Ever since I was in middle school, I've loved planners. I started with the school-assigned versions and have progressed to and tried many other formats since. Since I've used so many, I'm pretty picky about my planner lay-out and have my method of organization down to a science.
Over at The Blended Blog we are starting a new Monday series called Nuggets for the New Year, featuring tips on organizing all aspects of your life. Our very first post of the series is all about planners so I knew I had to jump in on this one! If you are hopping over here from Lisa's blog, welcome!
My current planner of choice is the Day Designer by Whitney English. It comes for quite the hefty sum but for me, it's totally worth it! For this post, I thought I would show you the features of the planner and a couple of the ways that I personalize mine.
By far, my favorite aspect of this planner is that there is one whole page for each week day. The left hand column features a schedule by the hour and the whole right side is a to-do list. The to-do list is ultimately the selling point for me. I have pretty extensive lists every day and haven't found another planner that will accommodate them without running over into other space. I also like that the planner gives me a spot for a "Top 3" to-do. This helps me prioritize my massive list! There are also spots to remind you of due dates, help you to track money spent, plan dinners and even express a daily gratitude!
One way that I organize this page a little further is by breaking the to-do list down into categories for "at school" and "at home." This helps me to better focus my energies during different parts of my day. For the most part, I write in my planner in pencil just in case something changes. However, if I have something super important to remember (like my formal evaluation of the year), I'll write it in pen so it jumps out at me.
For each month, there is a calendar spread. Here is where I keep track of my blog posts. It is easy to glance at and know what's coming up, what I still need to photograph and what needs writing. I like having my blog plan in my day-to-day planner because I always have it with me for when inspiration strikes!
Another really cool feature of this planner is a space to lay out your vision and goals for the year. You start by globally stating your vision for five aspects of your life: yourself, everyone else, academics (I changed this to blogging), finances and career. From there you list what needs to happen for you to achieve these visions. After that, the planner guides you to make goals for 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and one year out. And finally you change these goals into actionable steps. I try to refer back to my actionable steps page once every few weeks to ensure that I'm on track to achieving my goals!
Like I said, I know that this planner is pricey but the peace of mind that comes with being organized is worth it to me! I totally recommend this planner!
For more planner nuggets, head on over to Christy's blog where she'll tell you about her organization techniques!
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