Living in a modern world can easily get you overwhelmed. You start forgetting things, thinking there’s not enough time for anything and even making you leave your habits and goals.
Even further, being overwhelmed and on the edge of burnout can make you forget important things about people you care about. For example, today is the birthday of your best friend, however, you have lots of things on your mind and you forget to send them a “Happy birthday” message.
And you didn’t do this on purpose.
The good news is, there is a solution to this and it’s called planning.
Anyone can start planning and get life organized better with enough time for work, personal development, and loved ones.
For this, you will need a planner. But which one? Through this guide I will try to cover the basics of planning, what to define before starting, and a few tips on how to get started before purchasing the first planner and starting with the planning journey.
Before Beginning With Planning
There are lots of options when you decide to start planning. Starting with different types and formats of planning and even different tools needed.
This is the main reason why you need to define what you want to improve and plan before proceeding with making a first purchase and wasting your money on something that you don’t find any value in.
Planner Formats
This is easy to explain. There are two types of planners – digital and paper (traditional).
Each of them has pros and cons and depending on your specific needs, you can choose which one you want. Some people use a mix of these two and they are not wrong. In many situations mixing digital and paper planners is the best possible way to make the most out of your days, weeks, and years.
Let’s explore the differences between paper and digital planners.
Paper Planners
Using this is a kind of traditional way of taking notes and writing down your plans. People say there’s nothing better than using pen and paper when writing and nothing can replace that feel. This is the main advantage of paper planning.
And they are right.
Using pen and paper will surely bring you more joy and a traditional feeling when writing down anything you want.
Next, you won’t get distracted by various notifications which can be seen on tablets and other digital. And most importantly, you won’t depend on battery level. Imagine you’ve focused on writing down a complete plan and suddenly you get a low-battery notification. This can make you lose your focus and you have to start all over again.
On the other hand, there are some disadvantages of printable (paper) planners.
For example, writing down and making an error, you’ll need an easier in the best possible scenario. Otherwise, it can get messy.
Next, paper planners can be bulky to carry around and space is limited. You can’t just copy and paste pages to increase their number. 😀
However, the good news is that you can always buy a printable planner template and print as many pages as you want. You can, for example, buy a daily planner template and print pages for one month only, then repeat the same the month after.
Explore the Printable Planner Collection
Digital Planners
Many things today are digitalized and planners are not excluded from that. With the production of tablets, digital planning went a few steps forward.
Various brands out there, mainly Apple, offer their pencils made for iPads.
Digital planners are also great for planning as they serve more flexibility compared to printable planners. For example, error correction is way better as your planner won’t get messy if you make an error. You can always undo and write again.
You can also include links, images, and many other things. Digital planner templates can also contain hyperlinks so you’ll easily jump to the specific day, week, or month if needed.
Digital planners can be also used on various devices, you’re not tied to one device only.
In addition, you can purchase one planner template and use it over and over again for years. And page numbers may not be limited as you can simply copy and paste specific pages.
On the other hand, digital planners rely on various devices such as tablets, smartphones, and computers meaning you’ll need to make sure your device is charged. Also, you’ll need an internet connection to sync your calendars.
Notifications can be another downside too as they can distract you while you’re working on your plan.
And thing that most people would agree, that the digital planner lacks the physical feeling of writing things down.
Explore the Digital Planner Collection
Hybrid
Finally, the best solution that works best for many people is a hybrid approach. For example, you can use a tablet for syncing calendars and work planning.
For personal planning, you can use paper planners. This is just an example, you don’t have to do the same, through your journey you will find out what works best for you.
Planner Layouts
Planners also come in various layouts and basic division is time-based: daily, weekly, and monthly planners. This concept is present in both digital and printable planners and it’s the most common type of planner.
Let’s explore the basic difference between these three types.
Daily Planners
Offer the most detailed breakdown of your schedule, typically with hourly time slots. Some daily planners go even more in detail with half-hour slots during the day.
This is a great pick if your schedule is really busy and you want to track your time precisely and more in detail.
Daily planners can include sections for to-do lists, appointments, meals, and notes.
Weekly Planners
Weekly planners provide a balance between detailed and big-picture planning.
In most situations, they have one page for each week, while days are separated into one section per day.
In some cases, these planners may include additional fields like notes, priorities, habit trackers, and more.
They are great for visualizing your week at a glance and keeping track of recurring tasks.
Monthly Planners
They offer a high-level overview of the month and are good for tracking main monthly goals and most important tasks.
Typically have a calendar grid with enough space to jot down important dates, deadlines, and events.
Monthly planners are a great choice for tracking long-term goals, birthdays, anniversaries, and bills.
