December 2023 has arrived much faster than expected and now I need to make sure I’m ready with my tracking and planning for the year ahead and get myself all ready for 2023.

Are you like me? Have you been thinking about your plans and making sure you kick off 2023 the right way, deciding on your focus pieces to work on? What better way to do that than to have yourself a project planner that’ll help you stay on track with all your yearly plans.

Since 2021, I have been using my Digital Planner to log all my daily tracking and combine all the stitch tracking with an Excel spreadsheet monthly. This helps me to keep myself motivated and focused on my projects for the year. I find it very insightful to actually see at a glance exactly how much stitching time I’m getting and on what projects.

So has the tracking worked?

It is a real eye-opener to watch month by month the progress made by looking at it on a bar trending spreadsheet. You get to see at a glance what you have achieved to date and where some of your projects might be being forgotten or neglected.

I update the information in the excel spreadsheet monthly and check my tracker view of the year, as I go, to easily see where there is a neglected project. Then I ask myself a couple of simple questions…..

1. Do I really like this project?
2. Why have I not stitched on this one?
3. Is this to be a UFO project?
4. Am I trying to make this a focus piece next month?

Digital Planner VS spreadsheet or both?

I always have my Ipad or Android next to me (actively using one or the other for stitching, depending on if I am using GoodNotes or Pattern Keeper for stitching) that day. Either way, both are always sat by my stitching spot so that at the end of my stitching session I can quickly jot down what I have stitched on for the day.

I love having the digital planner at my fingertips to make sure I can write down what threads I need or notes and ideas as I think of them. It is always a good idea to have your planner to hand when you’re watching Flosstube – just for that enabling moment… We all have them!

The thing that really keeps me on track is my excel spreadsheet. It allows me to see everything for the month with trending bars and the overview for the year, I find it gives me a very clear picture of where I am at with my stitching, reminds me of projects I might have neglected, and keeps me accountable if I have a focus project that I am trying to complete or meet my own set goals.

If like me, you like to know how you are progressing with your stitching throughout the days, months and year then maybe some form of tracking will help you achieve all you have set out for yourself for the year. With that in mind, I thought I would share my spreadsheet with those who think a little tracking would help you stay accountable. (The spreadsheet tracker is at the bottom of this post for you to download)

This spreadsheet is great if, like me, you just want to make sure all your projects are getting some of your time and love and to see at a glance your finishes and where you might be neglecting a project or two.

I have a video I created back in 2020 (looking to do an updated one soon) to show how the tracker works and how to update it for each year. Click This link to view the video

I no longer use a paper happy planner as I have replaced this with my digital planner (there is another video on the digital planner, you could watch by clicking this link if you would like to see how the digital planner works too).

Feel free to download the Excel spreadsheet below.

Here’s to a Happy, Healthy, and Productive 2023! Happy Stitching everyone!