2020 was a unusual year. I can’t say it was bad for me. Actually, it was pretty good. I learned a lot of lessons, and all the people I love are healthy and alive. I also spent a lot of time with my husband, because of the lockdowns. Also, by tracking my healthy routines, I lost 3 of the 5 kilograms I wanted to lose.
Why a tracker and not a bullet journal?
Trackers are great things. I somehow dislike the idea of “bullet journals” because they are a distraction from our real targets and diffuse our focus from the things we have to do. All these drawings are maybe feeding the artist inside us, but they are also eating up our all-important time. And they keep us so busy without actually completing any important tasks. And what does it really matter for a city girl if it rains or not?
The trackers are something different
They give you black on white a record of what you did in the day, or the week or the month. And if the activities you are tracking are the right ones, you can see what’s working for you and what’s not and make changes accordingly.
The only problem with trackers is they are a bit boring. Pages and pages with little rectangles.
So, I am offering you…
A different way – 2021 mind and body health tracker
To create this 2021 health tracker you need white rectangle cardboard sheets, and 8×8 inches (in my case) designer’s papers (you can also draw your own), glue, paper cutter/guillotine and scissors.
The shape of this tracker will be like an accordion: two cardboard sheets for the two covers and six for the different months. You can see in the photo below the covers marked with orange.
The pages of my tracker are squared (following the 6”x6’’ designer’s paper size) and I started with A5 base paper (approximately 6” x 8.5”). It’s actually a little less than 6” wide so the 6” wide designer’s sheets overhang a little but that’s okay. I cut the long edge to about 7” long leaving a 1” wide tab that I folded over to use as a gluing area.
And the main shape of my 2021 tracker was ready!
Make it cute, make it mindful
Decorate the covers with your favourite paper designs.
Then glue a small envelope to the front and back inside covers. Use this to collect small positive notes about the things that happened in the year, goals you achieved and things you learned. Two envelopes, each for 6 months will be enough. The idea is not to write essays, but to “track” the good things which are coming into your life.
Here is easiest way to make the envelopes
Take a square piece of designer’s paper and fold along a diagonal as shown.
Then fold it along the other diagonal to define the central point.
Having the central point, fold both sides as shown…
… and also, the bottom. Look at the bottom of the envelope. You have to fold it a bit from the left and right “walls” to create space for gluing.
Let’s make the real tracking zone
A tracker with no tracking tables is just a list. So create in MSWord (or equivalent) and print the table you will need. To be useful for this layout, give your table a landscape orientation. Then fold it in half and glue the left side on the page as shown. You will need, of course, 12 tables, one for each of the 12 pages.
Decorate the bottom sides of your tables. These areas will be also useful – write the month or (in case thousands of wonderful things happen in your life) glue extra envelopes.
In the decorated foldable sides of the tables I also attached little tabs to make it easy to open the tables.
Be more creative with your 2021 mind and body health tracker!
Draw and decorate the labels for the tracker and every month yourself. I used my favourite marker watercolour technique, which you can find in this article . I suggest using leftover paper pieces from other projects – this will help you reduce your craft material clutter.
And that’s it. Your mind and body health tracker is now ready to work for you. Do not start with dozens of new activities. For January I put the most important ones – to walk every day 10 000 steps, to stretch and to exercise, and also, to track the back pain I am fighting with. And – very important – only half an hour in Facebook, this is an awful time eater. Also, I added some that are not really essential but are good like – to start reading every day (some days I have no time to read, because I have too many tasks I must accomplish for work), to put face cream before bed and other girly things, you know…
Have a very happy 2021 year and let your life be full of health, happiness and inspiration!
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If you feel like you need a craft detox and the 2021 mind and body health tracker will be not enough, maybe my book The Capsule Craft Collection (with all the step by step instructions) will be helpful for you.
