Sunday, December 29, 2013

Planning for 2014

My Twitter timeline is currently filled with memories of 2013, wishes for a better 2014 and excitement over new planners. Planners really have evolved over the years. I remember when I was fresh out of college, I took a Franklin Covey Productivity class as part of my training at the consulting firm where I had my first grown up job. I wish I remembered more about the class, but some of the details that stuck with me included:


  • Breaking down goals into practical implementation steps with measurable outcomes
  • Prioritizing and coding tasks to note what could be delayed (marked with a -->), in-progress (IP) and completed (a checkmark)
We received a FC Daily planner as part of the class. In researching for this post, I was amazed to see that the pages still look the same!


Now, there are so many choices. From Erin Condren to Whitney English to Momgenda, there are various stylish ways to keep your life in order.

So which one do I use?

None.

I think these planners are so pretty and lovely. I really do! The main reasons I don't use them are: (1) I hate my handwriting and (2) I need a way to share my calendar with Jeff.

So we use Google calendar for now. Since joining Junior League, it has been especially important to have a way to share with Jeff as those JL events generally require him to be home with Jack. Some of the other events (JL and otherwise) may be ones where we both attend. I name the appointments using the following naming convention:

Nat - JL - Volunteer at Instrument Zoo
Nat/Jeff - JL - Whale of a Sale preview party

In the notes, I'll include where Jack will be (if not with Jeff).  If it is during the work week, I'll indicate if Jeff needs to pick up Jack from his Gammy or if I will prior to my meeting/appointment. I'll also set the reminders for both pop up and email. 

If anyone has any tips on smarter ways to use Google calendar, please let me know! Also if you use a paper planner, let me know which one!

3 comments:

  1. Franklin convey was my first planner....seriously...I sometimes debate going back to it.

    I've had an Erin Condren for the past 3 years but will be looking for something else in 2015. I'm thinking about the Whitney English Day Designer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post! I lived out of my planner in high school and college, but once I graduated I didn't have so many activities so I gave up on it. In the last couple years my schedule has picked up a bit, and my husband has a lot of activities too. Conveniently, we both also now have smartphones. So we each have our own Google calendar we share with each other, which is great to remind me about what I have to do, and is also handy because I can see what his schedule looks like when I'm trying to make plans for both of us. We always have access to them via phone or computer. I'd like to get a cheap Android tablet to display in the kitchen to replace the paper calendar that still hangs on our fridge :o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. GIRL. You know how I love my planner, so you can only imagine how excited I was to read this post! I've tried doing the Google Calendar thing and it's okay, especially if you need to collaborate with others, but I just cannot CANNOT give up my paper planner. I've tried almost every planner there could possibly be and I've fallen in love with the Day Designer. This is my second year with it and I'm still in love. It is absolutely perfect for my needs. And I pretty much tell anyone who asks how amazing it is. I love hearing about how others utilize planners or other organization methods. It's like crack to me :)

    ReplyDelete