Stop Cookie Cutter Planning

Cookie cutters are useful. If you want a plate full of cookies that look exactly alike, use a cookie cutter for consistency.

But planners are not about consistency (except, of course, about their consistent use). They are about practicality.

A planner must work for you, and since you aren't a cookie, a cutter cutter planner won't do.

Ring-bound, spiral, or arc?

Monthly, weekly, or daily?

Horizontal? Vertical? Printed holidays? Note pages? Addresses? Project planning? Menus? Household tasks?

The only way to create a planner that fits you is to think about your life.

I don't know any easy way to show this except to tell you about my life. (Projects, files, monthly, weekly, and daily refer to parts of my planner.)

Parenting

I'm a mom, so I have to keep track of PTO meetings, school calendars, lunch payments, and project deadlines. Also, my planner has to be very portable, to bring to volunteer meetings, events, and occasional substitute teaching. I need to oversee chores and homework and drive the kids to karate practice.

Tools:

Projects - to plan my volunteer work
Files - to store each year's "First Day of School" checklist
Monthly - to book meetings and practice; to note school calendar
Weekly - for tasks and deadlines, like pay lunch money
Daily- for planning all of the parenting responsibilities with everything else

Working

I'm a lawyer who works part-time, mostly from home, as a staff attorney for a company.

Tools:

Laptop - to research and write; to file 
OneNote - to outline and edit
Monthly - to schedule appointments and note paycheck periods
Weekly - to note deadlines and time sheet requirements
Daily - for making a list of what needs doing today

Householding

I am home (not working or doing carpool) about 10 hours more than my husband each week (and more during his busy overtime season). I do much (but definitely not all) of the housework. I do all the grocery shopping and the majority of the cooking.

Monthly - to note grocery shopping days
Weekly - to write menus and time-sensitive tasks
Laptop - to track daily household tasks
Daily - to make a plan for the day

I'll stop there, but you get the idea.

I would add that I don't have a lot of set meetings during the day most of the time, so I don't need a lot of scheduling space. Vertical weeklies don't work for me, since most of my stuff is not scheduled. I also don't need addresses in the planner. Those are captured electronically.

The point is that I stopped and created a recipe for my planning. I decided what I need and what I do need, and I created a system that deals with that!

Someone else's system might have elements that work for you, but the system that YOU create is the one that will make your life easier.

Join us at Facebook in our discussions of customizing your planner for you by clicking on my signature below.

Etcetera.