30 Days to an Organized Life Day 13
Do you spend most of your days running from one task to another but at the end of the day you feel like you have accomplished very little?
I mentioned in Day 2 that one key to staying organized is deciding your priorities but many times those important tasks like planning, cuddling your child or marketing your home business become crowded out by the urgent tasks — those immediate, in-your-face, un-ignorable needs like feeding your crying baby, stopping your toddler in the middle of pouring shampoo all over the bathroom or getting to work by 9:00 am.
So how can you make sure that your most important priorities get done? You need a planning system.
On Day 11 we created a Control Center for your home and family but you need a personal control center for your life.
A planning system enables you to keep track of to-do lists, priorities and scheduled events so that everything is on paper or in your phone rather than just spinning around in your brain. At a minimum it should contain a monthly calendar and a Daily List. You can add other elements as you discover what you need for your lifestyle.
Here’s a peek at what I use to give you some ideas:
Brain in a Binder – You can read the details of what how I use this household planner here and print your own planning pages.
Evernote – Read How I Use Evernote to Plan my week here. This is an additional step I have added as my responsibilities have increased.
Joyful Life Planner – This past December I added my Joyful Life Planner as the first section in my Brain in a Binder. I use this planner to help me evaluate how things are going in my life and to keep the big picture in mind. Click here to read more about it (scroll to the middle of the page).
There are many planner options to choose from and you can spend hours researching them but the key is to choose a method and start using it. To keep things simple you can purchase a pocket calendar to keep in your purse or you can use Google Calendar or other apps. As you use your planner you will discover what works for you and what doesn’t — and if you’re like me you will adjust your system on a regular basis.
Today’s Task 1: Spend 10 – 20 minutes creating your planner. You can grab a binder and add the contents of your 30 Days to Organized ePlanner plus any pages from my Brain in a Binder that you would like to use. Remember, do not get overwhelmed! You are going to choose a simple planner to use and try it out for a while. You can make adjustments when you see what works for your lifestyle.
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Have you seen workflowy or tries Evernote? I have also heard good things about Cozi but I think it is mainly a calendar. If those don’t work for you then I say go for creating the app. You’ll make a mint!
I WISH there was an app I could find that was like an e-daily planner. I hate paper. Maybe I need to create said app. lol