Beyond The Usual: New Ways To Write In Your Planner

Some of my favorite planner tricks and tips are totally stolen (long ago, so I shamefully have no sources). As a ethical thief, I must share the wealth with my fellow Planner'ds. 

Others are completely my own ideas. 

Some of these planner hacks have been mentioned before on the Giftie Etcetera blog, but are worth repeating.  

I use all of these regularly in my day-to-day planning.

UPDATE: This post was written before I got around to more professional images, so the images are shadowed, amateurish, and sometimes creepy. No matter! The content is worth reviewing. Now, carry on.

The Box:

Perhaps the best filing trick I've ever encountered is to simply put a box in the upper right hand corner of the page with the key word for the Project or Note in the box. It only takes a second and it will make your papers much easier to file away and retrieve. I do the same thing for papers that I am filing at home instead of in my planner, though for important originals, I use a post-it note as the box.

The Index:

Always make an index of what is in your planner. It doesn't need to be in any particular order, but it will help you decide where to file your Projects or Notes and when to start a new Project or Note instead.

The Chart:

Using graph paper, you can quickly and easily draw a little check off goals chart for any month.

This one is intended for National Novel Writing Month, but you can do the same for workouts, calorie counting, or whether you remembered to take your daily medicines. If you want it to become a habit and want to track your progress, the chart is a great tool.

(Ignore the ominous shadows. I think there was a ghost from the 1980s admiring my planner.)

The Checkbook:

I use my planner as a checkbook/credit card log, as I have shown here before when talking about budgeting. But you can do the same with writing goals (shown here: me trying to write 50,000 words of a novel in November, subtracting as I approach my goal), calories for the day or week, spending, or any other number that you want to track.

The Highlight:

I don't actually use a highlighter to highlight. Instead, I use a red or pink Frixion pen. But if something needs to be separate or merits special attention, highlight it and it will pop out at you. In this picture, it's my 2nd grader's homework in the bottom left hand corner of each weekly entry.

The Underline:

I underline due dates, twice. Note my other hidden trick: I write the due date on the day BEFORE the library books (or other deadline) are due.

The Line:

Whenever I take notes, whether at a meeting or for myself, I draw a vertical line about 1/4 into the page. I take notes to the right of the line, but on the left, I make notations of anything that I need to follow up on. Students can also use this technique to note definition terms or test questions to the left.

In the example below, I need to email parents to find two substitute teaches for the Christmas party by December 10th. I also need to email parents about a gift card and purchase it by the end of November. 

The Code:

In the picture above, I used the code C for things that can be done only at my computer. Other useful codes include:

@ [name/date/action] = after someone else does their part or a certain date passes or I do part one of the task, I need to take the next action.

E = errands

Ph = phone calls/text messages

H = home

A = anywhere

My advice? Keep a list of codes that mean something to you in your Notes section of your planner and use them to save space and group like actions together.

Now, go forth in peace and upgrade your planner to incorporate the best of these ideas!

Etcetera.

DIY Planner: Notepads Using Graph Paper Printables

For years, I've been buying blank, lined pages for my planner at $4 for about 20 sheets. I love having blank paper as my dashboard (for newbie planner'ds, a dashboard is the first page of your planner). Considering all the writing in my planner that I do in any given week, the scratch paper was getting really expensive.

I knew this was a silly waste of money and resources. I am a fan of buying great inserts for my planner that work for me, but for all my do-it-yourself pages, I was spending quite a bit of money over the course of the year.

This weekend, I spent some time finding links for free paper. I found one, in particular, that prints out graph paper. Before, I always just used lined paper. But graph paper is easier to measure out and cut along the straight lines, plus it has so many possibilities for planning.

I am not crafty at all, but anyone can do this. So, step-by-step, here's how I made my DIY notepads using graph paper printables:

1. Print out graph paper. (I used to run my own law firm, so I have way too much copy paper on my hands.) I print in the cheapest greyscale for this purpose, since I want to save money and keep the lines subtle.

2. Make a template. I just traced a piece of one of my planner pages.

3. Use the template to mark and cut the graph paper. I do several pieces at once.

4. Use a hole punch and the template to hole punch several pages at once.

Yes, you saw that correctly. I use a single hole punch only - nothing fancy here - and I just keep all my planner supplies together in a makeup bag.

5. Put the blank pages in your planner as your dashboard.

6. Finally, file the template in your Notes/Files under the word "planner." It's a good place to keep track of things such as the measurements of your planner. Tip: Write "planner" in a box in the upper right hand corner to make filing easier.

