I Have a Planner for That – Part Three

As a working single mom I have a busy life. My morning time is cherished quiet time to think, read, pray, dream, and plan. As I organize my thoughts, each sip of coffee helps me clear the cobwebs. Slowly, I begin to visualize the day ahead. It is my process. Mental preparation is great, but this lover of to-do lists and goals and busy schedules needs some fun and creative structure. So, what is my plan to manage all of this in 2018? I have a Planner for all of it, and then some!

Choosing a Planner

In early Novemver 2017, in one of my meditations with coffee, I was planning my upcoming week in my Happy Planner with stickers and washi and it struck me that I needed to think about refilling my planners. When? Which one? Why? So off to YouTube I went! Yes, shiny object syndrome is a personal affliction. See why I need lists? I stumbled across an HP expert who did a video on planners for different needs and areas in life. If I recall, she had about 20 different planners for different careers and purposes. With each idea she supported why you might use more than one. I felt so validated! She hit on to one of the thoughts I had. Clutter vs. Clean. I am messy and can lack focus in certain areas of life by nature. Hence, my love and desperate need for planning and lists. She also showed some of the new releases in the HP planner line and I got giddy. I paused the video, went to refill my coffee, grabbed a notes insert page from my planner and a pen and then hit replay. Every planner suggestion that struck a chord that resonated…loudly!
An hour or two later after viewing more videos from the sages of experience and suggestion, extending my coffee time and delaying my Saturday errands; I came up with what I wanted to do in 2017.

I was intrigued by a new sort of planner that I had never heard of before from Powersheets.

This is a Goal Planner…different, shiny and new! This is my Master Planner. It houses ALL of my goals. So far I love it! It is meant to help you set a vision, your goals, plan and track all year long. I promise to write more about my thoughts on this new tool throughout the year!!! Watch for a full review in the weeks to come!

But what about weekly and daily? Work? Family? Budget?

I have a plan. Or should I say Planners?

Do I seem crazy? Perhaps, but I really do have a plan. And it is going be lovely and fun, so play along with me this year.

1. Master Planner-Vision, Goals and Tracking my success. (On the bottom of the stack, symbolizing the foundation)
2. Home & Budget – If it is working why change? I just bought the 6-month refill.
3. My new 2018 HP – like last year’s just shiny and new…For details on daily work and life schedules, plans, lists.

Aligning to My Vision and Keeping it Real!

Sometimes my weekly pages seemed too busy and important items were lost or missed. In an effort to have cleaner weekly and monthly spreads, I selected key focus areas from my Vision Board and Master Planner and devised these new and separate planners:

1. Health-a mini-HP specifically designed for it. This is a top priority for me. I will be launching a regular series here on how I am working on my health and incorporating tools like this planner.
2. Faith and Meditation – I love studies, journaling, praying, and since this is daily I wanted one place for all of it.
3. Creativity – so many things I want to do include making gifts for others, this blog, and learning new crafts. It is so important it is on my vision board so I grabbed a mini HP to nature this area respectively. Watch for an upcoming series on crafting fails and successes!
4. Book Club – i want to read more and I signed up to make it happen. And in my first month’s reader box came this awesome planner that has important dates, notes, trackers, and challenges. This wasn’t originally planned. The format is awesome. Should I share a list of book I am reading here?

My first Weekly Series

You may be wondering how I will manage this without going mad? Great question! Stay tuned. Subscribe and follow me!

Next Monday starts my Managing Mondays posts. I will share tips, tirades, and ways I manage my weeks and how I plan with fun tools and lots of sips of coffee.

I would love to hear from you on what matters most to you. How do you plan?

Pssst! Watch out for a giveaway coming soon. I bought one too many HPs and sharing my love with my readers sounds fun.

Back to sipping coffee while it is quiet..!