Having an organized life is a big deal. It’s the most important thing you’ll need to get a handle on, especially if you are someone who likes to get a lot of things done at once. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a stay-at-home dad, a busy student, or just someone who has a lot of irons in the fire, as is often the case during college, it can be hard to stay on top of things sometimes.
15 Planner Organization Tips for Beginners
If you are organized, you can get many different things done in the day that you want to. But it’s not always easy to stay organized. Having a daily planner is great. It can help you with almost every important aspect of your life, from work to home organization.
Here are some tips to help you get started with your planner organization
1. Take Some Time to Organize Your Planner
If you want to organize your planner properly, you should take some time to do it first. Do not try to do this while you are trying to get other things done, thinking that this will help you organize it better. That will only make it more difficult.
2. Choose the Right Tool
First of all, you need to decide which is the right planner for you. There are many out there, including paper planners, online planners, and mobile apps. You need to find the one that works best for you. If you prefer paper planners, buy one, and if you prefer your phone, look for an app that will help you stay organized.
Avoid multiple planners if you can, unless you have multiple companies.
You also need to weigh whether your activities are better done with a daily planner, a weekly planner, a monthly planner, or with all…
3. Declutter
You may need to do this regularly, but get rid of any items that no longer work for you or serve their purpose.
This is especially true if your planner is a physical planner because remember how I said at the beginning that it’s about choosing the right tool for you?
Personally, I prefer a planner app to a physical planner because it gives me notifications, it’s intuitive, and it’s better for the environment. Plus, no matter where I am, I can change my daily schedule at any time and mark my completed tasks. For me, a digital planner is a perfect planner.
4. Keep All Your Notes in One Place
Your daily or monthly planner is a great place to start storing important information. It’s much better than leaving planner stickers or post-its all over the place and then losing them!
You can jot down directions when you go to a new place, addresses, phone numbers, and even random thoughts that pop into your head throughout the day.
5. Set Your Priorities and Schedule Time for Them
You need to be realistic about the time you have available. There are a limited number of hours in the day, and it’s important that you do not over-schedule yourself. You need to think about work, family, and other commitments.
Planning is about prioritizing – what comes first. So first consider what is most important thing in your life and what you want to accomplish in a given day or week, and then decide how much time you need to do it.
Planner tip: consider these questions:
- What is the most important thing?
- What is top goal today? This week? In this month? This year?
- Do I have a long-term goal or project that I want to complete? (If so, break them down into smaller sections).
- What daily tasks need to be completed this week?
- How much time will they take?
- Which ones can wait until next week?
- What is the most important task that absolutely must be completed?
6. Use Color Codes
Every day we juggle a multitude of projects and tasks, not to mention the countless things we’d like to do but never seem to find the time for. A planner can help you gain control of your time and keep track of your priorities.
Planner tip: consider color-coding the different categories:
- Family Activities
- Work projects
- Volunteer work
- Vacation/vacation planning
- Personal goals
Use your own color code. Color codes are useful because they make it easier for you to align yourself with the right priorities and times. For example, blue might be for family activities and red for work projects.
7. Divide Your Day Into Sections
This is especially handy if you have a lot to do in a day, such as a busy schedule of classes, meetings, and work, as well as social obligations afterward. This allows you to focus on one part of the day at a time, rather than trying to fit everything in at once.
8. Use Symbols
For example: in your weekly planner, use symbols like checkmarks and stars to divide up your week and set different priorities. Make sure they are consistent so they are easy to understand when planning your week on Sunday night!
9. Get Into the Habit of a Routine
The key to getting organized with your planner is to develop and maintain a routine, making sure that each day has the same structure so that nothing is forgotten or left out. It is important that you take your time. Always use your planner to record important dates and commitments.
10. Plan Your Week
Planning out your entire week in advance can be a great way to get organized. Sit down on Sunday night and think about what’s coming up in the week ahead. Plan your meals, your work schedule, and any appointments you have. This means that when you get up in the morning, you will know exactly what is happening that day and how it fits into your schedule.
11. Make Appointments With Yourself
If you have something to do, make an appointment with yourself to do it. Just like when someone else asks for your time, put it on your calendar and treat the time as if there really is an appointment on your calendar. Once it’s on your Google calendar, it will be harder to ignore it when other things come up.
12. Create Recurring Events
Recurring events save you from having to create the same event over and over again. This is important if your week follows the same pattern every time. For example, if you have band rehearsal every Monday, you should make that a recurring event instead of writing down “band rehearsal” every Monday.
13. Use Reminders
One of the best ways to stay on top of things is to use reminders like alarms or notifications on your phone. Set reminders for everything, like when you are going to work, when you are picking up your kids from school, when you are going shopping, etc. This way you will stay informed throughout the day and nothing will be forgotten.
