The Hidden Secret to an Effective Work Planner

I work to live. 

Oh, I actually enjoy being at the office. You can't deny that all those office supplies make you giddy, too, or you wouldn't be reading this. But none of us go to work solely for the coffee or the office supplies, even if we like our jobs.

We go to work to afford trips to Europe, cute shoes, and nights out at fancy restaurants. Or, if you are more like me, to afford electricity, water, and a roof of some sort. Maybe, if you are lucky and determined, you'll make enough to put a new handbag or planner on your birthday list.

Work is an important part of life and takes up a lot of time, so keeping work pleasant and NOT overwhelming is an important goal.

I'm going to suggest one important tweak to your work planner (that also works for home) to change how you think about productivity planning...

How to Use a Personal Planner for Work and Project Management

I've been blogging about how to use a planner a lot less lately because I've been working at my big girl job a lot more often.

Hints for Using a Notebook with a Planner

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As an advocate of one planner for one life, it might surprise my Loyal Readers to learn that I use a notebook at work. 

How to Write a Better Task List in Your Planner

What does your to do list look like?

4 Uses for a Free Box Printable from Planner Fun

Becky at Planner Fun teams up with Giftie Etcetera every month to offer a free printable, with a ton of new ways to use it.

This week, we are using her cool page full of boxes. So versatile. So simple. So useful.

Make sure to visit Becky's blog (link at the end of this post)! She's awesome and most of her printables are free.

Decorating a Planner With Distracting From Planning

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Let's all be brutally honest. Giftie Etcetera does not feature the prettiest planner pages on the internet.

Using a Double-Sided Daily Page in a Planner

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People who carry planners grapple with the same question time and time again.

We need more space.

We need less weight.

Free Planner Printable - Graph and Lined Paper

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Once again, I'm teaming up with Becky at Planner Fun to share many ways to use her free printables in a planner.

Keep reading to find out how to get a free printable!

Top Ten Planner Posts of the Year

If you are bookmarking and sharing a single Giftie post, this is THE ONE!

Top Ten Planner Posts of the Year: Post # 6

If you don't read any other post that I ever write, read the one that is in position #6 of my Top Ten Planner posts of the year. 

And read it BEFORE you set up your planner for the new year!

It's my favorite post, even if it's not the most viral.

Throughout the rest of the year, I'll add to the countdown.

Planner Sections and How To Use Them

Whenever I get new information, I face the dilemma of where to put that information in my planner.

I can get paralyzed by the decision of where to write something down. If it goes in the wrong section of my planner, I'll never find it again or it'll crowd out more important information.

For someone with a touch of OCD (my therapist says I'm "on the spectrum"), the anxiety is just too much. I need a system to deal.

Christmas Gift Shopping With Your Planner

I am constantly encouraging you to either create a Christmas planner or use the Project pages in your planner to plan your holidays.

I also almost ALWAYS carry my planner with me.

But in the mall, I get tired of carrying a heavy purse. I want a lightweight crossbody bag instead.

The Comprehensive Guide to Organizing Tasks in a Planner

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Some people plan with just a calendar and a to do list.

On any given day, that's a good plan.

But over time, organizing your tasks is a more efficient and effective way to plan.

The Ultimate List of New Ways to Use a Planner

Think a planner is just fancy calendar?

Definitely not! A planner is so much more!

Check out my favorite post about new ways to use a paper planner by clicking HERE. Don't skip this step, as that classic Giftie post will teach you something new about paper planning!

As I do for every Flashback Sunday post, I wanted to share an update of new ways that I am currently using my planner since I wrote that previous post.

*FOLDER

Currently, I have a check to deposit and a list of books to check out at the library in the front pocket of my planner.

*TIMESHEET

I use a sticky note to track my billable time.

*MENU PLANNER

*SHOPPING LIST

*LOAN TRACKER

I list the money or things that I owe friends and family and the money that they owe me in my planner. For example, I put in with my sisters to buy my brother-in-law a gift, so I owe them money next time I see them! I also loaned a movie to my godchild.

*MEDICAL LOG

*PROJECT PLANNER

*TASK MANAGER

*CHECKLIST AND LOG FOR ROUTINES 

For example, I have the steps in my weekly planner review on a checklist. I also log my exercise daily.

Don't forget to check out the post that inspired this one, all about new ways to use a paper planner, by clicking HERE if you haven't already done so!

Remember that sharing my posts on social media is the biggest compliment that you can give. 

Etcetera.

