Staying Organized with Planners
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Being organized is an imperative step to meeting goals and accomplishing task. Life is busy and it can be hard to keep up with on your own. Planners can help you organize thoughts, ideas, brainstorm, and more. There are even planners with prompts to walk you through staying organized and meeting your goals.
What Kind Of Planner and How Many?
You want decide if you prefer a digital planner or paper planner, as well as if you need more than one planner. Do you want one for home/family activities and one for work? Does a digital planner or paper planner work best for your needs?
Step 1: Deciding on 1 or More Planners
The Pro’s and Con’s of Using One Planner For Everything
| Pro’s | Con’s |
| Everything is in one place | There may not be enough room for everything |
| You don’t have to worry about two planners | Not all planners have the same purpose and won’t necessarily keep you orgainzed in all areas of your life |
| Life and work overlap so you don’t have to re-write plans | Sometimes you don’t want to share personal/business plans with everyone |
Step 2: Deciding on a Digital or Paper Planner
The Pro’s and Con’s of a Digital Planner:
| Pro’s | Con’s |
| Infinite Space Available | Possibility of your battery dying and appointments being unavailable |
| Accessible | Accidental appointment deletion (Rare) |
| Reminders |
The Pro’s and Con’s of a Paper Planner
| Pro’s | Con’s |
| Writing something down often helps you better remember it | You have to write it down |
| Works as a Journal and Memory Keeping | You have to keep up with it |
| The information isn’t going anywhere | |
| You can add notes and accessories |
Digital Planners
For me, I like to have a digital planner for family organization because it allows me to coordinate with my husband (for those rare instances I forget to tell him something..lol!)
Favorite Digital Planner
Cozi Family Planner
This calendar is geared towards organizing your family but can work for organizing and coordinating work related events as well. Cozi makes is easy to share a calendar, task list, grocery list, and more. It’s color coded for each family member so you can so who is where and which family members are involved.
- Set Reminders
- Send Agenda Emails
- Organize Activities, Meetings, School Schedules, Lessons, Practices and Games
- Store Recipes, plan dinners and add incredients to your shopping list.
- Family Journal- You can quickly capture moments that you want to save. You can send out updates via email to family and friends
Cozi Today- Gives you a day’s glance of your agenda with news, upcoming events, new list items and more
The Gold Version offers a month view on mobile, no ads, a calendar search, the ability to set have up to 3 reminders for an appointment, a notification when there is a calendar change, birthday tracker, shared comments and more
I LOVE this planner. LOVE! It is so convenient and easy to use. I can easily set up who’s appointment is where and what’s going on. If I catch a cute snap of the kids I can save it on the app as well. I highly recommend this calendar especially for keeping your family organized but you can even note business appointments as well since they are color coded for each person.
Other Digital Calendar Options
Apple Calendar-
- Allows for multi-color coded calendars
- Allows you to notify other of events that you would like to coordinate with them
- Easily set up recurring events
- Notify people of events
- Syncs with iCloud and Google Calendar
Google Calendar-
- Allows for multi-color coded calendars
- Allows you to notify other of events that you would like to coordinate with them
- Set up Recurring Appointments
- Syncs with Apple iCalendar, Microsoft Outlook and more
- The starting day of the week can be adjusted
Paper Planners
Writing things down make it easier for me to remember them. Call me old school but there’s also something about physically holding the planner and keeping track of my task that helps as well. I love that with paper planners you can add embellishments and highlights. It’s also nice to be able to go back through and look at afterwards because they journal your activities throughout the year.
I like to keep my paper planner for business mostly, although because I have one broken down hourly I will write any personal appointments in there as well. So far, it has combined nicely for me.
Erin Condren- LifePlanner
Not only is this planner pretty, it’s customizable and functional. There are quote pages, mini-month spreads, goal setting pages, weekly spreads dot grid paper, blank pages and lined pages. This is one of the most blogged about agendas available which is what has landed Erin on shows like Rachel Ray and Ellen. There’s space to write down everything you need to while still keeping the planner from being too big or heavy.
There is a Coiled LifePlanner, Hardbound LifePlanner and a Teacher Lesson Planner available. This planner has a lot of customizable options such as the cover and layouts as well as personalization. For layouts, you can choose a vertical horizontal or hourly layout. With the Vertical Layout you are able to plan things with three sections per day where you can separate by time, home, school or work. The Horizontal Layout has lined boxes that are great for structured daily planning. The Hourly Layout is great for scheduling hourly appointments. Erin Condren also offers add on items such as stickers, pens and more that can be used with the planner.
Each planner also comes with 4 pages of event stickers with glimmering metallic accents and flag stickers that are easy to write on. There’s a “Keep it Together” folder as well as a clear zip pouch that includes labels, compliment cards and coupons!
I’m beginning this planner this year. I love the look and customizations of it. It’s very handy and well made.
Passion Planner–
This planner is a tool that allows you to define your goals and dreams and then walks you through breaking them down into actionable steps. There are monthly layouts, weekly layouts that break down hourly and allow you to stay organized. There are quotes to inspire you on the weekly layout pages. Each month, there are questions to keep you focused on your process. The planner also features a “Space of Infinite Possibility” where you can draw, take notes, brainstorm and more. There are pdf bill planner inserts that you can add in as well.
I’ve used the Passion Planner for the last two years. I have zero complaints about it. It even helps you break up your Personal and Work to do list if you use it to manage both like I often do for notes.
Kate Spade New York Planner–
This planner has a monthly and weekly spread. It also includes, gold foil stickers, a picket and laminated dividers as well as note pages. There is a flowery “Dahlia” cover available, a “Fashionably Late” cover and a “This is Life” cover. Each month starts with a phrase and features a laminated tab.
I haven’t used this planner yet, but I have seen them and LOVE the look. I’ll be honest though, I love anything Kate Spade.
Panda Planner-
This planner has a “scientific approach to productivity and happiness.” There are monthly, weekly, and daily sections where you can get organized and prioritize. The Panda Planner’s system is used to help you not procrastinate
This planner has a monthly, weekly, and daily section where you can organize your life and keep records of the things you are grateful for. It includes areas for focus on daily affirmations, priorities and exercises. The very different thing about the Panda Planner is that they are 3 to 6 month planners. If you have short term goals that you are trying to achieve though, this may work well for you.
I included this planner for those that are super goal focused and want a planner to use for short term goals and periods of time. I love the thought behind it and its approach to productivity.
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