How To Use A Planner To Stay Organized And On Time

How do you use a planner? It doesn’t matter if it’s paper or electronic, it’s about finding the right tool for you. I want to help you learn how to use a planner, so you can manage your time better and get more done.

I love to plan and organize my time. I’ve used electronic and paper planners, it’s about finding and using the best one for you at this moment in time.

You are going to need to learn some calendar management tips to fully understand the purpose and the idea of how to use your planner effectively.

It’s easy to declare that you are going to start using a planner to organize your life, but in reality, it can take some time and understanding of the process to make using a planner successful in your everyday life.

You need to learn how to use a planner to stay organized and on time, it’s not something that happens when you buy your first planner.

How To Start Using A Planner To Stay Organized

The most important step to learn when using a planner is simple. You actually have to use it, this may seem obvious but so many people never open them.

For a planner to work you have to write appointments and commitments into it. They have to be there in black and white and you have to work these into your day.

You also need to open your planner and read what’s there every day too. 

Without this step, you will quickly start complaining that your planner doesn’t work.

Related article: Picking The Best Productivity Planner For You

Top tips for using your planner

• Refer to your planner every day
• Treat it like your best friend
• Write everything down
• Refer to it often, you don’t want to double-book yourself
• Take it wherever you go

It will depend if you are a one-planner person or if you break your home and work planners into two.

I work from home I have just one planner and I keep everything in my planner including my cleaning schedule, work plans, and any family appointments too.

Related article: Why Is The Planner Pad So Good?

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Resources For Using A Planner

There are some really good products out there, so let’s check some out:

• Planner Pad is my favorite planner.
• Another favorite is the Daily Goal Setting Planner, a simple layout with three sections, monthly, weekly, and yearly.
• Ruth Soukup has a really beautiful planner, an undated planner, and contains so much more than just a planner.
• You can also just use a notebook and create your own style, similar to Bullet Journaling.

Related article: Why Is The Planner Pad So Good?

How To Stay Organized With Your Planner

It’s your planner and the final choice is yours.

It has to work for you, you have to find the best system that works for your brain.

I like to add appointments to my day, these are often made in advance.

Always add a note if tasks are due before the appointment and schedule these in advance.

Schedule travel time in your planner if you have to go somewhere for an appointment

The same after the appointment, you need to get home afterward.

You need to decide how you are going to organize the rest of your day.

Are you going to block out time in your day for certain tasks? Or are you just going to run with a to-do list that you must get done each day?

I don’t like the structure of time blocking my whole day in advance. Things never go to plan I like more wiggle room so I don’t feel under pressure.

I write a list of the most important tasks and that is what I focus on.

If I have time I will tackle something that isn’t as urgent.

Related article: The Ultimate Guide To Using A Day Planner

How To Work Out What To Do

You have to write things down, you have to know what is expected of you and when it’s due.

Those due dates are the 2nd most important tasks in your planner.

Brake the task down and get it tackled before the due date.

To do this correctly you need to spend time with your planner and the tasks you need to do.

These planning sessions are key to getting bigger tasks completed and on time, if not before.

But you have to be honest with yourself and the time you have available.

If you aren’t truthful with your time and commitments it can’t help you take control. However, if you tell it everything, it will help you achieve your deepest dreams and desires.

Spending just five minutes in the morning or the night before and looking at your plans for the day helps.

Related article: Tackle The To-Do List

How I Organize My Planner

I’ve never found a planner that fits me perfectly. There are always bits that I like and bits I don’t which means I do try different planners a lot.

That’s good for you as it allows me to show you the different options out there.

My favorite planner is the Planner Pad, it’s the one that fits me the best.

I love bullet journalling check out what bullet journalling is and how you might use it in your life.

I like a monthly overview, the bigger picture of the month with any important deadlines or appointments marked.

This highlights when I need to do something for a meeting or to purchase something for a gift.

Then comes the list of things I need to get done.

Each day I pick the most important tasks and write them down no more than 3.

If I have time I can tackle another task but if I don’t get to it that’s fine too.

The Idea Of Breaking Tasks Into Categories

If you look at categories it can help to see what’s important and what is just something that needs doing.

• The rocks are the appointments and the non-negotiable tasks.
• Pebbles are the things I need to do to reach my goals.
• The sand is all those other little tasks that you need to do each day.

Finally, you have a daily schedule, it can look like a military operation or just a list of the 3 tasks you need to complete.

Time blocking drives me crazy, so I like to have more freedom, I still get the same tasks completed.

How Can A Planner Help You?

A planner is a tool, that has been used for a long time. There are lots of different versions, but it’s all part of the same principle.

You have to use the tool to make it work. If you expect it to work for you then it will fail.

It will tell you when things are due and where you are supposed to be.

But it won’t tell you unless you have recorded the information first and then opened your planner to check.

You then have to tackle the tasks you planned. You can’t ignore them or move them to another day, you have to do what it’s telling you to do.

This is the one thing you have to commit to when getting organized with a planning system.

Related article: Why Time Management Is An Important Aspect Of Planning

Time Management Is More Than Just Planning Your Time

There are many time management books that can look confusing however, the basic principles are all the same.

Plan what you need to do and execute them before they are due.

So let’s break it down into the basics and build it up to a system that you understand and use.

Related article: 4 Simple Design Tips for Your Dream Home Office

Creating An Effective Plan For You

If you need guidance on planning your day check out this list below. This will help you look at your to-do list and your planner and get stuff done.

• The first place to start is always adding in appointments and travel time.
• Deadlines come next, you need these so you have a time frame to work with.
• Work backward from your deadline and see what time you have and the tasks you need to do.
• Look at the tasks and see what needs to happen 1st, 2nd, etc
• Create mini-deadlines for these tasks and write these into your planner
• Look at the daily tasks that you need to do and see where these can fit into your day
• Do you have enough time to get it all done?
• If there is too much you might need to delegate or drop the non-essential items from your daily plan

The amount of control you give your planner is up to you.

If you want it to micro-manage your day you can assign a time of the day to do the task or you can just go with the flow but you still have to do the work.

How To Use A Planner For Life

If you are using a planner and hoping that it will change your life you have to use it. But you also have to listen to what it tells you to do.

Most planners that I have used don’t come with their own helpers. Someone who writes down my appointments or tells me that I need to leave to go to a meeting. That’s a secretary’s job, not a planner’s.

Technology is advancing quickly and electronic planners are quickly taking off.
It is hard to remember to add things to your planner. Checking it throughout the day will do so much for your time management. And your ability to get stuff done, you will wonder how you ever managed before.

Planner Hints And Tips

I think the most important thing to do is to find a system that works for you.

There are loads of different planners out there because there isn’t one system that fits all.

You have to find the right system, the one that makes the most sense and you feel comfortable using it.

A system isn’t going to feel natural to you if you’ve never done any sort of planning before. You must give a system time to see if it’s right for you.

• Find something you like
• Remember to use the planner
• Write everything down
• Take it with you wherever you go

Resources For Helping You Plan Better

Your planner is an amazing tool, it can help you get organized, but only if you use it.

A planner allows you to plan your time and the tasks that you need to do on any given day.

But it won’t do them for you, you have to work the system for a planner to actually work.

If you don’t do the tasks in your planner then you aren’t going to make the planner work.

You have options for what your planner does, you can go into detail or you can have a basic plan. It depends on how you work and what your planner is capable of doing.

Your planner can be the most amazing tool in your possession if you use it to help you get organized.

Look after it, love it, tell it everything it needs to know, and it will help you organize your life.