14. Build in Flexibility
Life happens! Life is constantly changing and things can get hectic, stressful, etc. Make sure you plan for flexibility so that your routine is not affected too much if you have to push back your planning date by a few days or even weeks.
15. Keep It Simple!
Keep your scheduling system simple so it’s easy to maintain. There are a variety of tools available to make your Monday morning meetings easier! Some people like the daily pages in Plum paper Planner! It allows me to break down my week into manageable tasks!
15 Reasons Why an Organized Planner Is Important
There’s nothing better than having a tangible task list of things to do in front of you. Writing down your tasks and checking them off makes you feel accountable for them.
1. You Will Be Less Stressed
When you do not have a plan, everything can seem urgent or important. When you have a plan, it’s easier to prioritize so that when something comes up, you already know where it fits into your schedule. Not only does this make it less stressful, but it also makes it easier for others to get responses from you because they can see when you are available and when they’ll hear back from you if they send an email or leave a message.
2. A Digital Planner Is Fully Customizable
You can even connect most of them to your Google calendar. You can get a digital planner that is tailored to your exact needs and goals (for example, one that relates to your fitness goals). If you want something simple, you can also buy a notebook with blank pages for planning.
3. With a Digital Planner, You’ll Have All Your Important Tasks and Events in One Place
You no longer have to worry about misplacing a piece of paper or forgetting an important event because everything is written down in one place. You also don’t have to worry about planner accessories (eg: pens) or losing a sticky note anymore.
4. It Helps You to Set Priorities
With a planner, you can organize tasks and events according to their importance. This way you’ll always know which tasks have top priority and which are not so urgent.
5. It Gives You More Confidence for the Day Ahead
When you plan your daily tasks. As you’re your own day designer, you feel like you have more control over your work and home organization, which means unexpected events are less overwhelming when they occur.
6. No More Excuses When You Are Running Late!
Planners can be used to keep track of short-term deadlines, especially when loaded with information like standard operating procedures (SOPs), project management schedules, and other details that help keep everything running on time and smoothly.
7. Good Planner Organization Helps You Keep Track of Your Goals
You can even look back at previous months to see how far you have come.
8. It’s Easier to Jot Down Ideas in Your Planner Than on Your Phone
Because you do not have to unlock your phone or open an app, which takes up valuable time. Instead, you just jot down the thought quickly before it slips away. This is especially handy when you are inspired to come up with new ideas for your blog posts, articles, or books.
9. You’ll Work Smarter Instead of Harder
When you have clear goals and a detailed plan for how to achieve them, it’s easier to see what works and what does not in terms of time management. For example, if your daily plans are always too ambitious and you never work through everything on your list, you can adjust your to-do list accordingly so that it becomes more realistic.
10. You’ll Be Able to Focus Better
When you set goals for yourself, you have something concrete to strive for. This will eliminate distractions and help you achieve bigger goals. It also helps to get rid of procrastination, as there is no longer a question of what to do next.
11. You Will Increase Your Productivity and Efficiency
Once you have a plan for the day, week, or month (depending on how detailed your goals are), it’s easier to complete tasks efficiently – without interruptions like phone calls or emails.
12. You’ll Also Be More Determined to Achieve Your Goal(s)
If you are constantly shifting gears, it’s hard to focus. If you have a written schedule, it’s easier to stick to the daily tasks at hand until it’s done, instead of rushing to other projects that may pop up throughout the day.
13. Planners Are Sometimes Handy for Taking Notes During Meetings or Interviews
So you do not always have to read your meeting notes again. Plus, it looks more professional than pulling out your phone and taking notes during a meeting or interview.
14. A Planner Helps You Delegate Tasks
You may think that recording your tasks and responsibilities in a day planner means you have to do them all yourself, but that’s not always the case. Once you have everything written down, it can be helpful to check which tasks others can help with so you have time for the most important things on your task list.
15. You’ll Make Smarter Decisions
When you are prepared, you can better prepare for difficult situations and make more informed decisions. It also helps you avoid rash reactions to problems so you can deal with them proactively instead of reactively.
How to Have a Perfect Planner
Honestly, there is no ultimate guide to the perfect planner because everyone is different and does different things.
A busy mom will have a very different daily schedule than a single businessman. I have a friend who is a very organized mom and manages to fill in the same mandatory required fields at her job as a single business person, and she never forgets important dates or a single important task – but that’s more a matter of personality than the right planner.
I would say your perfect planner is whatever works best for you. Some people just use Google calendar, and that is enough for what they have to do. Some use a Happy Planner, others use Trello or Asana, even for organizing their home. Your daily planner is something personal and you should feel well organized and comfortable with it.
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