Finally making a planner decision

So lately I’ve been debating about whether or not I wanted to switch out my planner. I have been using the Clever Fox planner for a few months. While I like this planner, I do miss my ring planner.

I finally decided that I would love to finish up the rest of the year in my ring bound planner. I’m proud of myself for giving the Clever Fox 🦊 planner a try for as long as I have. I really did stick with it for a while.

I really miss being able to reset my planner when I felt like I was in a rut or bored with the layout.

I’m back in my half letter, disc bound planner. I have customized this planner with Cloth & Paper and Notiq inserts. I love my half letter planner. It make’s me happy.

I have always used a planner every since junior high school. It’s a habit that I am glad I adopted earlier in life. It has helped me to accomplish my goals and keep my life in order.

If you feel like you’re having trouble getting things done try a planner or planning system. You can even use a plain notebook to make your daily schedule, routines, and to do’s. I even track my health in my planner. Mental, physical and emotional health.

You don’t have to just make plans in a planner. Tracking your health, finances, family, pets, hobbies etc. is also great to write down in your planner.

My planner contains my whole life including my journal and my bible study. I also track and write about the books I have read.

I hope that this post helps someone who needs a little help getting things done or getting organized. If you would like more information on planning or planners leave it in the comments. I would also love to know what you all are using and how you like it.

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Let’s water the flowers

Sometimes people just need to hear a kind word. The world is full of hate and unrest. It’s hard to find kindness or even courtesy. Let’s give people more of what we want.

I have always wanted to be loved and well liked. How can the universe give me something that I’m not willing to give others? My grandma used to say “ If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” I’m taking that to heart this year.

I make it my intention every day to say something nice to anyone I meet. Even if it’s just a warm hello or good morning. I say it with a smile and a little enthusiasm. People love to be greeted.

I’ve also made it an intention to encourage people I see struggling. Everyone needs encouragement. Not everyone has a strong support system at home. Your kind words may be the only and last kind words that they ever hear.

Life is so short. We must help each other on this journey. We must band together and climb up this mountain called life. Please find it in your heart to be kind and encourage someone today. It will make you feel just as good as them. It’s a great cure for the blues.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou

The anxiety seeds of a pandemic

I used to love working and going places. Now I can’t even get out of my bed to go to work without some sort of anxiety attack. I’m trying my hardest to get back to normal but I just can’t seem to get in line. My life is forever changed. I wasn’t an introvert. The pandemic made me one. I used to have plenty of friends and vast social circles.

Now, I barely want to go to the grocery store or go in at a gas station. If I can be serviced at my car or have things delivered to my house, I’m satisfied.

I never thought this would change me but it has. I’m not the same person I used to be. I never did large crowds. Now I can’t even do large crowds online. The sight of a large group makes me cringe.

I would love nothing more than for things to go back to normal. It still won’t change the fact that I can’t get back to normal.

Do I finally have planner of peace?

So recently I took a trip to Michael’s craft store. I was looking for a classic size happy planner and what I found was that the happy planner section was sparse. There wasn’t much to choose from and the little bit with that was there was really picked through. So, what I decided to do was go ahead and get the student planner box kit which was classic size. The box kit came with a few accessories and some paper. So, after getting the student box kit, I started to look around the section. I’ve really wanted a hard cover for a long time and they just happen to have one black classic size hardcover there. So, I went ahead and grabbed it along with the classic size hardcover. I got 2 more packs of accessories that came with a folder and some happy planner papers and I got a few more sticker books which happened to be 50% off. 

So, after getting home and looking at all my planner goodies, I was wondering to myself did I really want what I had because I was looking for something specific, but I didn’t know that what I really needed was in my hands. So, after opening everything and looking at everything all spread out on my desk, I just went to town hooking up my new Classic size Happy planner.

There are few reasons why I was so excited about it. The classic size student planner has a vertical layout, but it has 7 different sections that are color coded. This week’s color is blue, but the opposite of the sections is you white. That excited me because I’ve never seen it like that. There were no lines on the weekly pages to give me a certain domain of where I could start and stop planning and that’s what I love. I just want my days separated I don’t want the individual day separated. So, that’s what drew me to the student planner as well as the very clean fresh layout that it had. 

