Monday, May 16, 2016

Maximizing the Power of the Middle of the Planner

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When you open your planner, does it serve you? Is the information that is most important right there, in front of your eyes?

middle, planner, planner spread, task lists, to do lists, context lists




If not, change it.

The space in the middle of your daily or weekly spread is a great place to track things that need to be on your radar, but that are ongoing and not specific to that day or week.


First, get a page marker for sticking any post-it note lists. 

(I like these sticky notes in particular, as pictured above, because they are post-its, because are thin and long and fit well on a page marker. Regular-sized post-its are just too wide.)

Lists that are great for the today marker?


Work Schedule

Time Sheets


Things to Buy Soon 

Home Cleaning Schedule

Things Pending

Items Owed To or From You


Due Dates (Upcoming)

Second, cut lists (using colored paper) and hole-punch so that you have staggered task lists based on context.


If you click over to that older post above, you'll see that I changed the width of the context lists so that my actual tasks for today are on the left side of my daily spread and my notes about today have plenty of room to the right of the context lists.

Some Ideas for Contexts?


Home

Work

Computer

Errands

School

Phone

Workouts

If you prefer, this area could be used for other things, like tracking calories, workouts, or goals.


Third, consider the layout and what the middle section will hide. Avoid hiding the stuff you won't look for!


I have my daily pages set up so that I see tasks and notes about tasks.

I will ALWAYS look for my schedule, so it's okay if that is hidden occassionally.

However, the main thing I am hiding is my prep list for leaving the house. Obviously, when I get ready to leave, I will look at the list. It's a habit of mine.

Be careful if you are not yet in the habit of looking at your prep list. Wait until you are in the habit to hide it.

If you like this post, pinning it on Pinterest is the best compliment you can give to me!


Etcetera.


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5 comments:

  1. I love your idea of staggering narrow, contextual lists. My handwriting is not as small or neat as yours, so I actually use washi to color code and differentiate my lists. These are punched and slit so they slip in between the current week or day calendar pages. The staggering strategy would actually make them more visible.

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  2. I keep a note on my page marker for a running grocery list or if I have a major project I need to work on. I do a note on each side of marker. I like this idea.

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  3. Love the middle planner idea! Hope all is okay...I've been missing your daily posting!

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  4. This is a great idea! May I ask: do you use a special 6-ring paper punch and, if so, what brand is it? I purchased on a while ago and it broke very quickly. I'm trying to replace it but am afraid the new one will break as well. Any advice much appreciated! Hope all well with you and Loki. I know you've had a rough time lately. Take care.

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  5. I just found this and having been using it for about a fortnight. I'm quite well organised at work but this helping me get through the personal admin, that I'm poor at. After a while I get sick of looking at that nagging post it notes and just do the task! Thank you

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