Undated Planners
Undated planners are a specific group as they can be either daily, weekly, or monthly. The main catch about undated planners is that you get a template without a date which you have to manually add.
This is a great option as undated planners can be used multiple times since they are not tied to a specific year.
Additional Types
There’s one more thing to think about – orientation.
Do you prefer landscape or portrait orientation? Planners also come in these two different layouts.
For example, landscape layouts provide more space for information compared to portrait-oriented planners. On the other hand, portrait planners are a better solution for smaller devices.
If you choose to explore the collection at Pixelartive, check the filtering options to choose your favorite orientation.
Choosing the Right Layout
Analyze your needs what you want to track and how.
For example, if your days are jam-packed, a daily planner might be best. If you have a more flexible schedule, a weekly layout could suffice.
You can also mix and match. Many planners combine daily, weekly, and monthly layouts to cater to different planning needs. This is in most cases the best solution for most people. 🙂
Not Sure How to Start? Test Before Starting
Planning Tips for Beginners
1. Find a Perfect Planner
As mentioned above, it’s important to find a planner that suits your needs the most. Make a list of requirements and how want to plan your days, then choose a planner that matches those needs.
Planners can include various fields like notes, to-do lists, habit trackers, lists, schedule fields, water intake, mood, weather, and many others.
2. Get Important Tools
Depending on the chosen way of planning you’ll need to have the right tools.
For example, if you’re going with a digital planner, you’ll need a tablet or similar device that can be used for planning. iPads are the most popular choice among people who use digital planning styles.
Of course, you’ll need applications that work with those planners like Notability, Goodnotes, and others. There are various apps on the market for either iOS or Android systems.
If you’re going with paper planning, you’ll need a pen. And eraser. Depending on the pen you’re using. Additional tools you can use are highlighters, washi tape, and page flags.
3. Don’t Be a Perfectionist
Whatever you start doing, the first time will always be bad (or look bad).
Keep this in mind when you start planning as the beginning won’t look so great to you at the beginning. It may take a bit of time to start using planners effectively.
Just keep working on your life planning and everything will come together over time.
4. Stay Consistent
As always, consistency is key. Planning is not set it and forget it type of work. You’ll need to work consistently and get used to making plans.
Over time, you’ll see the results of consistent planning and how your life improved compared to the period before you started with this journey.
Also, don’t get discouraged if you can’t dedicate time to planning on specific days. Life is an interesting journey and we don’t know what the next day will bring to us.
Sometimes is completely normal to miss the planning schedule. But it’s all life. Don’t get discouraged by this. 🙂
5. Start Small and Prioritize
Not all tasks are equal and the same in size. Some tasks are small and require less time. Some are complex and require lots of effort.
If you’re facing a complex and time-consuming task, the best way would be to break it into smaller tasks and then work on it in one step at a time.
Also, some tasks are important and not time-consuming. These tasks should be completed first so they won’t bother you when you focus on other tasks.
6. Dedicate Time for Planning
Writing down plans in your planner is also a task that requires time.
Depending on your planning schedule (daily, weekly, monthly) you’ll need to dedicate time to writing down a plan for the next period.
For example, for daily planning, dedicate 10 to 15 minutes each day to write down everything for the next day.
Every week, you can write down plans for the next week on Saturday or Sunday (depending on what day your week starts). You can also dedicate up to 20 minutes weekly to write down a plan for the whole week.
The same rules apply for monthly or any other planner.
7. Enjoy the Process
Planning is a journey, not a destination so instead of focusing on productivity only, try to enjoy the process a little bit. This will make the process of planning easier.
Take time for yourself celebrate something you achieved and cheer yourself up that you made it out.
8. Check Your Planner Regularly
If you’ve written all plans, you should not forget to check the planner regularly.
If you’re afraid that you’ll forget to check it or write down a plan, put a planner (or tablet) in the visible place where you won’t miss it.
It only takes a minute to check the planner and remember what your next step would be on that day.
9. Track Your Progress
Checking your current progress will help you keep up with your goals and tasks and even motivate you to push further.
To track your progress, you’ll need to define what the goal or outcome should be. Then set milestones, track the progress over time, and celebrate each progress (even the smallest one) you made.
A few tips to track your progress:
- Define your goals – be clear and specific about what you want to accomplish.
- Choose the right metrics – define how will you measure your progress.
- Pick tracking tool – you can use planners, apps, or spreadsheets for this.
- Review regularly – review how far you’ve come and identify if there’s an area for improvement.
- Celebrate milestones – celebrate your achievements as they will keep you motivated to push further.
Happy planning! 📖✏
