Creating Focus With a New Set-up for My Planner Dashboard

I did a complete revamp of my inside front pocket and dashboard of my planner.

See how simple and boring it looks?

Top Ten Planner Posts of the Year

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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.

3 Places to Put Task Lists in Planner

My task lists basically go in three places in my planner.

*Day or week-specific tasks go on my weekly pages.

*Someday/maybe tasks go on my Project section in a project called tasks.

*Tasks that I need to do soon, but not on a specific date (say, due within the next month) go on a hot list in my dashboard.

This week, my "tasks that I need to do soon" list is too long. So I culled it.

Tasks that really could be put off (maybe indefinitely) went on the someday/maybe list.

I circled tasks that needed to be scheduled this week or next and scheduled them.

Then I made a new dashboard list with whatever was left.

If I do this once a month or so (whenever my dashboard post-it gets full), I get a good balance of not recopying too often but getting to make good decisions on a regular basis and reassess my priorities.

Etcetera.

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Temporary Lists: A Place in a Planner

Sometimes a list is not appropriate for a Project or a Notes/ABC File page.

It might be too active and need space on the weekly spread. Or it might be too short.

Right now, I have three of those lists going on: 

*timesheet log (covers a 2-week period),

*gifts (covers only the next two months, and just notes which of my sisters is purchasing which gift for which family members; we will reimburse each other as they are purchased), and

*owed (things owed to me or from me to others; should be taken care of over the next few weeks).

These lists are written on post-it notes. Each moves to my weekly spread if and when I will be dealing with it.

For example, the day that my timesheet is actually due (noted on my weekly spread), the sticky note with the times will move to the weekly spread.

When I am going to see my relative who is selling donuts for a fundraiser, I'll move the "owed" list to that day to remember to pay her.

Therefore, I just need a resting point for these lists where they are easily accessible, but not with my more complex projects or my notes (because they are quite active).

These temporary lists, as seen above, are stored right behind my post-it sticky note dashboard. The plastic card is perfect for holding sticky notes. Entries about the lists (like "Timesheet Due Thursday" or "Mom's Birthday - buy gift" with the "buy gift" scratched out because my sister bought it) go on the weekly pages.

So far, this little hack is working perfectly.

I'm thinking about putting menu here, too, instead of in my critical, limited weekly space.

Let me know if you have any other ideas for temporary lists!

Etcetera.

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Weekend Wind-Down Party

The Proper Order of Things in a Paper Planner

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Even though I keep staring at it intently and exclaiming, "Plannerist Upgrado!" while flashing my green quick-dry Pilot G2 Gel Ink Pen (because I'm a leftie, so quick dry ink is important) in the direction of my planner, my FranklinCovey Compact 365 Planner has not magically turned into a soft, buttery leather Filofax.

All those hours of yearning over the Filofax USA site are for naught, as I cannot afford to buy a Filofax without first putting it in my hands and feeling it.  My OCD won't let me. Hanging out with the Philofaxy people online is not helping matters. Visiting the only store in town that sells them and discovering only one ugly, shiny red plastic planner certainly was not satisfying.

In my dreams, the buttery leather planner, in the perfect color (whatever that is...whole 'nother post), fits everything I put in my cheap little planner now. My pesky big brain keeps pointing out that I like Franklin Covey layouts and their paper usually too wide for my dream Filos. Sigh. When I win the lotto, I am flying to a shop that sells nothing but paper planners and hand picking the right one.

In the meantime, reality happens. So I have to make the planner that I already own work. 

I think I am succeeding, too, as I have used the same planner since...wait for it...April 1st. That is a month and a half! (Shush. You know planner fail usually happens at the end of the first month of use.)

Without further lusting over what can never be, here are my tweaks:

Notepaper is the first thing in the planner.  

I actually don't like this particular style of notepaper, so I am considering making my own or splurging on some creamy Filofax paper paper next time, but it does its job. In a rush, I can open straight to notepaper. In this case, it holds my packing list for an upcoming weekend trip. (Note the clever use of "top under" and "bottom under." No one will ever guess that those secret phrases refer to my underthings. Stealth and intrigue, I tell you.)

Tasks go in the front, too.  

I actually rarely use my master task list, but it's a great catch-all for unimportant or "maybe" tasks. I rarely look at it, since more important tasks are assigned to a monthly or weekly task list or written on a certain day. Right now, all it says is "edit novel." Note that no editing has been done on novel since I wrote the romantic story of small town love last November.

P is for Personal. And Projects. I really should customize this tab to say "Projects."  

Projects go right after the master task list. 

Projects are listed on an index and then noted, on the corresponding date that the first task in the project must be done, on the weekly part of my planner.

The reason that all of this goes in the front of the planner is two-fold. First, these are things that I refer to a lot. Second, putting some of this stuff in the front and some in the back means that whatever date it is, January 1st or July 5th or December 10th, there is plenty of cushion on both sides of my weekly lists so that the paper that I write on most, the weekly pages, is sturdy and protected.

I use clear page markers. Before, I didn't mark monthly pages with a Today marker. But I found that I often forget which month it actually is. (See above, putting underthings on packing list.  Also see, having babies made me dumb.)  

Putting a clear marker to mark the monthly pages means I always know when and where I need to be. 

(If the marker is not transparent, you can't see everything. I hate that.  Why have two pages if I can't look at them all at once?)

I really love using a huge, transparent page divider (the same one I use as a hole-punch template) to divide my weekly pages.

Why this and not a normal today marker? I don't use daily pages. So if a day gets really crazy, I can whip out a sticky note, put it on the divider, and add extra stuff. This doesn't happen often, but on the first day of school, when I need to remember backpacks, water bottles, school supplies, carpool rules and times and id numbers, the new schedule, etc., that sticky note is a life saver.  

Finally, the Notes section cushions the back of the planner.  

I use an index page and the A/B, G/H, M/N, and S/T dividers to keep track of on-the-go information, like names and numbers of babysitters, a list of the medications that I take daily, and ideas for my next novel (after I edit this one...sigh).

All I did, really, was change the order of things, but I think this will get me through the hard times, at least until I win that lottery.

Etcetera.

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