Planners are extremely effective tools for helping you keep your ducks in a row. I’ve been using a planner for 20 years. Before that I had a calendar and a to-do list. My family knows that if I don’t use my planner, bad things happen. In case you’re skeptical about the benefits of using a planner, here are 10 ways my planner helps me manage my life:
1. I don’t remember anything if I don’t write it down. If I write it down, it’s like magic and I can usually remember it even if I never look at it again. But if I don’t write it down, it’s gone forever. So if you ask me to do something, make sure I write it down!
2. I need to see the big picture so I know what I can and can’t do. No matter how hard I try, I can’t see the big picture in my head. It has to be on paper. And seeing the big picture helps me plan so I don’t get worn out or bored.
3. I get overwhelmed easily, but if I write everything down, it doesn’t seem so bad. Or I see that it really is that bad and I can figure out how to fix it.
4. If everything I need to do is swimming around in my head, there’s no room for anything else – like creativity. So getting it out of my head and on paper allows me to think about other things that are more fun.
5. I can’t make Plan B if I don’t have a Plan A. And if Plan A isn’t on paper, it’s not really a plan – at least for me. I need to SEE things – on paper.
6. Without writing it down, I always plan too much – more than any one person can do. But when I write it down and schedule it on the calendar, or put time estimates next to each item, I am more realistic about what I can do and it’s much easier to prioritize.
7. A planner provides a place to write down all my brilliant ideas and be able to find them again. If I use notes and post-its, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to locate those brilliant ideas again.
8. I think better with a pen. Seeing my thoughts on paper (I use my planner as a journal, too), makes them easier to process and figure out. It’s also easier to see positive or negative patterns when it’s written down.
9. My planner provides a permanent written record of events, calls, activities, funny things the kids and grandkids do. I have all my planners from the last 25 years. There’s a wealth of information in those planners that I treasure.
10. Without a written plan, I tend to spin my wheels and waste my time. It’s like I don’t know what to do next. But if a task list is on paper, I am much more likely to be productive.
If you use a planner, why do you? If you don’t use a planner, why don’t you and how do you keep your ducks in a row?
I use a planner for all these reasons too!! I also have to write things down to keep them from swimming around in my head, or else like you there isn’t room for anything else.
Also I’m very out of sight, out of mind so I have to keep goals and tasks in front of me. When I don’t use a planner, I feel like I just drift through my days and I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. I really don’t know how anyone can function without a planner!
Sounds like we think alike! I’m an out-of-sight-out-of-mind drifter, too! It’s nice to know I’m not the only one!
yes, yes!!!! All those reasons!
Specially number 2. Big picture planning wouldn’t happen at all without my planner(s).
Me, too! I wasn’t looking at my planner when I planned one little part of a project and I got the date wrong! I was a week late for what I needed to do. Fortunately someone else was on the ball and covered my mistake. I was horrified I did that. I shouldn’t plan anything without my planner in front of me. Maybe others can, but I can’t.
Nice to know there are others who think the same way I do. I thought I was the only one.
Hi Patty,
Well, you know the Philofaxy community, so you”ll know that you are not alone by far
I can totally relate to all of the above. Recently my BF got a bit irritated because I hadn’t done something I apparently said I would. Only …. I couldn’t remember having committed to that in the first place. So I asked him if he had actually seen me write it in my planner. He didn’t. Which explains why it never got transferred into my head in the first place, LOL.
That is SO funny and I can SO relate!!! I was telling my son what a good memory I have and he didn’t agree. He said I don’t have a good memory, I just have a good planning tool. Wow!
I am glad to have found the Philofaxy community and know that I’m not alone!
I’m thinking I want to print this out & put it in the front of my planner.
I wrote it and I need to re-read it now and then!
I’ve used a planner since I was in high school… About ten years. I just began using an electronic planner app on my iPhone consistently and I was wondering, have you ever considered going the electronic route? I currently use both because I do still enjoy writing things out, but I like the reminders and alarms that go off reminding me of each task because I get side-tracked VERY easily.
I have tried but I like writing things down and seeing it on paper. I also like having a permanent record. But I also like the reminders and alarms. My daughter uses both, like you do. But I can only handle one tool or I get overwhelmed.
That being said, I think the combination of electronic and paper is probably just about perfect. I’ll probably try again.