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Partied at: Sundays Down Under, Happiness Is Homemade, Motivation Monday, Mommy Monday, Making Your Home Sing, Inspiration Monday, Simply Sundays, Mommy MomentsMarvelous Monday, Anything Goes, Good Morning Mondays, Something to Talk About, Dream Create Inspire, Wednesday Showcase, Link It To Me, Creative Muster, Wow Us Wednesdays, Whimsy Wednesday, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Wakeup Wednesday, Fridays Five Features, Inspiration Spotlight, My Favorite Things, Saturday Sparks, Saturday Sharefest, Skip the Housework, Share the Wealth, Small Victories, Create Link Inspire, Wonderful Wednesday

Take Care of the Insides of Your Planner

Most people take care of the outsides of their planners - wiping them down, protecting them in bags, or treating leather.

But the insides of a planner are the important part!

What are you doing to care for those parts?

Check out this Classic Giftie post to find out how I care for the insides of my planner.

As always when I look back on a classic post, I update with things that I am currently doing. So, this morning, I read the old post and did the following:

*pulled out some projects that are complete and filed them away,

*filed away my September calendar pages, and

*created a task to redo my ABC Notes tabs, as they are worn out (and I don't have time to do it immediately).

Let me know in the comments what you did to care for the insides of your planner this week.

Etcetera.

If you enjoy what you read at Giftie Etcetera, please share on social media. Click here to join the Giftie Etcetera Facebook group.

Partied at: Happiness is Homemade, Simply Sundays, Inspiration Monday, Sundays Down Under, Mommy Monday, Manic Mondays, Monday Musings. Marvelous Monday, Something to Talk About, Anything Goes, Good Morning Mondays, Create Link Inspire, Roses of Inspiration, Country Fair Blog Party, Worthwhile Wednesdays, Wednesday Showcase, Link It To Me, A Little R and R, Wednesday's Wisdom, Way Back Wednesday, No Rules Weekend, Awesome Life Friday, Friday Features, Your Turn to Shine, Momma Told Me, Get Your Shine On, Weekend Blog Hop, Pretty Pintastic, Funtastic Friday, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Saturday Sharefest, My Favorite Things, Share the Wealth, Small Victories Sunday

My Project Is Finished...Now What?

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Whether your project is a craft, a term paper, a work event, or a birthday party, there is a feeling of relief when it is done.

After all, you use a planner at least partly for the satisfaction of checking off tasks, right?

But is it really done? Have you completed everything necessary to move on?

How to Write Assignments in a Planner

If you are a student or, like me, the parent of a student, homework assignments create a dilemma.

Usually there are too many to merit a DUE DATE entry without making big deadlines fade away in the clutter of the planner page, but the due date needs to be written down. 

I solve this problem by writing my 2nd grader's assignments on a sticky note on the Today page marker.

I can't miss it in my weekly spread, but it's out of the way until we are ready to do homework.

TIP: If you are a student, schedule a regular daily time to tackle homework and reading.

TIP: This tricks works well for ongoing projects or weekly tasks, too! Just put the projects in your project section and list them in your weekly spread just like the homework is listed. That way, projects stay on your radar.

Etcetera.

If you enjoy what you read at Giftie Etcetera, please share on social media. Click here to join the Giftie Etcetera Facebook group.

Partied at: A Little R and R, Create and Share, Way Back Wednesday, My Favorite Things

Which Planner Pages Are Worthy of Top Tabs

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I've talked a lot over the years about how I use tabs in my planner (especially when I discuss my projects section), but I've never really focused on the tabs and how I position them.

How to Log Exercise in a Planner

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On the way home from the gym tonight, I happened to notice that my exercise log currently shows the old (and still useful) way that I logged my workouts and my new method of logging workouts.

I figured I would show you both, so that you can enjoy the comparison and borrow the style that works best for you!

How to Plan the First Day of School

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This is a back-to-school post, but at its heart, this is really a post about using a planner to complete any project.

Back-to-school is just what is weighing on my mind today as my kiddos leave for their first days of 2nd and 4th grade.

Project planning is one reason that I use a ring bound planner instead of a spiral or bound planner. I can have separate pages that let me brainstorm, think about, and organize what needs doing, before scheduling it on my calendar and task lists. If you do use a bound planner, a notebook for projects is essential!

When something needs to happen (usually by a certain date) that requires complex planning, such as several tasks, multiple deadlines, overseeing several people, or anything else that makes only using a calendar or a task list less than feasible, I plan a project.

I made a new index for project planning this week, as seen in the picture below.