Quick, easy, and cheap.

Etcetera.

Breakfast and Bedtime: Connecting Daily With Your Planner

Probably the planner problem that I hear the most about is the issue of a person who writes things down, but forgets to look in a planner daily. I've shared some tips before for using your planner every single day, but today's tip is really the key to using it.

Use it at breakfast.

And use it at bedtime.

(Aside - I can't help but notice that my breakfast picture did not include coffee. Rest assured that such an Unforgivable Oversight would never happen and that coffee was cheerfully consumed in the making of this blog post.)

Seriously, have a morning routine that includes glancing at your planner, even if you don't look at it the rest of the day. For me, it's over my morning coffee. There used to be days when I forgot to check my planner, but by setting an alarm on my cell phone for three weeks or so, I trained myself to open it daily. My brain created the association between morning coffee and my planner. It makes me happy and calm. It lets me function. It lets me be a better human being. And, most of all, it frees me from thinking about whether I've checked my planner. 

When I reach for my coffee cup these days, I automatically grab my planner and look over the day. At a minimum, I check the monthly page and the weekly page. If I have time, I also check the status of my projects.

Also, if you don't have one yet, create an evening routine that involves your planner. Maybe it's after dinner. Before you brush your teeth? Perhaps you put on your jammies and cuddle up with your planner. Just pick something that you do anyway, almost every night, and make the connection between that action and checking your planner.

This check is mostly to jot down anything bothering me before going to sleep, to make sure I have appropriate clothing for errands or appointments the next day, and to load anything into my launchpad that needs to leave the house with me tomorrow.

Etcetera.

P.S. If you click on that "launchpad" link, you'll get a glimpse at a classic Giftie Etcetera blog entry. Some of them are really funny. Some of them are ranty. And some of them are really personal. But they do show the history of my blog before I became so almost famous.

By almost famous, I mean that the visitor clicks are now in the thousands, instead of just my nearest and dearest real life friends. I'm pretty sure most of my real life friends are not Planner'ds and don't read regularly. They think we are "strange." Shhh, don't tell them how many of us there are.

Video Tour Of My Planner: Take Two

After many, many special requests from my Loyal Readers, a video of my planner in action:

Giftie Etcetera on You Tube

My camera sucks and my lighting is awful, but the tips in action is worth seeing.

To become a Loyal Reader, sign up for e-mails letting you know when I post or add my blog to your bookmarks.

Enjoy.

Etcetera.

Through My Planner's Eyes: The Daily Planner Review

I've been all alone, sitting in this dark, mostly empty purse since late last night.

That's right. Giftie hasn't so much as touched me since 9 p.m., when she last checked my monthly calendar to see if I had anything scheduled for her to do tomorrow.

Right after sunrise, she did morning routine, carpool, made coffee, cleaned the counter, and did the dishes without even giving me the briefest glance. How can she function without me?

Finally, though, she sat in front of her laptop, coffee in hand, and snapped me open. Oh how I've missed her sweet caress. Her usual daily routine is pretty predictable:

1. Cross out and reschedule anything from yesterday.
2. Check on and schedule anything that must be done today or in the near future.
3. Check the Dashboard and the front pocket for anything that needs to be processed.
4. Check on the status of all Projects.

She surprised me this morning by deviating from her standard protocol. She unexpectedly opened to the Future Planning page, of all places, to check on a future date so that she could tell one of her planner friends from Philofaxy that the latest thing scheduled in her planning is renewing her driver's license in 2016. 

Oh, sweetness. Giftie just took the time to do her daily planner routine, starting by crossing out things that she completed yesterday in my weekly pages.

Then she spent some quality time communicating with me, rescheduling tasks that she had not completed in the weekly pages, planning supper, and taking pictures for her favorite Facebook groups.

Giftie even took the time to make sure that her Dashboard was empty of any doodles. She thoughtfully checked her Projects list to make sure nothing critical was being missed. You can tell how much she cares for me, since she does this routine almost every morning. She says it makes her day run smoothly. Of course, she is so efficient that the whole thing only took about five minutes, leaving me yearning for more.

I'll stick around to help her out during the day, hopeful that she will give me lots of attention. She will use me to schedule any appointments, write her blog, outline her Nanowrimo novel ideas, check on her Ebay sales, and track her medical needs. She will keep me in my home (next to her laptop or in her cozy purse) so that I won't go missing. If she has some time for housework, she'll consult me to decide what is priority or will add things that bother her, but that she cannot get accomplished today. She will show me appreciation by using me to my full potential.

