In my book, having a planner is a necessity. I think it’s an essential tool for everyone to be able to manage their life well.
How you use the planner is going to depend on your personality and preferences, but overall using a planner can keep you far more organized than life without one.
Without a daily plan you are likely to wander without clear tasks and goals. There are several reasons I believe a planner is so important.
A Plan Gives You Clarity
I personally would be totally lost without my planner. We have so many thoughts running through our head. Things that need done, appointments to make, and goals to complete. Writing things down that need done will help you remember what to do. Without my planner I’m pretty sure I would constantly feel jumbled and stressed and not know where to start each day!
A Plan Helps You Define Priorities
For example, having your relationship with God as a priority makes it easier to schedule devotional time. Making your marriage a priority has you scheduling date nights and intentional time together.
Once things are written down, you can take a look at the big picture and begin to decide what items take priority and which things can wait.
A Plan Gives You Purpose
Once you know what’s going on – priorities, goals, and tasks, you have a better sense of purpose on what you should be doing.
When opportunities arise, you can confidently say yes or no based on your priorities and what your schedule looks like. You know your purpose and can give your answer without guilt.
There are so many “good” things out there, but if we fill our lives with just the “good” we don’t leave room for the very BEST. This is going to look totally different for each person and each season you’re in – but if you work toward filling your life with the best stuff, you’ll find a lot more purpose in it.
A Daily Plan Gives You a Starting Point
When you have your daily list written down and your priorities established, you can easily pinpoint which task you should start with for the day.
A lot of experts recommend starting with the biggest task first, or, “eating the frog.” However, I think it’s also ok to start with one or two quick and easy tasks that build some momentum for getting things done that day.
A Daily Plan Gives You Practical Steps
You may have big goals in your head, but without a plan of steps to achieve them, you are not nearly as likely to reach those goals. When you have a list of actionable steps to take to meet your goals, doing one or more things per day or week will get you closer and closer to actually achieving your goal.
When I say “planner” I don’t necessarily mean a specially bound calendar with all sorts of pages to keep track of every facet of your life (though that’s my preferred method 😉 ) I just mean a system that works for YOU.
It could be on your phone, a plain spiral bound notebook, or sticky notes placed all over the house. It doesn’t matter. But in order to live intentionally and be productive too, having a plan laid out will make each day a little more meaningful.
This is great motivation to start planning my days. Maybe I can get a little more organized next year.
I’m glad you found it motivating! Thanks so much for visiting 🙂
I adore having a planner! When I don’t have my tasks written down every day, I either forget some, feel too frazzled to accomplish much, or “forget” some (as in don’t do them because they weren’t made a priority!).
It’s true that a daily plan doesn’t have to be in a planner, but having a dedicated Space (in whatever form – even sticky notes!) does help it become a habit.
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Absolutely! There’s no “right way” to have a planner – whatever works for you! Thanks for visiting 🙂
I use an updated daily planner with sticky notes and tabs! What ever works for you.
That’s great! Yes, I think that everyone should find what works for them and stick with it. Thanks for visiting!
You make such a great point…as a new SAHM, I find that I flounder if I don’t have activities planned or make a plan for myself! I love your suggestions and will be using them to plan out my days!
Is this black filofax your planner or just a picture? I am trying to find one but everything I find is expensive!
I am not a planner at all, and most planners do not work for me. But I found it helpful to keep a to do list and notebooks in a bible bag. It works for me.
Thanks Laura for awesome sharing! I always finish a day with a to-do-list for tomorrow 🙂
This is my second article here I am reading because you are covering topics very well in detail, nowadays I was thinking to make daily now this post is going to help me a lot..
keep doing great work
And
Thanks for sharing 🙂