If you have a lot on your mental to do list, lets talk about how we can get that organized to be more productive.
Over the years I have used planners for so many different things. Right now I want to talk about a few different ways you can use your planner to help keep things organized and keep your self on track. As a mom, wife and business owner my planner is how I keep up with the many task that I have through the day/week/month and year. While you may only fall in 1 or none of those categories, you will still be able to use this list.
1. Habit Tracking
I don't know about you but every week I feel like there are task that I forget. I find myself asking myself "Did I bathe the dog?" "How many times did I make it to the gym?" on busy weeks I even have a tracker for cooking and cleaning. However, I am much better at remembering to do repetitive task or introducing task that will be repetitive daily, weekly or yearly with a habit tracker. There is really no limit to what it is you can track, which is why I love customizable pages. you make them just for you! There are several different types of habit trackers, i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, check off or color in, minimal or fancy. And lets be real, coloring in boxes on my habit tracker makes me sooo happy! Here are a few examples of habit trackers I have used and that are available in the Etsy shop now
2. To-Do List
My day consist of several to do list, and the best way for me to keep up with my different to do list is to write them all down. In my personal planner (I have 3: Personal, Budget and Business) There is a space for my business, self care, household and kids to do list. So that I can keep up with ail the aspects of my life. But, if you only have 1 planner or like to keep all your to do's on separate pages there are daily, weekly, monthly quarterly and yearly options. Lately, I have been tinkering with running weekly to do list for my business because most task are not day specific they just need to get done. Is there a specific type of to do list you like to use? Or does it not matter as long as it is wrote down?
3. Goal Tracking
Having your goals wrote out is a great way to utilize your planner. It can keep you on track being able to refer back to your goals often to make sure what your doing day to day is in line with what you want to accomplish. It is so easy to get off track but having your goals in a centralized place is a good way to stay focused. I personally use the top 3 for my daily weekly and monthly goals. and they all feed into each other. So for May one of my top 3 is to be more active on my blog and get more of my content out there. Every week in my top 3 will be get a blog written on published. And Everyday will be a task to make that happen, research, writing, photo editing or any other of the things. By using this method I am able to accomplish so much more. And it feeds into my bigger quarterly and yearly goals. If that doesn't work for you and you just need to get your goals down with steps on how to complete them (I do that too) It works, just get them goals down. I find using the S.M.A.R.T. method works best for me (more on that in another post).
4. Meal Planning and/or Tracking
If you are like me and you plan out your meals per week for budget purposes or if you track you intake for counting calories or to keep up with your diet, It can go in your planner. Also within this I am going to add tracking recipes which is great when you like trying new things and keeping up with how you or the family enjoyed it. Mine goes right in with my weekly schedule but some people use a separate planner or just a calendar. There are so many options. So, if it is daily intake, or just planning out your meals both are helpful. It is so awesome to look back at and just be able to pick out a recipe to cook.
5. Budget and Savings Tracking
Money management is so important, but with the day to day life bustle sometime things slip through the cracks. Having a place in your planner to keep up with all your income, savings, bills and expense is a great way to make sure that there are no surprises in your financials. I track my monthly income and bills in planner with all my other household things. I makes it easy to flip there once a week and say these 3 things will run this week, and can make sure the money is in there. It is also easy for my husband to look in my planner and see what bills are due (since I handle most of our fiances) before he goes to make a purchase and can note it on the page so I know. It is a great system for us. If you are looking to save money, make a big purchase of even keep up with your smaller purchases having a budget section in your planner will keep you aware of where money is going.
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