Welcome to 2023!

I joked that my New Year’s Eve party included creating a custom digital GoodNotes planner for 2023. It was a wild party at my house. I was up late. There was some wine. It was after midnight before I was done with my project. I then wished the family a happy 2023 and went to bed. 

The next day, my wife said that I could share those documents as part of my leadership consulting business. At first, I thought that was pretty silly, as who would want some stuff that I created? On second thought, it seemed like a worthwhile idea. I have been designing digital planners for myself since 2016-ish. This current version had remained mostly unchanged for the last 3 or so years. So, it has been well tested.

I have tried many of the iOS notes taking apps that are available. I was a Noteabilty guy for some time then discovered GoodNotes 5. I do not think there is a perfect note-taking app, but GoodNotes has served me best. I like the stickers, element creation, backup structure, and how well PDF document import as note-taking pages. 

As we enter 2023 together, I am excited to share my journey templates. The first sheet is a full-year calendar in which dates can be highlighted. To the side, I dd brief notes to explain the highlights. For example, I may highlight January 10-11 in orange. Then to the side of the week write in orange “BOS” for traveling to Boston. 

I love this one-page look at the whole year. I use stickers to indicate birthdates, anniversaries, medical, and dental appointments. It is nice to see my whole year at a glance. When I am syncing up with others, I can look at that page and see my appointments and travel. 

The other page included is for those frequent travelers. I am on the road for 3-4 weeks every month. I can quickly lose track of what I have booked and make sure I have the timing right to get where I need to go. This sheet has worked great as it gives me a one-month view of my travel. I know where I am going, how I will get there, and that I booked everything I need. 

Finally, I like Cornell notes for my bullet journal. Check out this article on Cornell notes https://bit.ly/3jKOACT

Enjoy! I hope your 2023 is well organized and efficient 🙂