Right off the back I fell in love with this hard cover.

It’s a plain black hard cover and it’s a cover that I had been looking for, for a while. I just wanted something sleek and I didn’t want a chubby happy planner this time. That is what overwhelmed me with every other happy planner I had. I had been trying to live up to the expectation of social media with a thick, chubby happy planner that was too overwhelming for me. That’s what made me put down the happy planner so much.

As I opened my happy planner, I’m started off with a folder which is what I like I like a folder and by the way the cover that came on the happy planner it is removed I’m just only using the plain black hard cover for my happy planner. I’ve laid it out in a way that is convenient for me. So, I started off with a folder and of course there is 2018-2019 full calendar on 2 pages in the front, which is fine for me. Then, there’s a course contacts page and there was a classes page. I took out the page where you write down your classes because I’m not in school I don’t have any classes, so I didn’t have any need for that page.  

What I did do, on the opposite side of the 2019 calendar, was I printed the calendar for my son school. So, I could have his calendar right in the front of my planner.  I have it printed out on Happy planner paper. I’ve got so many accessory packs. I had so much paper that I was like “I have to utilize this paper” so, I printed out his schedule on a paper and I put it on the back of 2019 with the paper clip.

 Also, I have my daily personal care routine which, since looking at it on A5 paper, it’s a little bit sparse so I might go in and edit it a little and add a few things. The next page in my planner is my daily cleaning master task list. The planner starts in August, but it is September and I’m glad I got this planner because I can start it off right now in September. It goes from August to July of the following year, but this is perfect for me right now.

 I have 4 months in this planner. I didn’t want this to be a chubby planner. Chubby planners are overwhelming. So, I just made it nice and slim, down to the meat of what I need.

 I have my monthly section where I have a few things planned out on the month. I also have found a way to use my mini planner accessories in this classic size. I do use my mini papers and my mini accessories in here I have a mini dashboard that separates my month and it’s perfect because it’s not bulky. 

After my month tab I have my week which I have already planned out and I can already tell you they are too many darn stickers on here. But I have my week planned out.

 I have a half sheet of notes and of a little small square of sticky notes that came with this set and it’s convenient for me. I have things planned out and written out in my planner and I think it’s cute.

 Next week I won’t be using so many stickers.  I like how it looks, cute. This planner inspired me from the way that is laid out with the colorful sections. This week’s color is purple, so on each section, there are 7 sections for 7 classes, its layout is this pretty lavender and then white and lavender.

The sidebar is my favorite because the side bar has the month at a glance at the top of left hand corner and the week is dated so I didn’t have to date it, thank God. It has a don’t forget list and it has an upcoming test list which I use a sticker to put over that for my own convenience. It also had a little Box at the bottom of the side board that says I’m feeling and this week I’m feeling excited because this planner has me excited and it came with a bookmark that says let your dreams lead the way. 

I’ve already put in a notes half page for each week of this month because I will start using the notes to do my meal planning but as of this week I just had a note paper, so I could take notes. I have four months in this planner, September, October, November and December. That keeps my planner slim. Behind the last month, which is December, I have a pocket folder with a few sticker sheets. Next, I have another mini tab divider separating the folder from of the section where I have all my notes paper. This will be my journaling section. I love to have space to write so, having a small journaling section in my classic happy planner makes me happy.

Seeing life through someone else’s eyes

You never know how your actions affect other people until you hear exactly what you are going through from someone else’s perspective. It’s like shining a light into your own dark life.

I had a conversation with a close friend of mine and he told me a story about his ex-girlfriend. He was in love with her and she hurt him, badly. This story is common among people who have been in a relationship. The difference was that my friend was honest enough to tell me his true feelings. Feelings that he had expressed to no one before. I was touched and honored. For someone to share their innermost feelings means that they are very comfortable with trusting you and telling you this information.

The way he explained his feelings opened my eyes as to how my own husband feels about certain things in our relationship. My husband is the strong silent type. He doesn’t verbalize as much as I do. Now I feel like I have a better perspective on things from a man’s point of view. I will take the time to have a deep conversation with my husband to find out if this applies but for the most part, I’m sure he’ll be happy to know that I consider his feelings.