My quality time with Giftie, every morning over coffee, is the best part of my day.

Aw, her sweet caress.

Etcetera.

Editor's Note: Planners are not people. Do not be fooled. :)

Somewhere Else: What Is NOT In My Planner

I never leave my house without my purse (holds my emergency medications, so a purse is not optional for me), my glasses, and my planner. (Attention stalkers: if you recognize me in public by my cute purse and adorable matching planner, show me your planner so I know you are one of the good guys! :) )

As my Loyal Readers have figured out by now, I write almost everything down in one place. Currently, I use my trusty Franklin Covey 365 Flourish planner (slightly wider than a Filofax personal). I carry only purses big enough to fit my planner comfortably, so that I literally NEVER have to leave the house without my favorite (and cheap!) personal assistant.

But there are some things, though, that are not part of my planner. I keep them {drum roll, please}...somewhere else.

Gasp.

I know, I know. Don't worry, the list of things that I track elsewhere is short. Everything in my planner all the time keeps me (and you...just trust me, if you were near me, you would want me WITH my planner) sane. But, on rare occasions, some things are better left NOT in the planner.

I have thoughtfully compiled some of the things that do NOT go in my planner (or mostly do not...I am Exception Obsessed, because hey, MORE PLANNER for me).

*Launchpad: If something is in my launchpad area (currently empty other than my purse), it leaves the house with me. Period. No need to check the planner. (I also have a long-term launchpad for things that will leave the house later, like a present for an upcoming kid's birthday party.) My kids also have launchpads.

Exception: If something won't fit in my launchpad, I either put a sticky note in the launchpad area reminding me to bring it, put a physical reminder (like a fork to remind me to put my cold lunch from the fridge in the lunch box), or a note on my planner (if neither of those are feasible options).

*Goodwill Box: If something is going to Goodwill, it goes in the Goodwill lined trash can in my washer/dryer area. When the trash bag is full, I toss it in my car truck to deliver to Goodwill and reline the can. (You could also use a box.)

Exception: I add an errand on my weekly task list when I toss the bag in my trunk. "E Goodwill" means an errand to Goodwill.

*Contacts: I put contacts in Google on my smart phone.

Exception: I do list some emergency stuff, like the names and phone numbers of babysitters or people to call in emergencies, in the Notes/File section of my planner.

*Recipes: I keep recipes on-line by bookmarking those, in Google chrome so they are backed up in the cloud, since I mostly gather them from around the 'net.

Exception: I do keep a list of Favorite Meals in the Notes/File section of my planner for menu planning purposes. I also have an old, grungy, plastic folder in the kitchen for any recipes that are written by my family and passed down to me. Some of them are in my mom's handwriting.

*Freezer Inventory: I keep the freezer inventory right there on the fridge, where slackers other family members might actually use it.

Exception: If we run out of something, it goes on the grocery list in the weekly section of my planner.

*Coupons: I keep coupons and my weekly shopping list (using anything listed in my planner throughout the week plus sale papers) in a separate Fold 'n Go planner, with my reusable grocery bags.

*Routines and Checklists: Mostly, I learn routines or write them on posters for the kids for everything (examples include morning get out of the house routine for the kids and evening get ready for the next day routines) and use a dedicated tote bag with checklists of what to bring with me (say, for writing my novel at a coffee shop or for substitute teaching days).

Exception: I do make lists of routines or packing checklists for things I am still learning. Those become part of my Project pages. These are especially helpful to have in your planner during transition phases of your life. First day of school? New job? New baby? You need to write down your list to visualize it and make sure that you never leave the house without diapers or your favorite coffee mug.

*Chores: I have a checklist for chores, but mostly, I just try to do chores everyday. (Total honesty here - I am more about teaching and supervising chores than doing them.) My daily minimums are a load of dishes, a load of laundry (clean, folded, and saved), and a 15 minute clean-up of wherever is bothering me the most. We also all try, as a family, to erase the evidence of our mess by putting things away as we use them.

Exception: If something MUST be done by a certain time, it goes in the weekly section of my planner. For example, if I must wash khakis because my husband needs his khaki pants for work tomorrow, it goes on today's entry.

It does not escape my notice that I almost have more exceptions than rules. {sheepish grin} The point of this post, however, is that even if your planner or household notebook is your lifeline, there are things where a visual reminder or other information capture method makes more sense - and there is no reason to duplicate your reminders if you are sure of your systems.

Etcetera.

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Coming Soon: How I Tackled The Shoe Monster!

Coming Up in October at Loyal Reader request: Organizing for Nanowrimo