Today planners are different. There is no longer one or two paper planners available, but 100s. And as an efficiency nut every time a new planner comes out, I just have to see what it offers. I have a case of planner envy.
I was a big fan of Franklin Covey planners -the classic, perfect first system. But then as electronic planners hit the market, I moved that direction. More recently, I have been using a hybrid system. With a hybrid system I have the long-term view available electronically but place weekly apportionments and to-do’s into the paper planner each week.
Over the last couple years I tried out two different planners to work with my hybrid system.
I started with Action Day. Action Day has a place for your to-do’s & your daily schedule, plus – delegated tasks and goals. It also has paper in the back of the planner to use for note taking. I used it for a little over a year, it was good but I was still searching.
After finding the Happiness Planner at Anthropology, I switched over to it in the spring.
What I loved was it was 100 days instead of an entire year, it had a place for reflection and goals, and it had daily happiness questions (“good things about today,” “what I hope for tomorrow”). The Happiness Planner was good but still, I was searching.
As December worn on I spent an entire afternoon looking at what types of planners were out there for 2017. I had no idea how many choices I had!
Here are a couple great articles/collections:
Lots of ideas, but what did I need? I ended up making a list of what I needed in a planner:
+It had to be simple – too many boxes, questions or distractions made me anxious.
+I wanted a place for quarterly goals and a way to be reminded of them daily. This was key.
+I wanted a place for daily things like my morning and evening ritual.
+I would need a space for that day’s to-do’s.
+ Of course, I’d need a place for that day’s meetings.
+And, instead of having a loose piece of paper to track my spiritual practices, I wanted space for my Discipleship Huddle Rhythm of Discipleship (I’ll share more on this next week).
+And last, with my goal of studying six books of the Bible this year, I wanted a place for daily Bible Study Notes.
I realized that even with all the customization out there that I would need to create my own. So I did.
This isn’t a big of a deal as you’d think. Making your own planner is actually all the rage – they go by the term “bullet journal.”
I picked up a blank book I loved at Home Goods but any size and shape that connects with you would work. Here are some ideas.
I decorated the pages with stamps and washi tape –
I needed something less complicated than the standard Bullet Journal. Here is what I ended up creating:
Introductory Pages:
Page 1 – Theme of the Year (I pick a theme word) and a list of Top Dream Goals for 2017
Page 2 – Quarterly Goals
Page 3 – The Brief Guide (there are several variations of this, here is one)
Page 4- Ideas for Morning and Evening Rituals (a mix and match list depending on time, energy, etc.)
Dated Pages:
Each day is two pages:
Every week ends with a two-page summary – here is a sample:
I put it all together while I watched TV with family or listened to podcasts. It was pretty fun. And here is the thing: it is really working. I look forward to using it daily and find I am staying on track with my daily commitments.
This planner is for three months, I figure it is a test run. I’ll let you know how it goes. Do any of you have a planner you love or keep a Bullet Journal? I’d love to hear about it. – Nicole
I thank you a lot for your time in writing this post.