How Planning Transformed My Life

In the past, I’ve always been a casual planner and calendar user. I utilized as many as I could. I had a calendar on my wall at home, I had a calendar on my desk at work, and I had a teacher planner and pocket planner that I carried with me everywhere. I had so many planners that planning was overwhelming. Two years ago, Christen introduced me to Happy Planner® and I fell in love. Instead of having so many planners, I committed to having one planner for all of the planning that I do.

Katniss helping me plan.

My Happy Planner®  has many sections that help me stay organized:

• Year-at-a-glance section
• Month-at-a-glance layout
• Weekly spread
• Daily entries

Different things I use my planner for:

1. Everyday events such as birthdays, due dates, date nights, weddings, etc. I also take it to the next level, and I have spiritual and literary events added, as well as the moon phases and Banned Books Week. Because I am an English teacher, I like to add the literary holidays because I like to plan around them and celebrate with my students. I utilize my monthly calendar for these things.
2. School dates such as school holidays, the nine-week grading periods, field trip days, testing days, and lesson due dates. We have a lot of school dates, so I utilize the weekly part of my planner. The weekly spread is also very helpful when planning out lesson plans and to-do lists. I try to organize the weekly calendar.
3. Budgeting. In every monthly section of my planner, there are pages for notes. I write a list of my bills and their due dates. I will also make a note of bill due dates in the daily section of the planner. I use a budget tracker to track my spending habits. You can also buy supplemental budgeting sheets to add to your Happy Planner®.
4. Lists. Listing is very important to me. I like to keep a daily or weekly goal list and to-do list. I write these lists in the margins of the weekly section in my planner. I also have a call list that I keep in the monthly section of my planner which reminds me of the phone calls I need to make.

Rough draft of to-do lists

Other key features I like:

• Stickers. I love stickers! When I first bought a planner, I immediately purchased cool stickers to go in my planner.
• Folders and pockets. You can add folders and pockets to your planner to keep loose papers and it gives your planner a notebook-like feel.
• The room to truly be creative. Not only do I like to color-code my dates but I also like to draw pictures in my planner to represent key moments in my life.

After all of this, I still do not consider myself an extreme planner. However, after changing my planning habits and consolidating all of my calendars to one catch-all planner, my life has been more organized and efficient. When I get to school, one of the first things I do is take out my planner and see what I have going on that day. Planning has helped me look ahead and not overbook myself. Planning has also helped me keep accountable in certain aspects of my life that used to challenge me, such as budgeting. Organizing to the extreme is not for everyone and you can still be a casual planner using Happy Planner® but if you are looking for an extra creative outlet in your life, I highly recommend it.

Let’s continue the conversation. Do you use day planners in your life? Join us on our Facebook Group: MMC Chat and on our Facebook page.