Planner people are those sorts that know what's up. They know what time an event is, they usually have some sort of calendar system and they always arrive early. :)
Then there are Pantsers. You know, people who fly around by the seat of their pants. They seldom arrive early or on time and they usually don't know what's coming next.
I'm definitely a combination of both of these...but I really want to be a planner sort of person through and through!
Lately I have discovered that the third sort of person who exists are Trackers. People who keep track of what they watch, eat, buy and do.
My husband has a notebook that is over 6 years old that has every movie, tv show and video game he's ever watched or played. And I have another friend who tracks all her online purchases in her planner and she loses weight by tracking her exercise habits.
So after you've picked your planner. You're left with picking a system!
I pick Diyfish inserts. There's a lot to be said for this system; you could devote hours to talking about how to use these! But, I am simply talking about my re-vamp and what/how I am using my planner.
I pick this system because I am a planner, pantser and a tracker. :)
Most people will almost always need or want a view of the month. Some people like their view to be a full page, half page, or like me a 3.75 x 6.75 page. Whatever size...it's a good idea to figure how to utilize this page. I use mine to plan upcoming events. This is the page I look to whenever anyone asks me to do something. I use color coding to mark my days with whatever is coming up. (I will explain my color coding later) However you plan, pants or track...this is a good page and place to just mark down that you're busy on any certain day. I know that on the 5-6th of this month my Mom was scheduled to have a defibrillator put in. I knew not to plan anything that day because I have a tiny square on that day reminding me to not double book myself.
My son (green) has ensemble practice and my daughter (pink) has cheer practice. These are revolving events. However, I outline the day they're scheduled and color in the box when they complete a practice. By keeping track of this, I could dispute lesson fees or mark their attendance should there ever be the need to do so.
The middle part of the page are events that don't revolve, but rather they are one time events that may fall under the same category. Such as doctor appointments, open houses, or class dates. I color code these events and use the same line if they're the same type of event. For open house, I had one on the 17th and I have one on the 23 for two different kids.
The bottom part of the page are true tracking events. My instagram posting, blog postings, going to the gym and when one of my kids takes a day off from school. I only use this as a reference usually. My kids will ask to stay home when they're feeling slightly ill and I can remind them that they have missed two days this month already and it's probably best to trudge through. This is really helpful for the kids that love to play hookey, because you can't dispute my monthly chart!
If you don't use this sort of monthly chart, you could always make yourself a tracking page or a page for explanations of your blocked out dates on your monthly view. I use this because I like seeing what I've done and when.
Our nutshell.
1) Find a monthly view.
2) Block out dates/times you WILL be busy. So not to double book yourself.
3) Create an explanation page or a tracking page if your calendar is too small to go into detail as to what you're keeping busy with.
Very small apologies for the length of this post, but there's so much thought that goes into how to effectively use this page I felt the words just coming out blah blah blah. So if you're still here...thanks!
-Pillowfarmer
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