Managing a busy life can be challenging.
No matter what your life looks like, single, married, kids, no kids, student or CEO, staying organized and planning tasks is important. This isn’t to say that there are people who can never write anything down or keep a calendar and still stay on top of everything. I’m sure those magical unicorns exist. I am not one of them. At all. I need reminders for everything. I do a daily review of my schedule and upcoming due dates yet still manage to forget things.
Have I found the perfect planner? No. Have I found planner peace? Sort of. For now.
Life is full of stages
Just when you think you have things figured out and a good routine going life changes. A career change, having a child, adding a child to your family, caring for an aging parent, getting a pet….the list goes on and on. Having a planner that is flexible is the key to navigating all these changes without losing your mind.
I love all things “office” supplies. I love notebooks, journals, pens, planners, desk accessories, etc. I like my office space to be pretty and functional. It’s always a work in progress. When I was a teacher it was office supply heaven. I could label, color code, and organize to my heart’s content and get paid for it! I loved making my classroom look nice without being over the top (you have probably seen a classroom like that). Too much clutter is distracting to me, no matter how cute or pretty it is.
It was easy to have the time for all things office supply when I didn’t have kids and only had to worry about myself. After having my first baby I realized I needed to change up my systems big time. It took me a lot of trial and error, a few bought planners that ended up forgotten in a cabinet and more than one frustrating moment of disorganization.
How I found planner peace
Trial and error. Silly, right? One might think that all planners are pretty similar but that was not my experience! I had to try out various systems, tweak and adjust over and over again. When something worked really well I added it to my system. If not, bye-bye. There is no magic system that will instantaneously work.
The trick is to be judicious in what you try. I do not advocate shelling out loads of money to buy 10 different planners and see what works. Save your money my friend! It is nice to be able to flip through a planner in a store or online (yes some planners have a digital flip through feature) and see what each section really looks like. How much room is there on each page? Are the calendar squares itty bitty (a common problem in my opinion). Think carefully about what you will need and features you will actually use.
Baby steps
Make a list of your essential needs in regards to planning. Are you a digital, paper or combination person? Me? I am a combination person. I love the feel of paper and there is something about writing that is helpful in remembering things. (there have been studies done on this). Using paper planners also allows me to add photos, decorations, stickers, etc. This has been surprisingly enjoyable and fun to look back through some old planners (yes, I keep them). They become more like a journal instead of just a calendar.
What I use now
Currently, I am using a hybrid system of both a digital calendar and a bullet journal.
Digital Calendar
Currently, I am using two digital calendars: Google calendar and ClickUp. Well technically three because we also use Cozi so my husband can see things on the calendar. You can share a google calendar though so you don’t need the extra calendar. (We didn’t do this because of his work.)
I love Google Calendar and have used it for quite some time now.
My favorite features:
- Syncing across all devices
- Setting up different calendars and being able to view or hide them
- All the various views (month, week, day, etc)
- Being able to add so many details to each event (location, description, etc)
- You can create a reminder, task or event. It helps to stay organized!
- Can schedule a remote meeting using Zoom or conferencing with Hangouts
- I can sync my calendar with my kid’s school calendar
- It syncs with many other things like Cozi, project management programs (I use ClickUp), iCal and just about any other calendar!
My other favorite is ClickUp! It has quickly become my favorite tool to keep myself organized in both life and business. It is extremely powerful and customizable. Going into detail about ClickUp is far too involved for this post but suffice to say it is so useful. Managing a household can certainly be done using only Google calendar or a calendar like Cozi. Adding a business complicates things and I found I needed a more robust system. ClickUp was exactly the solution I needed!
Bullet journal
Are you asking yourself what on earth is a bullet journal?? If this is a new concept to you check out my introduction to the bullet journal. It will likely answer questions you may have.
The Pros
I really enjoy using a bullet journal, it has been the one system that has consistently worked for me. It is simple, flexible and you can be as minimalist or as creative as you would like. Sometimes I get creative with color and stickers, sometimes I use a black pen and nothing else. And that’s ok! That’s the whole point, flexible and easy.
I don’t like wasting space in my planner. If I have a day or more that I don’t use my planner, I don’t feel bad because in my bullet journal I just pick up where I left off. No blank pages to have to skip. Planners are so expensive it bothers me to have blank pages!
The Cons
One of my issues with using a bullet journal is having to draw out the monthly calendars. I found it too tedious and time-consuming. Leuchtturm created a solution to this by adding monthly calendars to their wildly popular 1917 dot grid notebooks. They can be hard to find and run about $20-35 depending on where you buy it. Buying direct from Leuchtturm the cost is $20 but when I went to look for it as I am writing this, they were sold out. It is available on Amazon but more expensive. My solution is to use my digital calendar for the monthly view and my bullet journal for everything else.
Custom planners
There are also places you can have custom planners made, you can buy printables online and make your own, the options truly are endless. If you have a tendency to go down rabbit holes (as I often do), proceed with caution.
Happy Planner (Bonus)
I have also used and really like the Happy Planner. I used it when I was a teacher and it worked really well. One thing I really love about the happy planner is that you can move pages around and customize the order. They sell various extension packs that you can add to make it your own. They have lots of different sizes as well which is nice.
I don’t like how bulky the planner is, not great for carrying in a bag (even the small ones). I don’t like ring bound planners because the rings always get in my way. I like a journal that will lie flat. It worked great as a teacher because it sat open on my desk most of the time.
Happy Planner has loads of raving fans and there are deep rabbit holes to go down here as well. There are Facebook groups, custom printables on Etsy and “buy/sell/trade” groups for all things planner supplies. For some people, this is the hobby that allows them to plan and express their creativity at the same time.
Consistent Use:
A major key to planner peace is consistent use. If you have ever read anything about productivity you know this is true. The more often we sit down and consciously think about our month, week and day, the more productive we become. We are less likely to forget things. I also find when I have written things down in my planner I don’t even need to look at it because I just know what I have to do. I will still check off all the things I have completed because let’s face it, we love checking things off a to-do list! It makes me feel productive especially if I have a day where I feel like I didn’t accomplish much.
It is my experience that we moms can be especially hard on ourselves. Beating ourselves up if things are not getting done, or the house is a mess, or the laundry is piling up, or the dishes are still dirty….the list goes on. You know what I’m talking about right? Beating yourself up can take many forms. Sometimes it’s avoidance, neck pain, anger, sadness, binge eating or outright yelling at yourself. Be mindful of this and be kind to yourself! There are only so many hours in a day and we also need to keep time for ourselves to recharge. Let your planner be a tool to help you keep things balanced.
Do some research
The system you decide to use must be based on what works best for you. Dip your toes in! Once again though I urge caution. I have a pile of unused planners so I speak from experience. I suggest looking at planners in person if possible to get a sense of the space you will have to write in, will it fit in your purse or bag, do you like the colors, etc. If that’s not possible, just be sure to check the return policy.
One of the best parts about bullet journaling is that you can try it out with any notebook you already have. Yes, eventually, you can buy all the pretty notebooks you want, I know I have! But until you find what works for you, proceed with caution.
The bottom line
The bottom line is you need to try different systems until you find something that works for you. My system works for me but it took a long time to get there and as I mentioned, the system has evolved over time as my life has changed. Be open to change and periodically check out new systems. You might be impressed by what you find!
Remember you are beautiful, amazing, and resilient. A great planning system can help bring more sanity to your life. What has worked for you? I love to hear what you think!
Leave a Reply