This could very well be my favorite topic of all time. I’m not joking. Planning and organization is my jam. There is nothing that excites me more than cracking open a new planner, color coding or the all too satisfying act of checking something off of my “to do” list.
I’m weird. I get it. But I also know that there is no worse feeling than when you’re totally unprepared, overwhelmed and confused. I choose to go through my life with clarity and a plan in place (for the most part).
Maybe you’re not much of a planner. Maybe you don’t even own a planner. That’s okay! I’m here to help. This is my guide to planning like a pro so you can start feeling more in control of your life. To some it may sound like a lot of unnecessary work to add so much structure to your day to day life. The alternative, however, is usually not really knowing how long each task you need to complete will take, not knowing when you need to complete each task by and not making enough time to do the things you enjoy most. Planning is like creating a finance budget. If you allot a certain amount of money to each thing you purchase every week (fun stuff included) then you will always have the money you need for those things. If you don’t budget and accidentally spend way too much on pizza (real life scenario) then you end up not having enough money to pay your bills. The same goes for time. Planning out your days is just like budgeting your time. If you don’t make time for something chances are you won’t be able to do it. Very rarely do things just happen the way we want them to. Living a life full of intention means actively creating the life you want. One way I do this is through planning.
Here are a few tips to get your started:
1. USE A PLANNER THAT GETS YOU EXCITED
You know how you’re slightly more motivated to work out when you buy really cute gym clothes? The same is true for planning. The cuter the tools, the more inspired you’ll be to use them. I don’t do the basic, solid color spiral planner. Because I am not basic. I am always looking for cute new planners that not only are aesthetically pleasing but have a useful format that encourages uber organization. I prefer a planner that has both a monthly and a weekly format included so I’m able to both see what I have going on for the month and then get more detailed when it comes to planning out my tasks for each week. I’ve used the Lily Pulitzer Large Agenda and all of the designs are so colorful and pretty. Each page is inspiring and I love the size of it. If you love something bright you’ll like this one. I’ve also used the Day Designer planner which comes in a lot of chic, sophisticated designs (I love the gold stripe design the best). The Day Designer has my favorite format for the week, with a section to list the day’s top 3 must dos and a time line starting from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM. There’s also a section to list what you’r grateful for which I think is such a nice touch and reminder to stay positive!
Currently, I am using the fanciest planner I’ve ever owned. It’s a gorgeous Henri Bendel Agenda with such an elegant format and design. It makes me feel super classy. This one was not cheap but as someone who is a hardcore planner enthusiast it was the kind of treat I could justify. You by all means do not need to purchase such an extravagant planner to start!
If you want to get really organized you can do what I do and purchase a small travel planner. Mine is so tiny and so precious. I got it at Target for $10 and love having something small to throw in my bag. It has both a monthly and weekly view and allows me to jot down all of the important details of that day without lugging around a giant planner. If my purse can fit my HB one I’ll bring it with me but if not then I throw in this little guy and am on my way. I also use a calendar in my office to make a note of important events (birthdays, shoots, appointments, etc.) and I have a desk calendar specifically for my blog content. I know, it sounds kind of crazy and a little intimidating. Again, I am an organization freak so don’t feel like you have to take all of this on! Just start with one planner and go from there.
2. PLAN TO MAKE TIME TO PLAN
To be really successful it’s important that you make time to actually plan out your week. Not the day of, when you remember you have a meeting and a doctor’s appointment scheduled for the same time. I do all of my planning on Sunday nights and find it the perfect way to start the week. I pour a glass of wine, pop some popcorn and sit down at my desk for about an hour. I use this time to hash out all of the details for the week so I’m feeling prepared and confident that I’ll be able to get everything done. This is also the time where I’ll shoot friends a text and see if they want to grab drinks or a cup of coffee that week to catch up. Of course I leave room in my schedule for last minute meet ups but I prefer to know ahead of time so I can make sure I actually have the time to see them instead of having to decline an invitation to do something fun because I planned to work at that time. After Sunday night, I still check my planner daily so I don’t forget about anything scheduled. I usually do this in the morning while I’m having my coffee so I can get a grip on what is planned for the day and then at night before I go to bed so I know what time to get up, etc. This way I can update my planner with any changes and I’m not surprised by what’s happening.
3. LISTS ARE YOUR FRIENDS
I know that sometimes it can feel like you have so many things to do and places to go that it’s impossible to do everything. I get it, I feel like that all the time. So the first step of my Sunday Night Planning Sesh is to refer to a few different lists I keep in my phone notes. The first is my general “to do” list. This list has everything and anything on it that has popped up throughout the week that I need to make time for at some point. Obviously something really time sensitive, like returning a call, would not go on this list as I could take care of that in the moment. My list currently has things like “clean makeup brushes”, “assemble new shelving”, and “get coffee with dad” on it. These are things I’ve noticed or thought about throughout the week and didn’t want to forget to make time for. So while doing my makeup I realized my brushes definitely needed to be cleaned and I also was thinking of my dad and wanted to make time to visit him.
Another list is my “to buy” which is where I note the things I’m running out of. This list is purely for necessities, so makeup and clothes are not on it (although if I really wanted to I could totally justify both of those things as necessities). This is what I use when going grocery shopping or to CVS.
