Finding Planner Peace

Almost all planners I come across have the term “life planner” somewhere in them. I have been using the same planner for the past 3 years. I loved the flow of the planner, the beautiful design, but would I really call it a life planner…Not so much.

I use my planner for everything. It comes to work with me and comes home every day. I use it to track birthdays, school activities, budget, vacations, and so on. I have never been one that could just use an online calendar. Its all about being able to cross off my to-do list and write things down.

Every year I would design pages of things I wanted to track in my planner. I would print them out and use pretty washi tape to add them to the pages I wasn’t using in my planner. I thought to myself, “I should really design a planner.” Surely, there had to be a planner that had everything I wanted to track.

Surprise from Facebook

So my surprise came one day from a suggested Facebook post. It was a planner that seemed to have everything I thought I would design in my planner. And I do mean everything! It had a budget category for every month, gift purchase and tracking, seasonal cleaning and to do task…. a real LIFE planner.

However, I am skeptical to anything from a suggested post. So I stalked this company, joined their Facebook and followed their Instagram. Everyone expressed how much they loved this planner. The price was the same as every semi-custom planner I have purchased so I made the change and ordered the Startplanner.

Let me be completely honest here. I am not earning any money at all by making this post. I am sure they have no clue who I am. None of my links in this post earn me any money or referrals what so ever. I just love this planner so much that I had to share my excitement with you all!

STARTplanner

I was skeptical first of it being a case bound and not a spiral. However, the spiral was always getting in the way of my writing. Since this is flat it is incredibly easy to write in. Bonus points: It actually does lay flat, unlike a book.

This planner has so many sections. In this STARTplanner Daily Hustle it includes:

Goals:

• A page for lifetime goals
• A page to create a vision board
• This year’s goals for home life, personal, spiritual, physical, financial, professional, education and travel.
• Breaking down your goals by steps
• Savings goals for each month

Plans:

• Giving back to charity
• Cleaning schedule
• Seasonal home maintenance
• Projects to accomplish
• Medical expenses
• Entertainment- movies, books, restaurants, and events you want to check out
• Vacation planning – Flight info, hotel info, plans, travel pack list, checklist
• Holiday Planning-Holiday budget, to do list, menu, and shopping list, gift list.
• Passwords

Monthly:

Each month has a spot for mini goals and action steps, to do list, gifts and cards, budget and notes.

Finding your Planner Peace

While I truly love this planner, it may not be the right one for you. And that is ok. You have to find what works for you in forms of layout, functionality, and budget. There are many many planners out there. If you are interested in the STARTplanner you can find it on their website, Startplanner.com. Otherwise, you can search planners or even go to stores like Michaels, Walmart, Target, and Hobby Lobby to find one that may suit you best!

Planning out your life

It may seem a little overwhelming at first but using a planner, whether paper or digital can help you become more organized. The point of it, at least in my opinion, is having everything you need in one place.

Step One: Look at your Calendars

I start by looking at my daughter’s school calendar and putting in all important dates. Days off from school, early releases, parent-teacher conferences, it all goes in the planner. I put in every birthday I want to remember, this earns you bonus points for not having to repeatedly ask someone when their birthday is. The moment you schedule yourself or someone in your family an appointment put it in your planner.

Try looking back on things that snuck up on you throughout the year. Vehicle tag registration? Put that in your planner 30 days before they are expired, you will be on top of your game! Here are some things you may not think to put in your planner but can make a huge difference:

• AC/Furnace maintenance
• Auto-renewals (such as Amazon Prime, Microsft office, etc.)
• Events you want to participate in
• Credit Card Annual Fees
• Things you want to cancel

Step Two: Goals and Plans

What do you want to accomplish this year? Maybe you want to do a marathon in 6 months. Write that goal down and plan it out each month. Perhaps you have never participated in one before and so each month you push yourself a little harder. Seasonal bucket list are also a fun thing to include in your planner.

Step Three: Finances

If you are using a planner to take control of your life, why not include your budget? It is also a great tool to track daily spending. Each day you can write in your planner how much you spent, maybe you grabbed lunch today. Then you can add it up and see where you stand. Plus having my budget in my planner helps me see if there is a bill due that I may have almost forgotten to pay.

Step Four: Daily Activities

I use my planner to track how much water I drink. I personally like to use little water drop stickers and color them in for each glass of water. It actually makes me want to drink water just to color them in. But anything that works for you.

I also plan out our meals for the week and write them in daily. This has helped a lot with remembering to pull out ingredients and even with the process of making a shopping list.

Including a daily to-do list and being able to check things off will help you actually feel better about how you spent your day. It is easy to feel like you go nothing accomplished for the day. But when you actually see it written down and crossed off you will see you are busier than you think. It also helps keep me on track as I am easily sidetracked without a list.

Don’t Forget Self Care

Make sure you also schedule some Me Time for yourself. Check out my post on Self Care for some ideas. Write in some quotes that make you happy and things you are thankful for on a daily basis.

As always I would love to hear from you! Do you have a favorite planner or calendar system? What tips have you found most useful?