Friday, January 29, 2021

Organizing in 2021: The Planner

This is the first in a series of little posts about organizing I'm going to do in 2021.  I meant to post this earlier in January, actually, but life intervened for a couple of weeks.  And that's alright. 

 Ever since I was 14 years old, I have used some kind of planner system.  I cannot imagine living without one.  There is no way I could do what I do now without a planner.  The orthodontist appointments, dental appointments, haircuts, ballet lessons, music lessons, meals, and homeschooling would be a wreck if I didn't use a planner, because--very honestly--my memory just isn't that great. 

There's a lot to running a household, too.  There are chores to do.  There are random things to remember (returning that jacket; ordering new pants for a quickly-growing child; dropping library books off to avoid late fees; sending a condolence card...).  My brain just isn't good enough to do all of this on its own. 

For years I used Mead Academic weekly planners.  They were my bread-and-butter throughout high school, college, graduate school, and law school. 

I used different things in different years in my adult life, and went through a fairly long Moleskine planner period not long ago. I loved those planners!

More recently, inspired by Anna, I began using an A5 Filofax.  I've used the Filofax for a few years now and it works very well for me. I don't particularly like the Filofax planner sheets (plus, they're pricey!) so I purchased some custom sheets on Etsy a couple years back.  Unfortunately, this seller hasn't created 2021 calendar pages.  But I still use the other items: the weekly planner and meal planner are my top two, and I use them every week.


I appreciate that I can tuck things into the front cover of the Filofax.  I keep my beloved Sharpie pen there.  In the little slits, I keep the name of the metal to which I'm allergic (gadolinium, if anyone cares!) and little cards containing my godchildren's baptism dates.  A reminder to pray for them.

Inside the front cover are random items I may need to reference: in this case, I think there's a prescription sheet for a new prescription the doctors gave my husband, plus some cash. I try to remember to keep a little cash on hand, so I don't have to go borrowing from the Bank of Finn. Ha!


The front of my Filofax has a sticker from the lovely and talented Paper Cactus Designs on it. (Leah is the daughter of my "blog friend" Roan.  I just love the stickers she creates!) 

Just behind this I have a couple of pages of yearly layouts. 


When I took these photos, I hadn't yet filled in anything for the months yet, but I do plan to jot down a few reminders and goals for each month. Nothing major!


The first section contains monthly calendar pages--that's where I see the layout of the whole month. (I took a photo of a month where I hadn't written anything yet!  Except my note that we might go to Asheville in July. ;))


After this are the sections! I have six sections in my planner. 


The first section is called "plans." I set this up to accommodate my left-handed life.  I use the Filofax ruler as my page marker.  On the right side, I have my weekly planning page, where I plot out the week. On the back of my weekly planning page, I write out the week's workouts. 



 On the left, I have blank papers. I use the left-hand side for taking notes (daily to-do lists, people to call, etc--the messy stuff) while the weekly planner on the right guides and structures the week. I like my blank papers to be pink, of course!



 On the page after the weekly planner, I have my weekly meal planner (more on that later).  Beyond that, I have my printed daily routine, our chore chart (pictured only to show my kids' chores), and my weekly routine (not pictured).  And finally, I have several pages of typed exercises that I use when I plan my workouts.  





The next tab section is "Lists."  I am a list-maker.  I have a list for nearly everything!  This is where those lists live.  I have a list of places I'd like to visit locally.  Of places I'd like to travel "one day." A list of books I'd like to read, or would like for my children to read. I keep a list of items to take when we go camping (so we're not marooned outside without, say, umbrellas or extra batteries at 3am). I have a list of thing to write about on this blog, a list of YouTube videos I might one day make (if I ever decide to do that; I have so many ideas, but technology and I are not friendly with each other, and I'm shy! But I was inspired by seeing a page that features a man whose father died young, and he creates videos for young men to teach them the stuff they need to know--how great is that? As someone whose mother died young, I completely understand his motivation).  I have lists of items to sew.  I have a list of passwords (cryptic enough so no thief could possibly understand them).  I have a list of poem ideas.  I have a page for ideas and thoughts on a book I might one day write.  I have a home project list--all those pesky to-dos that pop up and need to be written down and addressed.  There's also a list of items we need for our lives or home, such as snow boots for one child (and the size needed), what size bedside lamps I'd like to get, etc. For me, a list is a therapeutic brain-emptying activity that helps me stay organized.  

The next section is "meals."  I keep my meal planning pages in this section, and just pull one out each week for jotting down what we'll have.  I also have a list of healthy meals and snacks here for myself--so that I have no excuses. :)  In addition, I have started to keep a list of things my husband cannot eat now that he has had oral cancer surgery.  Salmon fillets? No way, Jose. Sometimes I struggle to remember what is and isn't easy for him to eat, so this list helps me out.

I keep an actual grocery list on a magnetic pad on the side of my fridge. The second I detect that we are running low on something or need it from the store, I write it on that pad of paper!  It's a lifesaver, I tell you!

The next section is "money."  The first page is our annual budget, which I like to make in January each year.  I try to keep track of our spending in major categories, so on the pages following the budget, I have one page per month, and that's where I will keep track of expenses to see how we are faring.  We are not particularly diligent at keeping track of a budget (my husband thinks it's a waste of time, but he is THE most frugal person!), but I appreciate having a basic idea of how much I should spend on groceries, clothing, etc.  Our goal is not to live within our means; our goal is to live below our means. Having a rough estimate of where we are financially is helpful to me.  But I will say that I haven't made a budget for 2021 yet, and I haven't tracked the first expense yet.  I may pick that up in February or March. 

The next tab is labeled "health." In this section I have my notes from my Louise Parker Method learning, and any other health tidbits that I feel are helpful to me.  

The last section is "seasonal."  Here's where I have planning pages for Christmas.  A comprehensive list of what we'd like to do during the season, plus all the gift lists and checklists I need for helping the holiday run smoothly. 


  The back cover contains a few sentimental things (a poem, a letter from an acquaintance, a photo), that I like to keep as reminders of the good things in my life. 

*           *           *

The point of all of this is just this: I think organization starts with planning.  It doesn't have to be complex and it surely doesn't need to be a Filofax.  I think what most people need is quite basic:

a calendar

some sort of weekly or daily plan--can be as informal or as formal as you like!

a meal plan

pages for lists you want to keep/make

That's really it.  Everything else just depends on your unique life circumstances.  But having a place for the calendar, the meal ideas, the plan, and the lists, is extremely helpful. I like to have them all in one place, but some people may prefer to use a digital device for some of these lists, or a paper on the fridge for the menu plan.  Whatever!  The nuts and bolts don't matter as much as just having something that will serve you well.  You want to be able to remember appointments, have a good idea of what to eat during the week, and have a general outline of what must be done during the week. That's it!

As far as which planner to use, I must say, there are some very expensive ones out there.  The Filofax isn't cheap (I bought mine on Amazon for a good price a few years back), but since I don't have to purchase a new planner every year--I just print pages--I feel it was a good investment.  But I must say, for years I made great plans with planners I purchased for $10 or less.  Places like TJ Maxx/Home Goods sometimes have great planners that are quite pretty for really good prices!  Frankly, even a 20-cent composition notebook from the grocery store will work if you're willing to draw a little calendar for each month. Don't let price be a sticking point. 

If you have any planning tips or tricks, let me know. I love learning how other people structure their days! 

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