You never know how your actions affect someone else until you hear it from someone on the outside looking in. There is a lot we can learn from each other just by listening. Not just with our eyes but with our heart.

This conversation definitely opened my eyes.

Have I found planner peace?

So here I am, two years into my official planning journey and I end up with multiple planners. I was the girl calling other girls crazy for having multiple planners. I didn’t see the point in planning in multiple planners. I had no idea why certain information needed its own planner. Now I am one of those crazy people and surprisingly I feel more sane now than I have ever felt in my life. I am finally at the point where I feel like I don’t have to buy another binder or another accessory. I am really fine with what I have.

I also have a confession to make, I didn’t spend over $20 for each of the planners that you see in the picture. I got the two Happy Planners from Michael’s and I got the Webster’s Pages from Jo Ann’s. I used reward coupons and got each of my planners for pennies on the dollar. I also got stickers and accessories for 60% off at Michael’s. So far my planner journey hasn’t broke the bank and I’m proud of that. That makes my husband happy too.

So now it’s time for me to tell you what I use each planner for.

This little guy is my purse-onal planner. It is my planner on the go. I have sections for tracking and journaling. This is my personal planner dedicated just to me and what takes most importance in my life. It includes my routines, medication lists, mood tracker, workout log and Dr. appointment log. I keep a few sheets of grid paper to track what I have to do with my 2 kids. Each child has a small section in this planner. That’s it. I’m only using this planner for me. This is my personal domain.

Webster’s Pages A5 Color Crush

This gorgeous beauty is my social media planner. I have multiple social media accounts and I want to keep better track of what I’m doing and where. I recently purchased a domain for my blog and I suddenly needed somewhere special to track my blog and my YouTube channel. I was torn because I wanted this one to be my purse-onal planner, but it was too much to carry in my bag. I have a section for each of my social media profiles including my Instagram dedicated to planning. @creatively_dee288 You can find more pictures and layouts there of all of my planners and accessories.

 

Everyday Essentials Classic size Happy Planner

This big guy is my home and family planner it has the gold expansion rings and it is packed with everyone’s schedules, appointments, paydays etc. I also have the Happy Planner Home Planner extension in here. I use this planner for meal planning and household management. I love how customization the Happy Planner is. I can print and punch a million and one inserts or just go to Michael’s and Hobby Lobby and purchase more. This is the planner that also gets the most abuse. It is out on my desk all the time and sometimes my son uses it as a coloring book lol. I also spend a lot of time in this planner because everything else revolves around this planner.

I feel at peace with my planner system as it is right now. Each planner has a purpose. It took me a 30 minutes to set them all up to fit my life and fulfill their purpose. I often felt unhappy with my planning systems in the past because I felt like I wasn’t getting anything accomplished. Now that I have had my current system in place for 2 weeks, I feel like I have gotten more done in these two weeks then in all of 2017 combined. It’s amazing how just a small thing can really change your life. I never would have thought that I would be a planner girl let alone a 3 planner girl. I’m impressed with myself, my system and my productivity because of it.

Let me know how your productivity has changed recently and what planner system you use. Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog for more lifestyle and productivity tips, tricks and most of all results.

10 ways to survive the daily chaos of motherhood

Being a wife and mother is a never-ending job. I’m up early and in bed late. I keep the world spinning, food magically appears from nowhere and I make sure the sun rises and sets daily. I keep the catastrophe at bay and the boogieman and I have cultivated a nice friendship over the years. (metaphorically speaking)

I am at the center of everything in my home and everyone is a priority, except me. As much as I love my kids and my husband, I found that I really lost myself taking care of everyone else. The doctors call this post-partum depression. I think that is the wrong term because what i’m talking about happens to every woman at some point and usually it’s due to being overwhelmed with tasks and responsibilities without any depression at all.

Putting everyone and everything before ourselves is our way of coping with the stress and strain of Motherhood. It’s a natural sacrifice that we make that we really shouldn’t. The less we take care of ourselves, the less effective we are at taking care of our children and household. I am guilty of this on so many levels. I have even caught my self neglecting myself for weeks at a time. I am guilty of this. I have dealt with depression and it has drastically gotten better over time. The times that I neglect myself the most are not caused by depression but by a super busy schedule, a sick child and mountains of laundry worse than the Himalayas. I was not sad or emotional when I was neglecting myself. I was trying to get the chaos in order.

