Well, it’s been a while since I attempted to plan out a month.

This coming from a girl who literally takes her planner, about a week or two before the month, and plans out as much as possible. Appointments, days working, days off, family events, kids activities, school activities, meals, and anything else I could plan.

Sounds kinda crazy right?

But here’s the thing; the more I jotted it all done, made plans and lists, the more time we started to have to enjoy each other and just life itself. Using my planner helped me to see which days were going to be more full and how to help those days run more smoothly. For example, I was able to not save a day scheduled with a doctor’s appointment, work, and a school activity, as a day to also do a week’s worth of laundry.

My Why…

Before I started to set up my planner I was wasting A LOT of time on just trying to make life work as smoothly as possible for us. Beside wasting time we were also wasting more money too, becoming more frustrated with each other, and running through life in a blur; basically survival mode.

For example, instead of going to the grocery store once a week, like we do now, we were going three to four times a week. Too often we were even splurging on just eating out because we didn’t realize we had allowed no time to fit in dinner let alone preparing it.

Sound familiar?

I’ll never a forget a friend telling us that they go to the grocery nearly every day. EVERY DAY! When I asked why, they simply said, “because we never have a plan until that day”. So much wasted time running an errand like that daily as opposed to just going once a week.

There was one specific part of my life where how much time was being wasted hit me the most?

When people give advice that kids grow up fast, well, it’s one piece of advice that is true, very true. Precious time with my girls was flying by and most days were not days we were enjoying as much as they were days we were just trying to get things done that needed to be done. I could not and would not live through a blur any more and allow time to pass us by.

I Needed A Plan (pun intended!)…

I had always used a planner for work but honestly I wasn’t using it as best as I could. Ironically enough, I worked for a company that sold planners. The more I talked to customers who were “planner addicts” or avid planner users, I started to realize how enjoyable it could be to set up a planner each month. Stickers, colored pens, bookmarks…these were all of the things I loved using anyway, while also having not much use them for until now.

So I started to take a little time to myself each month. Sit down; planner, stickers, washi tape, colored pens and all and had fun planning.

Now you don’t need to get all decorative, but for me, I found, that if I really enjoyed my planner and liked looking at it, it would be a way to hold myself accountable to using it and referring to it often so that I would stay on track. Also, it was a way for me to enjoy doing something that gave me “me” time to ultimately get me even more “me” time or family time or whatever extra time I wanted it to be!

So How Do You Get Started…

Find a planner you think you will like and one that is easy for you to carry. Now I say think you will like because most planner users will tell you this can take a while and some trial and error. There are many different formats, layouts, sizes, you name it. You will, eventually find one that fits; A: the type of person you are or your style, and B: one that actually works well for your planning needs. Yep, you might find one that visually you love but some how won’t quite function the way you need it to.

Also, and so important, get one that is easy for you to keep with you each day.

Do you want one big one for your home office desk? Do you need a smaller, light weight one to carry in a purse? You might decide to use a digital format as opposed to paper. Although I hope you can find the right fit the first time around don’t give up if you need to try again. Trust me, you will not only learn your specific planning style but you’ll learn more about yourself in the process, like the type of learner you are or what’s really important to you.

Once you have your planner start filling it in. If you want have fun decorating too! Add some inspirational quotes, even pictures, anything that will make you look forward to using it, wanting to use it. After all, it will only be effective if you USE it.

After years of using multiple planners, I have narrowed down my ideal planner to a flat, monthly planner, that is lightweight, and fits in my purse. I used to think I needed one with a daily and monthly format and found my self losing important info. with too many pages. I thought it would keep me more organized having more pages in my planner, it wasn’t.

I was also carrying a planner that was too heavy and therefore made me not want to carry it. But again, it took me time trying other ones and sometimes even switching in the middle of the year, when I found I wasn’t using the planner the way I needed to.

What I Know You Can Get From Planning…

The biggest thing I hope you get from this is that with a little time and preparation, using a tool (and finding the right version for you), to help plan will help you gain back valuable time each month, week, and day.

My planner lists everywhere we each need to be each day, dinner plans, and even simple household chore reminders, you know, like laundry. It allows me to not overbook days or have a dinner planned that just won’t be possible to prepare on a day when someone might get home later from work.

It helps me to add in work related tasks and see when I have time off. When we can make a day to plan out a fun family outing or even a little trip somewhere. Instead of just automatically assuming we won’t have time for something, I instead can easily see when will be the best time.

This is just the start of sharing some planning and time saving tips with you.

Oh yes, there is more!

And remember it Is what you make of it. Keep in mind, a little time invested here will help you gain even more time later.

My next articles will share with you how to effectively plan out weekly dinners and the details of how I organize my planner. If you would like to stay up to date with these articles to help make your life easier so you can enjoy more of it sign up for my emails. I promise they will be short, sweet, and helpful.

Until next time…have fun picking out that planner!