Oops...Planner Mistakes (And Solutions)

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I am not perfect.

I'm pausing to let my real life friends stop nodding so hard. They'll get whiplash doing that! :)

Over the years, I've made many mistakes with my planner, in particular. Some of them just made it more difficult to use. Other mistakes meant that I didn't use my planner at all and experienced planner fail.

So that my Loyal Readers don't feel all alone with their imperfections, I thought I would compile some of my common errors for you, along with solutions.


MISTAKE: Writing things down on the wrong week. This usually happens when I am jotting things down for next week and accidentally turn the page to the week after next.

SOLUTION: I got a second page marker, in a slightly different style, to mark next week.

MISTAKE: I don't write enough to know what my entry means.

SOLUTION: I write a verb at the beginning of each task and a re: when relevant.

MISTAKE: I forget to write things in my planner.

SOLUTION: Keep my planner with me all the time, whether in my house or in my purse. 



I realized that I was hanging my purse up when I got home, but not taking out the planner. Then, when I needed to jot something down, like an ingredient for next week's grocery list, I'd slack because it was not convenient to write it down.

I started using one of these to hold my planner on my desk and it solved the problem at home:

MISTAKE: Using your planner for things that are better done elsewhere.

SOLUTION: Use the most appropriate solution for the problem.

If I am working and think of something that I need to write on Facebook later, instead of grabbing my planner (or getting stuck in a Facebook loop and end up not working), I use the sticky note function on my laptop to jot it down.

If I need documents that are thin and easy to carry, like for my cruise, I use a folder.

If I have documents to file that I will not need outside of the house, they go in my filing cabinet and not in my planner.



MISTAKE: Letting someone else use my planner. It never fails. I ask my husband to look for information in my planner, and he can't find it or asks twenty questions about other stuff.

SOLUTION: My planner is for me. I don't let other family members touch it.

MISTAKE: Too many tabs.

SOLUTION: I use active Project sections and an inactive Notes section instead of a ton of tabs.

MISTAKE: A complicated system.

SOLUTION: As much as I believe in having a system, I try to keep it really simple so I will use it. 

Two ink colors (writing and highlighting). 

Appointments in one place and tasks in another. 

Write down everything.

Anything more complicated always causes planner fail for me.

I also posted a more recent update on ways that I fix planner mistakes.

Etcetera.

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