When I received my first planner, a leather fuchsia Kikki-K ring bound planner, I was overwhelmed, I had no idea about planner basics and how to set up a planner effectively. It held a whole year’s worth of inserts (printed pages) for monthly and weekly planning as well as lists and pages to write all sorts of interesting information.
In this series of articles, I’m going to show the planner basics, what it can do for you and how to quickly set one up. If you want you can pick up a planner and start using it, but these hints will help you get more out of your planner. Here’s some of my favourite Planners (aff).
Planner Basics – What is a Planner?
There are many different ways to use a planner, whether it’s for personal schedules, or for organising your entire life. But it can be difficult, so here are the basics of what a planner can do for you.
A planner is a little bit of everything. Imagine putting your entire life into one planner and having all your important information at your fingertips. When you do this a planner becomes:
- your personal calendar
- a detailed daily and weekly schedule
- a comprehensive task and to-do list
- a motivational tool
- something to inspire you
- .. and so much more!
By now you should have a general idea of planner basics and how one could be helpful to you. Now it’s time to learn how useful it really is.
Why Use a Planner Instead of Your Phone?
I’m often asked this when the subject of how to use a planner comes up. Most planners, with the exception of digital planners, use pen and paper. This may seem a little last century, but there is still something amazing power to writing things down. When you choose the words to write, the physical act of writing those same words and by seeing the words on paper it reinforces your memory.
Using your phone has a lot of drawbacks. It’s only useful when it’s charged, there is limited physical screen space for entering appointments and schedules, and it is difficult to be detailed. There is something wonderful about a beautiful, large, and detailed planner that you can use for everything from birthdays, events, to to-do lists for each day of the week.
Planner Basics – How Does a Planner Work?
A planner works best when you write down your schedule, then go into more detail about your tasks and appointments so that you are clear about what needs to be done. It allows you to be flexible and make better use of your time, giving you the space for personal growth.
In future posts I’ll go into the details about planner basics, setting up your new planner and what pages are included. Here are some simple steps to set up your planner:
- Search for and Select the Planner That Best Suits You
- Set Up the Monthly Style Calendar Pages
- Plan Out your Days of the Week
- Create Carefully Detailed To-Do Lists for Each Task
- Update your Planner and Check it Regularly
See, it’s really not that hard to do. It can be difficult to begin without the right steps. My aim is to show you how easy it is and how it can inspire a positive change in your life.
After you learn about planner basics, you can start to think about including different types of pages. This really comes down to knowing what you need to include In your planner, but is also based on what your personal needs are.
Lifestyle Changes
In order to take better care of yourself, you might like to include a health or lifestyle section. This part of your planner is where you log your food, create meal plans, and make shopping lists.
You might like to collect recipes or make lists of where you want to improve your eating habits. This also works great if you want to track your weight and measurements, or to keep track of your fitness routine.
Life Goals and Aspirations
Not everything in your planner has to be about basic tasks and to-do lists. You can also get more in-depth and really keep track of where you want to be in life.
You can start a bucket list or have a 5-year or 10-year plan in certain sections of your planner. It also allows you to see what your main life goals are, make a list of what you need to do in order to achieve them, and then work on those tasks one at a time until you reach your goal.
Soon you’ll see how easy it is to use a Planner (aff). I hope you will be using it every day, and can begin to look forward to some quiet time with your new organisational tool. You’ll have the chance to become a happy, motivated, productive, and organised person. The benefits you get might pleasantly surprise you.
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