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There’s a lot of talk going around about how to ~*~be productive~*~ during quarantine. And while that’s well and good, plenty of us (myself included) are struggling to just be. Let alone be productive.
That being said, I get such a confidence boost when I feel productive, even if it’s all in my head. That’s why I use my Passion Planner to track my entertainment… whether we’re in quarantine or not.
Because every time I get to cross off an episode or season of the TV show I’m binging or the next milestone in the podcast I’m working my way through, I get a little boost. And who doesn’t need an extra boost right now?
Tracking Television
We’re in the golden age of TV right now, and there are so many new shows coming out all the time.
The first tracker in my Passion Planner is the TV shows I’m watching. I originally had it on a single page, but last year gave it a full spread because I ran out of room, and I continued that trend this year.
I start with the show(s) I’m watching on January 1, and then add in new shows as I start them. Anything greyed out with slashes represents things I’ve watched before this year (unless I’m re-watching the show, like The Office).
For the most part, shows get one box per season. For shows that have a single season and likely won’t ever get more than that, like Cheer or Tiger King, I create a box per episode and put (episodes) at the end so I can distinguish it from season trackers when I reference this in the future!
You’ll notice I have different colors filled in. I have a set of Mildliner markers, and I go through them in rainbow order by month: red for January, orange for February, pastel orange for March, gold for April, etc. Whenever I complete a season or episode, I color in the box with the color for that month.
My TV set-up is pretty much the same as last year, but this year I added a new spread right after this one: TV to watch.
This is where I track all of the shows that I want to watch or that have been recommended to me. There’s a column for me to mark off if I started it or not, and another column for which platform I need to watch it on. It’s been super useful so far!
I’m not sure I really needed the full two-page spread for this, but I’m happy to have the room in case I need it!
Tracking Movies
Next up is movies. I have it set up pretty much the same way as TV, but the tracker is divided into two spreads: one for movies in theatres, and another for movies streamed (which also includes movies I rent on DVD from my library).
The awkward thing is… we haven’t seen any moves in theatres since January. Partially because we were so busy, and partially because of coronavirus.
Whoops.
Movies streamed is a whole other ballgame. I actually might need to take over the second page of the Movies in Theatres spread if quarantine lasts through the summer, because I might fill up both pages rather quickly…
Then, just like with TV, I have a full two-page spread for movies I want to watch, complete with the date I watched it and where I can stream it.
Definitely glad I have a two-page spread for this one, because I’ll clearly need it.
Tracking Books
Next is my book tracker. I want to read 52 books this year, so I expanded from my previous single-page tracker to a full two-page spread. (As I’ve said before, my phrase of the year should have been Content Consumption).
I don’t use my Passion Planner to track books I want to read, because I use Goodreads pretty religiously for that type of tracking. Instead, it’s just the books I’ve finished.
At the beginning of the year, I listed out the boxes for books 1-40, and once those are filled in, I’ll add 41-52 on the next page.
Tracking Podcasts
Finally, I have a single page to track the podcasts I’ve been listening to. I have a terrible (?) habit of needing to start a podcast from the very beginning, no matter how long ago it started. I hate when hosts go through listener questions or reference an old episode and I don’t know what they’re talking about, so I start at the beginning and go forward.
That being said, I also don’t have nearly as much time to listen to podcasts as I did when I lived in Cincinnati and had a long commute, so I use this page as motivation to keep listening!
Depending on the show, it might have one block per episode (for example, Dolly Parton’s America is a single-season, limited-run show). Otherwise it might go in 10-episode blocks, or if there are a bunch of episodes (looking at you, YNAB) it might go in 25-episode blocks.
So there you have it! How I’ve hacked my Passion Planner to trick my brain into thinking I’m being productive when really I’m just watching TV.
What are you tracking in the back of your Passion Planner?
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