Planner Party Guest Post Number Nine: Katie!
October 27, 2015
{Good Tuesday morning, my friends! Today we have Katie with her planner thoughts!}
***
Hello, Dawn!
I've been a longtime planner user, back to when I was working outside the home and used a zip-up planner. One day I arrived at work and was heartbroken when I realized that I had driven off with it on the roof of my car, only to have a kind man who had found it call me and return it to me.
Over the years I have used planners of various shapes and sizes and have enjoyed choosing pens and stickers to embellish my pages. As wife and mom in a family of six, my 'system' has evolved over the years.
My current system is a Bloom 5.5" x 8.25" daily planner and a Moleskine journal as a bullet journal. My planner has a monthly overview and daily pages, where I write down appointments, recurring events and upcoming periodic to-dos (i.e. change furnace filter, schedule gutter cleaning). It also holds my book club list for the year, meal ideas and weekly menus, account numbers and phone numbers for bills and master cleaning lists (both from a word doc that can be printed again and taped into next year's planner).
The bullet journal is a very recent addition and although I may not be using it exactly as the creator intended, I'm hoping that it will help me accomplish things that usually fall on my "C" list of things that never seem to get done and record what's going on in our lives in a very simple way. I'm keeping long-term project ideas here, movies I want to see and books I want to read. I then make daily lists of things I need to do or ideas I want to follow up on. I also note what we did that day in just a few words. I'm also using it to journal, which I haven't done in a long time.Although not planners, two additional components of my planning are my fridge whiteboard and Cozi app. The whiteboard is a small one intended for a school locker that I have divided into the days of the week using a Sharpie, and I then make brief notes as to what is going on each day (i.e. C-soccer 6 pm). I was keeping a fridge calendar but found that no one was checking it but me. This provides a quick reference for everyone else as to what is going on. The Cozi app is useful because I don't always have my planner with me and I can quickly note upcoming appointments using my phone, and later write the information in my planner.
I think the two most important things in developing a system is finding what works for you and making it a part of your daily routine.I've been following--and enjoying--your blog for quite some time and I'm excited to be a part of the planner party!
Warmly,
Katie
***
Katie, thank you so much for this lovely post and your very kind words! I'm so glad you joined our Party!
First may I say, I think your handwriting is so pretty! And your menu list looks much like mine this week! :)
Also, I love the C list idea! This sounds much like my "master to do" which is a running list of things that come up that should be done at some point but don't have a deadline attached. And I think the fridge white board makes sense - I also found my wall calendar attracted little attention (save Earlybird's who made off with said calendar for his own purposes, lol). I have since put up a whiteboard that we use as a daily schedule for EB.
I have heard a few other people speak of the Cozi app - and I like this idea too, because many of us use planners that - while large enough to hold all the details we need to record/track - are not so easy to tote around town. I have a small Susan Branch pocket calendar (a gift from a thoughtful reader) that I use when I run to appointments because my main planners are not so convenient to take with me ... and I also have the fear that something like you described in your first paragraph might happen to me!
As you say, "finding what works" is vital (however long it takes!) as well as "making it part of your daily routine." YES I agree! I would also add that a weekly routine is a good idea too, syncing up schedules and looking at the big (weekly/monthly/seasonal) picture while fine-tuning the days of the week ahead.
So much great food for thought here, readers! What say you? I can't tell you how happy I am to be hosting this "party" and that so many of you are enjoying it, too! How fun this is to talk shop ... I am very happy to say I have a couple more guest posts and then I expect my own planner post to be up by Thursday or perhaps Friday at the latest. I must warn you though - at last count I have about 20+ photos to share! So that will be a wordy post to be sure!
Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday my friends - I hope your week's off to a great start! And thanks again, Katie, for your input!
See you all here again very soon ...