without some type of visual chronicle to serve as a “map”—as well as a reminder and directive—the timelines of our desires and experiences become jumbled. What matters most becomes ignored and forgotten.
Thank you kindly for your presence here, Braveheart. 💗
I appreciate your interest and support.
~love & good wishes~
Right Brain Planning Basics | Day One Guide
The 2025-2026 theme for the Chapters private community I am hosting is 📖 [Conscious Living]. ✨ This is also the guiding theme of the cyclical resources + guides with art, templates and instructional content I publish for my Ko-fi patrons.
⭐️ I am an artist and curator; I am one who communicates with color, found words and collage, inky marks and doodles as I cycle like the moon (as my calendar), chronicling oracles and abiding with the sky as a meditation.
⭐️ I host creative communities, safe spaces for gathering and sharing. I choose love and creativity for coping with the ongoing challenges of this world and I go to work—not because everything is fine but because I believe art heals.
❤️ Braveheart, as the Creator/Artist of Right Brain Planner I am ever-grateful to have the opportunity to share my creative work online + support other creators! 🎉 For almost 20 years I have had the privilege of sharing my art and writing about right brain planning while also hosting kindred 👭🏽💞👭 communities. ✨ I consider it an absolute delight to continue this portion of my creative work (even as I retire from full-time work).
- This is possible, in part, by {you} and your presence here. But also because of the support of my Ko-fi patrons and the other member/subscriber communities I host (via their presence, input and paid subscriptions). 🫶
- 💁🏻♀️ Other ways to support my work: continue to read this blog + follow me on Instagram.