Should You Be Using a Planner

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Is using a planner of much importance? Are planners just for the super busy mompreneur or the career working woman?

If you haven’t decided if using a planner is right for you, read on to discover how anyone, yep even you, can benefit from the use of a planner.

3 Key Ways Planners are Useful

Clock sitting on bed | Time management tips for non-planner users

It helps with time management

Have you ever found yourself feeling as if you never quite have enough time to get everything done? If so, it’s likely you’re not making the best use of your time.  When constantly switching from one task to next without thinking about the big picture, I often lose focus on what truly matters. In fact, Jonathan Milligan of Blogging Your Passion states that “broken focus is the #1 enemy to accomplishing your goal.”

What’s your goal friend?

Do you start your day with a focused intention. Or are you guilty of launching into the day with social media or checking emails? Before you know it you’re entangled in other people’s priorities?

Need a tool to help you identify and work toward your goals? We recommend giving Powersheets a try.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself at the end of the day reluctantly looking back on just how little I’ve gotten done.

But using a planner allows you to purposely plan ahead and schedule your events, errands, tasks, and appointments. With all your deadlines and due dates in one place, you are better prepared and have more time to spend with those you love. Having a better handle on your mandatory obligations leaves more room to pursue your creative endeavors as well.

Planners are a great productivity tool

Productivity is not just for the workplace, it’s important to be productive at home as well. Whether it’s scheduling time for chores, home organization, or special projects, a planner can help you stay on track with each task and encourages working effectively and efficiently.

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They can help eliminate stress

Stress can come in many forms but often it’s due to feelings of overwhelm. Which is due to hectic schedules, too many demands, and simply taking on too much. But jotting things down in your planner can help you keep everything organize. And it prevents from missing important deadlines thus giving you mental health benefits.

Additionally, they can help with your physical health as well by providing a one-stop system to house all of your medical appointments and logging your habits like taking vitamins, exercising, or drinking water.

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Which Planner is Right for Me

Now that you know some key benefits of using a planner, the next step is determining which planner is right for you.  There is no one-size fits all planner. A quick google or Amazon search for planners and you are bound to discover a broad range of planners including both digital and paper planners. And I myself have tried quite a few in search of the perfect planner to meet my needs. See Planning for Success to see a few of the planners I have tried.

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Here are a few things to consider when choosing the right planner for you: Picking the right planner for you | Are you using the right planner for you

The Size

Planners come in a variety of sizes ranging from small, medium and large sizes. When determining which size is right for you, its important think about where will you keep the planner. If you plan to carry your planner with you daily, a smaller size would be an ideal solution. But if your planner will mostly be kept at your desk, you may find a larger size one a better fit.

Look at the Layouts

Typically planners come in either a horizontal or vertical layout. Knowing what you plan to track in your planner and how much space you need for writing will help you determine which layout is ideal for you.

What Pages do You Want?

As you are looking at planner layouts, look at the different types of pages as well. Most planners contain a monthly and weekly calendar view but others also include additional pages for notes, to-do lists, journaling and more.

How will you use

What would you like to track in your planner? Perhaps it might include your daily life schedule, work projects, home life, personal or combination of these. How you plan to use your planner will help you narrow the size, pages you need and even if you should be going with a store-bought planner, a customizable planner, or even a binder with printable planner pages.

Does it have room for extras

There are some amazing printables you can find online.  Printables allow you to further customize your planner to meet your specific needs. All that’s necessary is a printer, paper, and a hole punch. If you know would like to add your own printables, it’s important to ensure your chosen planner has room to expand.

Looking for printable planners? Check out these collections of printable planner pages

 

What Different Types of Planners are There

Planner/Agenda Notes pages | 6 types of planners you can use

When it comes to planners, you are not limited to only one option. Here are six different types of planners you can use:

  • Personal/Daily: This is one of the most popular types of planner available.  Use daily planners for your personal life, work, and everything in between. It can serve as a great catch-all planner or could be used to track strictly personal tasks.
  • Home and Family: If you need to track the schedules of multiple people like a spouse and children a home and family style planner could be a good option for you. It provides a space to track schedules, appointments, plan date nights, and household management.
  • Budget and Finance: If you’re looking to get a better handle on managing finances, a budget planner can be a great tool. Whether you’re working on increasing your savings, living within a budget, or reducing debt, you should consider a budget/finance planner. Things you could track in this time of planner include:
    • Your income and expenses
    • Bills
    • Your monthly cash flow
    • Savings goals and progress
    • Your budget and how well you are staying on track
  • Bullet Journal: You may be familiar with bullet journal but did you know it can also be used as a planner as well? Since there is space for calendars and schedules, many people use it for both a journal and planner. This type of planner gives you full control of each page. With a bullet journal, you can purchase printable pages. Or do-it-yourself with a ruler and pen in simple notebook or binder.
  • Work: While you can certainly include your work projects and tasks in your personal planner, some people find prefer having a separate planner just for the business or career.
  • Health, Diet, or Fitness: Health planners give you the opportunity to track your meal plans, fitness routines and general health and wellness information.

Related: Planning for Success

With six general types of planners, you may wonder why settle for just one planner. Well, you certainly don’t have to but my advice would be to start with one planner until you are able to develop a system for using your planner effectively.

Your Turn

Let’s us know in the comments what your favorite planner is and how using it has helped you.

Daily to Do List Printable

Wanda is the owner and editor of BCW. She's on a constant quest to seek the one who fills this thirsty soul. A lover of God and seeker of wisdom and never too far from a good book. Lover of tech and enjoys helping beginner bloggers set up their new blogs