2x2 Focus Grid and The Morning Page

Developing a Rhythm and Practice of Writing - Part 16

Journaling for me is not just writing down my thoughts. It’s a practice of intention and ownership. 

Every morning, as part of my Morning Practice, I layout a daily planner in my journal. I create a new layout every morning with a ruler and a pen - to help me slow down the process. It would be easy to create a printable template but I found the slowness of drawing the layout daily has helped me not feel hurried to start my day. 

There are four components to my Daily Planner Layout:

1. 2x2 Focus Grid: Every morning I write in the key focus, project or priority of the day. Usually I keep it to 3 (but there are days I need to use all four). Four is the maximum I allow for the day. The smaller box in the center of the grid is where at the end of the day, I write in how many Sessions I was able to dedicate to that priority.
   
   
2. Sessions Tracker: There are three key activities I track plus one for Administration. I track “E” - for exploration/learning, “C” - for creating, “G” - for guiding/leading and “A” for Admin work.
   
   Each focus session is based upon the Pomodoro Technique - 25 minutes with a 5 minute break.
   
   
3. Bullet Journal: On the right side, I use the Bullet Journal technique to track my tasks, events and notes. I transfer the tasks from my digital project management tool - Notion - to the physical paper. It helps me prioritize the tasks that are important today.
   
   
4. Review: At the end of the day, I’ll document a quick summary of the day. I will track how many sessions I did Explore, Create, Guide and Admin. Also, I’ll write anything that is worth noting from the day - that will later be transferred to my digital archives.
   
   
5. Morning Pages: This is where I will “free write” one page to start my day. It’s a stream of consciousness writing. I used to aim for 3-pages but when you have been doing this daily and consistently for over a decade - 1 page is enough. 
    

This entry is for Month-long writing challenge for our The Beautiful Future Members. Every weekday, we write and share with one another to build and strengthen our practice of writing.