Once I caught myself doing this, I got on a mission to improve my world so that this would not happen again. I started getting together a system that helped me to deal with my family, my responsibilities and tasks, as well as myself.

1.) Get a planner 
I know that you have heard this a million times but this is so true. You will have so much on your mind things will get lost in the shuffle. Write them down. Either in an app on your phone, or a paper and pen. I keep a notebook and a planner. I have to write. It gives me the greatest calm and peace to write down not only my tasks for the day but also how I’m feeling. Seeing it on paper can help me to sort out what is just my mind running wild and what is actually happening. Believe me, I have been through the altered reality too many times. Writing things down will clear your mind and get you grounded fast. I have a Happy Planner by Create 365. I decorate and plan in my planner weekly which is a creative outlet for me as well as functional.

Classic Happy Planner: Everyday Essentials

http://www.michaels.com/create-365-the-medium-happy-planner-delicate-garden/10531393.html

2.) Get a plan together 
Once you have your planner in hand, use it. Concentrate on writing down your tasks and to do’s. Prioritize from the most important to the things that can be done later. You will realize, once you make your list, that things are not as overwhelming as they seem. You will gain so much clarity.  I usually do a top 5. After that I do an optional 3. Any more than that and I won’t have room for things that come up all of a sudden. Flexibility is key. Leave room in your schedule for unforeseen events. Give yourself extra time to complete tasks.

3.) Execute
Put your big girl panties on and get to it. You have to focus on what you have in front of you. The old saying “out of sight, out of mind” is true. You have to tackle what you see first. Then move on to the next. Hit your top priority items on your task list. Challenge yourself to get done at least the first 5 without stopping or getting distracted. You will be pleasantly surprised at what you can get done.

4.) Stop multitasking
You shouldn’t multi-task just like you should’t text and drive. It will end badly. If you are cleaning, then clean. If you’re doing laundry then do laundry. You will get tasked completed so much faster if you focus on one thing at a time. You will also have more attention to detail. This means you won’t forget or leave much out.

5.) Schedule everything
Now, let’s get carried away with this one. Some people take this statement literally. When I say schedule everything, I mean make sure to use your time wisely. If you have a block of time in between tasks, this is the perfect time to schedule some down time for yourself. I even schedule showers and baths. You wouldn’t believe how many times I have asked myself if I had taken a shower that day. It may sound ridiculous to some but, it’s absolutely true. Schedule your personal care time too. I even write down my morning and night routines for my skincare. This comes in handy when you get mommy brain and can’t remember anything.

Now, by this time you should at least have a pretty good handle on things. Planning and scheduling should have at least cleared the smoke and let you see things much clearer now. Now that you have a little clarity as far as tasks go the next three will make your life even easier.

6.) Prep ahead of time
My kids clothes and my clothes are laid out ahead of time. Their clothes are organized so that I can grab what I need when I need it. My clothes are organized in the same way. I train my kids to use the same system that I have put in place and explain to them why. They get it. They are also young so their brains are just soaking it all up. This habit took me a while to cultivate and master but my “future self” thanks me all the time. Trust me it’s worth the extra effort.

7.) Get everyone involved
Don’t leave your kids out of the clean up. Get them to help clean up their messes and do laundry whenever possible. Remember, you are raising adults and you want them to be confident and independent. Giving them responsibility and chores little by little instills character. This also gives you a chance to see what they can do and what they can’t. It’s a great learning experience for you and them. You can even make it fun by turning it into a game. Engaging their critical thinking and motor skills which is great for their development. It also lightens the load on you.

8.) Develop a routine
Having a routine is critical. This can make the day go a little smoother but most of all, orderly. An established routine creates order and expectancy. Kids like this because it gives them a sense of security. They know what happens next and what is expected. There is no room left for question. This will also make life easier for you because after the routine is learned, the only thing you have to do is oversee.

