This post has been written by one of our lovely contributors, Amanda Long.
I’ve been asked by several friends, how did you get into planning? Many are interested in it to see who I decorate and others want to know how I get so much done. The simple answer is, what was in my brain is now on paper and I can carry it around and manage it much easier than when it was just in my head.
My planner looks like what my brain does {scary I know}. However, my planner peace has not always been all roses and candy. I’m honored to share how I came to pick the perfect planner.
Brain dumping is essential. Before you buy a planner that might not be the perfect fit, ask yourself three things.
- What am I going to plan?
- What are my planning needs?
- Why am I planning?
What are you going to plan?
This is important, because if you are just going to make a bunch of to-do’s, groceries and probably never lists; your planner will get very boring. You’ll want to have more definition in your life than a to-do list. We are going to start small, but first get a huge piece of paper {I used a poster board} and start some lists. Ask yourself what are all the things you want to plan? Here’s what my list looked like:
- Meals/Recipes
- Work
- Designing
- Home/Self
- Cleaning
- Keeping Organized
- Kid’s activities
- Fitness
- Reading
- Social
- Personal Goals
- Business Goals
- Kids & Family Goals
WOW!! That’s a lot, I KNOW. So I picked a few things I wanted to plan and each week add one more thing.
Tweet ThisFrom that master list, I decided that there were a few key areas that needed planning or at least, brain dumped like right now.
- God
- Cleaning/Organizing
- Budget
- Self
- Family
Next, What are your planning needs?
Ask yourself a few questions about what is going to work for you? Do you like small or big books? Lines, or blank paper? Lots of room for creativity or ready to fill in blanks? These are all important for the success to perfect planner happiness. Here’s what my list looked like:
- lots of room
- extra lists
- brain dump list making
- extra tablets or journals
- Pretty
- but not over decorated
- Functional
- Changeable
- Convenient to work or plan on the go and at home.
Finally, why are you planning?
The why is the most important part of making this planning thing work. Why? Because planning doesn’t always mean you are going to get everything done, and your goals are going to be reached every week. When times get hard remembering why you do what you do, and realize that life is better with your planner will be the thing that keeps you going. My biggest failure each week is meal planning, if I were to plan out my meals like I plan out my client workload, my house would run as smooth as my business does. This is one of my why’s: because dinner comes EVERY DAY. It’s as simple as that sometimes. I believe a planner or planners CAN do it all so make some of these lists and decisions and go get some perfect planner happiness.
Latest posts by Amanda Long (see all)
- How to Pick Your Perfect Planner - February 26, 2016
[…] always getting asked, How do you get more done than me? Earlier this year I posted on Planner Squad, and really got into the nitty gritty’s of my planning time and how that looks but first I […]