JOURNALS

Today started with a rush of thoughts on the newsletter. I knew this would be the one thing to make me feel productive by the end of the day. Honestly, missing the mark yesterday made it a bit more urgent, and I didn't want to carry it over again. As a side note, I also needed to get a birthday card off to a friend. Just something quick in the morning to ensure it reaches them by Saturday.

When making the workspace a bit more inspiring, I came to realise not much can change physically today. But one easy trick — blasting music. Music days are good days, and today was set for a good one. Tunes locked in.

Aiming to get the newsletter out early opened up the rest of the day. A small step towards my main goal would be freeing up time to work on the scripts for the pen plotting tutorial videos. They have been on hold for two weeks. Floating this idea kept me motivated through the push to finish the newsletter.

My plans today involved punching corners on cards for my to-do notes. Rounded corners bring a weird sort of satisfaction, and I needed more. Next, I had an exciting task—creating a new zine page from a handwriting design I'd typically use. Tweaking into a birthday card design, the aim was dual-purpose and efficiency. Following that, I planned to respond to social media messages and several emails. With those checked off, the focus would swing back to the newsletter. The 50 minutes work, 10 minutes break pattern kept a rhythm, an essential one, especially today.

One odd bit: the studio felt chilly. It clocked 17.7 Celsius. Unusual, since 18 Celsius was borderline cosy in winter, and yet today, it felt cold. Layering up with a fleece did the trick temporarily, but discomfort shuffles focus here and there. Managed, though. Complaining about the temperature some more might make for later reflections.

After rounding off the newsletter, satisfaction lingered despite the entire day's effort to finish it. Good that it's done. Hoping for some spare time towards the pen plotting scripts, but there it is.

Creating the zine page was fun. Took a design that fills the page with letters, adjusted it to only use the letters in "happy birthday", positioning them top and bottom strategically. Highlighting the words with a pen finished the birthday card nicely. Not the zine, but a variation on it.

The music choice today, an upbeat shuffle through favourites, pushed through the tempo of activities. Even through the mundane tasks, a good playlist made punching cards more enjoyable.

Waiting for a winter coat in May was genuinely weird, but by layering up and keeping active, I managed. No signs of a headache, which was a win since no caffeine reliance gave smoother flow through work tasks.

Summarising, today was intensely packed but oddly satisfying. Did everything expected and more, kept a solid pace, knocked the newsletter out, and plotted a bit of birthday creativity. Feels like a win because it is a win.