9.) Be Consistent
As a mother, tiredness and lack of sleep were my greatest complaint. Establishing the routines talked about earlier has given me a chance to train not only my kids but myself.  I compare it to the metaphor that says “The fish rots from the head.” this is very true. You are the lead person in your household. The group of people you are responsible for respond to you and your leadership. They feed off of your energy. Make sure it is always positive. Being consistent is a positive reinforcement. Even though we don’t feel like it we should for the greater good of our home and family. A little struggle pays off in the end.

10.) Take time to relax and reset
Like I mentioned earlier. I even schedule this time in my planner. I will at least have a day or a few hours to myself to unwind, relax, and reset. You absolutely need to have this time. Whether it be a few minutes or a few hours. Take time to take care of yourself so that you can take care of the ones you love.

Productivity

 As humans we are naturally wired to tackle the easy stuff first and then the hard stuff. This behavior usually leaves us looking as if we are not productive. We leave unfinished business at the end of the day and say “Well I’ll finish it tomorrow.” which puts us behind on tomorrow’s tasks because we are still working on “yesterday” which should have been finished so we could focus on “today”.

This is why organization and decluttering are so important to me. I don’t like being surrounded by stuff. I would rather be surrounded by “things”. I know by now you are saying that this girl has lost her mind but I promise there is a difference.

Stuff–noun– miscellaneous, Unspecified objects. These are the things that surround us for no reason and often times have no use. We justify keeping “stuff” with reasons such as sentimental value. Which really means ” I don’t want to or I can’t seem to part with this object even though I know that it is useless

Things–noun-any movable possession. The example given in the dictionary is articles of clothes but I’m going a little deeper. Let’s use Knowledge as and example.

Knowledge–noun– the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning.

To me, knowledge is a true possession. No one can take away what you know. You earn knowledge. Either through school or experience. Knowledge is priceless, required, acquired, ever changing and dangerous all at the same time. Knowledge is power and too much of it can lead to madness.

I’m far from madness but, I have just begun to realize my power. Knowing what I know now I can achieve so much more. I can do so much more. I can react and handle things a whole lot better. And every day my knowledge grows. I cultivate it like a rare flower. Watering it daily by making myself learn something new and reading. Yes, reading. You would be astounded by how much information is easily accessible on a multitude of subjects. Anything you want to know about anything is at your fingertips thanks to technology.

With that being said, my organization and planning is all digital. Between my phone my tablet and my computer. I have backups of everything and I’m constantly updating.

Until I started planning and making lists I could not believe the amount of tasks I could get done in a day. It is amazing. I keep myself focused and I am always busy. I keep myself busy and focused on something daily because I am a firm believer in an old saying. “An Idle mind is the devil’s workshop”
I find this to be so true. When you are not focused on something. Demons have a way of creeping into your head and torching your ideas, dreams, goals and visions. And not the type of demons that come from hell and you need a priest to get rid of. I’m talking about the demons that are sometimes overlooked because they seem harmless and are not identified as they truly are. “demons”

1. Laziness– not wanting to do anything
2. Procrastination– Oh I’ll do it later, the lie we tell ourselves and things never get done
3. Writer’s block– The non use of a creative mind (no inspiration)
4. Sleepiness– not from lack there of but oh I just need a nap that ends up stealing 5 hours of your day,
5. Excuses– the justification of one or all of the above

All of these things lead to unproductivity. The only way to combat these is planning and sticking to your plan. You even have to plan your leisure time or it too can turn into a demon of unproductivity.

Planning is how I fight this. I suffered with the demon of depression for so many years. But that is a subject for another time. My point is, my depression was accompanied by the demons above and more and because of my long period of doing nothing, focusing on nothing and eating my way around the world. Because of the knowledge I have acquired through the last ten years I know now what was holding me back. 

I have taken back my life by taking back my productivity. I am focused and ready and it all started with a plan and a planner. I’ve stuck with it and it’s really helped to put a lot of things into perspective. There are a few questions I want you to ask yourself as I close.

1. What am I doing?
2. Is this productive?
3. What will I accomplish?

Take the time to ask yourself these questions. Develop a plan and get started towards your goals. You only live once. Make the most of the time you have and do something great.