You can get as detailed as you want with these lists, but I find them really useful to house all of my thoughts throughout the week so I don’t forget and end up missing out on doing something I really wanted to get done.
4. COLOR CODING IS EVERYTHING
I am a pen junkie. I love pens. Specifically, colored pens. If you browsed my search history you would see an embarrassing amount of searches for “colored pens that write well”. Whatever, we all have our things.
I love colored pens because I love color coding my planners. This is not only for easy organization but also because it makes your planner look really cute. Makes for a good Instagram picture, not gonna lie. You get it.
I use these Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens to fill in my planner each week and I love them. You can obviously color code in any way that you please. Personally, I use pink for work related tasks, lavender for social events, blue for errands, etc.
So I take my long list and I also refer to my monthly view to see what’s going on that week. I start by adding in any appointments. Then I add any task on my to do list that is time sensitive for that week. Maybe that’s mailing out a package in time for someone’s birthday or making a reservation for dinner on Friday night. Then I add in anything social, like grabbing drinks with friends on Saturday night or visiting my parents on Wednesday for dinner. Then I add in errands I need to get done, like grocery shopping. Finally, I go ahead and add in any tasks on my to do list that aren’t time sensitive but still tasks I’d like to complete, like finishing the gallery wall in my office. I certainly don’t try and add everything on my to do list because then I would have zero down time and would feel really overwhelmed. I like to make my schedule reasonable and realistic. Depending on my other commitments, I’ll get more done some weeks than I will others.
5. GIVE EVERYTHING A TIME FRAME
Remember when we talked about budgeting? Well if you were creating a budget for your finances, would you ever say “I’ll use some money for groceries”? Definitely not because that’s extremely vague and not at all how you actually budget. So why would you just list something on your planner and think “I’ll do this sometime during Wednesday”? Being planful means being specific. This doesn’t mean you have to be a weirdo and write down “brushing teeth from 7:00 AM-7:05 AM”. This just means that the actual tasks you list should have a time frame so you can plan everything else around it accordingly. If you plan to complete three really big tasks in one day but don’t think about how much time each will take, chances are you won’t be completing any of them. So think about the time frames each task will require and write them down. This type of structure will promote productivity. Do you ever notice how when you have a serious deadline for something it doesn’t matter how soon it’s coming? You end up finishing your task by the due date because you automatically start thinking about when you’ll make the time to complete it. Use this mentality to start checking things off of your to do list like a boss.
6. DON’T FORGET ABOUT YOU
It can be tempting to fill your entire day and week with non stop activity but something that can be easily forgotten is how important it is to take care of yourself too. I think it’s really critical to your success and overall happiness to carve out some time to do something that relaxes you. For me that means on Tuesday mornings I catch up on the Bachelor. I also read for about 30 minutes before I go to bed. I like to have a glass of wine when I get home from work and watch a few youtube videos. Sometimes I take a bubble bath and read Cosmo. I’m very much the epitome of the 2017 single girl. But those are the things that I find relaxing and enjoyable. Look at your schedule and see where you can add in some “me” time. Trust me, this will do wonders for your mind, body and soul.
7. LET’S GET DIGITAL
Some of you may be thinking that a physical planner seems silly when we have so many digital options at our finger tips. This is true, but I personally love the feeling of actually writing out my schedule and then physically crossing things off. Visually and mentally I find this more satisfying. However, I do also utilize digital options to remind me to stay on schedule. Like I mentioned before, I check my schedule in the morning but sometimes I can still get distracted. So I use google calendar to set reminders for appointments and time sensitive tasks. I don’t get as detailed as I do with my paper planner but I like using this so I can get an alert on my phone to remind me to wrap up what I’m working on and move on to the next thing on my schedule. If you really are into utilizing technology then feel free to apply all of these methods to your google calendar!
8. TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
If you want to really step up your planning game you can do so by getting even more detailed. I like to plan out my meals and outfits. To some this may sound excessive but I love having as much structure as possible and am also so grateful to have food prepped or an outfit laid out when I’m exhausted and not in the mood to make another decision. I plan out a time to actually meal prep everything I schedule throughout the week and obviously take into consideration any times I’ll be eating out with friends. But this strategy is not only great for your wallet but also for your health too. It stops me from eating garbage at work because I already have my lunch prepared and ready to go every day.
For my outfits I use cute little sticky notes because if my plans change or if I want to wear something different I can just remove them. Outfits are really flexible and I hate having to cross out something on my planner (I’m all about aesthetics people) so it’s nice being able to just remove the sticky note. I obviously think about what exactly I’m doing that day, where I’m going and what the weather will be like. For example, if I know I’m going to get dinner and drinks with my friends right after work on Thursday then I’ll pick a outfit I can transition from day to night in. After I plan these out I physically hang them and put them on my clothing rack so all I have to do is grab and go in the mornings.
9. BE A GOAL DIGGER
Finally, planners are an amazing way to set, track and stick to goals. I make goals for every week and love having the accountability that comes with writing them down. It keeps me focused and on track. I have some goals that are just for that specific week, like cleaning out my closet. I also have goals that are smaller pieces to a larger overarching goal for that month or even year. For example, I have a goal to set up my entire office by the end of the month and broke that down into smaller weekly goals so I don’t get overwhelmed by such a huge project. Use your planner to set direction and let it guide you to success.
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Have an amazing day!
Xoxo,
She
