If you are anything like me, you are planner and agenda obsessed. I love to use my planners (yes, plural as I have many of them) and I switch them out regularly, because I feel it’s like having my own personal assistant. It’s there constantly reminding me of the various tasks I need to accomplish daily, weekly and monthly. Here are some reasons why I think everyone should have one in their possession.
- It helps with time management. Do you ever feel like there’s not enough time in the day to do what you need to do? We all feel this way as life can get hectic, but we also tend to get caught up in mundane things that take us away from our goals. Have you noticed how much of your time is wasted watching mindless TV, or getting lost on social media? When you plan your day in advance, see what time slots are “open” so you can fill that time in with what goals you want to tackle. TV and social media can wait until after you are finished. And yes, I schedule my down time frequently when I have deadlines for my goals.
- Improves your Productivity. This is good for both your professional and personal life. Most people associate productivity with only their jobs, but you may want to find productivity in your household, too. This includes cleaning, organizing, working on your side hustles or completing projects. We tend to let these things slide, and it keeps getting put off to another day. But, planners help keep you on track. Plus, when you check off something on a “to-do” list, it encourages you to accomplish more.
- Has health benefits. No, this is not a stretch to say this. Many planner and agenda inserts include a wide array of tracking various habits to help improve your overall health. This may include your water intake, your diet and nutrition, exercise, meditation, gratitude and medical appts. Some inserts can also help track and eliminate bad habits, as well. I also have pages for daily affirmations to keep my mindset positive.
4. Can be used as a creative outlet. Many people use the planner as a way to tap into their creative side. When I plan out my week, I usually do it on Sunday afternoons. This is an ideal time to use stickers or create a bullet journal (a doodling technique) to make your journal much more fun and personal.
5. Track your progress. After a few weeks, you can look back at all that you have accomplished, which will further entice you to keep going. Having a sense of accomplishment is helpful when creating goal setting techniques.
6. Record your memories. I write down all the good things that happen in my life. I love looking back month to month at all my accomplishments, great time with friends, all the positive things I manifested with Law of Attraction and anything that made me feel good. I thinks it’s important to concentrate on the positive things in our lives. We easily take them for granted and usually forget about them.
7. They provide stress relief. Many folks feel stressed because of time management. When you write things down, and it’s out of the mind and on paper, you now have more head space and most likely wont forget any tasks. People get a sense of joy when they can cross something off a list, especially when it’s a task you don’t want to do.
It’s important to write down the most important and most pressing tasks first, and do those before you move on to the next. Don’t worry if you don’t accomplish every single thing on your list, it’s ok– I don’t always have everything accomplished, but the most important tasks are done for certain. Plus, I am definitely more productive now, more than ever, with a planner in my life. I think you will, too.
Some of my favorite places to get planner supplies: Cloth and Paper, Minted Sugar, Kikki.k, Freedom Mastery, and Erin Condren.