How to Stay on Track with Your Goals?

I catch myself again and again, that I live like a robot, doing tasks without prioritizing, only what get my attention. Even if I write them down, make a plan. I know, knowing my roles and goals are a key for doing what matters, and I even wrote then done, but tracking is somewhere lost.

What is missing?

Evaluate the progress, reflection back to the last week/month/quarter/year. To see, what I accomplished, how I'm coming nearer to my goal. Adjusting the goals if needed. Because these questions isn't built in my planning system, I don't answer them. I don't know, how much time I'm spend with these, for me important tasks - they are mostly the important but not urgent tasks, the always hardest part of the planning.
I like to see YouTube videos, and I found last week this one. That made me exciting, this is, what I need!

Powersheets from Lara Casey

Powersheets is a workbook and not a planner, don't contains calendar. But it can be with you for the whole year, and makes you to think about what you are doing.

Source: http://laracaseyshop.com/collections/powersheets/products/make-it-happen-powersheets-one-year-workbook

Plus:
- no calendar,  I have one, I'm looking for something addition to it
- nice, clear design
Minus:
- Spiral bound, I can't integrate to my planner. (It's not a big stuff dough.)
- Shipping cost to Europa is extremely high.
- No digital version available.
Result: I won't have this one.

Daily Greatness Journal

This journal is also great. I just don't need another planner. (But I ordered the Business Planner version). This contains also daily pages. What waste of paper for me! Features: daily planner, goal settings, worksheets, etc.

Source: http://dailygreatness.co/collections/all/products/dailygreatness-journal

Plus:
- if you don't use another planner yet, a great option
- nice design
Minus:
- I have a planner
- no digital version
Conclusion: I won't have this.

Create your Shining Year by Leonie Dawson

It is probably a very interesting and good planner, lot of people say, but it's too much. Color, and chaos. I just feel dizzy if I take a look on that. I also can't read the description, so no opinion, you can read everything for yourself here :)

Source: https://shiningacademy.com/2016-workbooks/

Plus:
- you might read it.
- Digital version available
Minus
- design.
Conclusion: I won't have this.

The Highlights Life Planner

This is also a planner with calendar pages. The design is also a little bit too much for me, but I can handle it. It's a digital download, so I can choose, which pages I print out.

Source: http://www.ninayay.com/2015/09/the-highlights-life-planner_28.html

Plus:
- digital
- for a while it's free!
Minus
- design
Conclusion: I will give a try, print out some pages, and place it to my Filofax.

Dream Big Life Planner

This is an actual Kickstarter Project now. Also a planner with daily pages, etc, spiral bound.

Source: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/croixsather/dream-big-life-planner

Plus:
- if you share, you got a download version
- undated
- very clear design, no colors!
Minus:
- maybe that it contains calendar, but because digitally also available, I can leave, what I don't need.
Conclusion: Shared and waiting for my digital download to see the pages nearer.

Which one would you choose? Can you recommend me something?

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Inbox - in the planner???

What is an inbox?

The idea comes from the GTD system, in there you have to collect all the stuff you need to deal with - no matter it it trash, task, todo, or info material. Inbox (for me) is a place, where thing that has to be handle lands before I find it's place. What I mean about this "things"?

• receipts
• letters from school, maybe with events, or only with infos
• notes written by me (someone else)
• tickets
• emails printed out
• shopping list on a post it
• etc

Where is the inbox, and how it looks like?

My inbox was for the first time only a pocket after the dashboard in my main planner. The pocket is very useful, because not every piece of paper can be punched. If you have no time/opportunity to punch the paper, or you don't want now to deal with it, place into the pocket.

After that I read in a blog (sorry, I don't remember any more) that she has some notepaper at the beginning of the planner to write notes quick down. And this is also an inbox. You write here your ideas, a todo list, or shopping list. And you will remove this note paper later, where it belongs in your planner!

More than one inbox? Oh, yes, I have more. As I decided to remove my calendar from my main planner to be simpler to carry on, when I'm out of home, I might write something in that smaller planner. That's why, that planner is an inbox too.

The inbox extensions

We have a chalkboard in the kitchen, there can all family members write what we have to thinking on. Mostly what to buy. If I'm cooking, I don't want to take my Filofax, I write on the board quick. When the board is full, I write everything to my planner on the right place.

My phone: if I'm driving I can make audio notes with a voice recorder in my phone (I have to remember - how hard it is!!!)

Why should you have an inbox?

Simplifies your life, minimize the distraction. If you have an inbox, that gives you the opportunity stay in your task on you are working, and leave you to decide later, what to do with that info. In my daily routine I have a task, called "clean up inbox". Every morning I'm looking through, what I have here, and I put away. Do your tasks, when you have time for it! Imagine a situation (happens with me often): I'm working on my computer. My daughter comes home, and gives me a letter from the school with lot of events for the whole quarter. Yes, I could punch it at the moment, and starting write the appointments into your calendar, but it makes no sense, remember: I'm working on something! It can also happen, that you don't know yet, where you should place that piece of paper, take your time to find the best for it. Or you are away from home, get a receipt. It is going to the inbox. At home you can put away, where you have your receipts.

Good luck! Later I will come back with a tutorial, how to create your own inbox pocket, because I don't like mine, I will do a new one :)

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New daily planner insert and free post it template download

I didn't found the perfect time management system for myself, I'm always working on it. On my goals list is one goal: more balance between family and work, now I'm trying to thinking in time blocks. Working from home is not simple, if you (and your family) cannot separate the two things. So I created a new insert for myself, where I can better blocking the different activities.

This is for today:

How it works:

 As you can see it is not perfect yet, I have 7 tasks for top 5, I have to correct it. And I got the idea too, that I will add glasses but not horizontally as usual but near to the hours.

Free printable: post it template

I share with you the post it template, what I'm using now on my daily page.

Click on the picture to download it. Please write me, if you have problem with download, this is my very first Dropbox upload!

And please share me, how do you use it! I'm also happy for sharing your pictures here in the blog (send me to: zsuzsa@softrainbow.ch).

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The important informations find you

I'm wondering how weird is the life. I suffered the last time from the chaos of my life. No wonder, that I started this blog! I'm learning about planning, time management, work efficacy since little more than one year and I practise to use planner. It is more better, but I'm not satisfied with my life.

I started to thinking

What is not good in my life?
What I'm realized:

• It is too much stuff in our flat.
• Our place is extremely unorganized.
• I have a lot of not finished tasks.
• I'm stressed.
• I have problems with my back, and I have often headache.
• I have no patience for my family.
• I have to change my life now. 

What should I do? I decided to start a "declutter" project and bringing more balance into my life.

• My work is more a hobby as a financial source, so I will pay less attention for it until I didn't brought my life back to normal shape. I will concentrate to make my life healthier. I will work too, if I have time and will for it.
• Make a list about what is important in my life. 
• Set up a goal list for this year.
• Step by step sort out everything in our flat.
• Make a todo list for home and work with every unfinished projects.
• I'm trying not to start new projects. 
• Learn more about decluttering, time management.
• More exercises: swimming, walking, yoga, pilates, every day.

The life pulls back

I started the life-changing project, but it is going very hard, because I fell into a situation, when I have to make a big project very quick. So little steps and very few planning, not like I wanted. But I see the end already! I have to knit a lot for this project, and I came to the idea: I could learn from audio books in this time!

And the funny thing: you find what you need

I started to check my Amazon book wish list, what is available also as an audiobook? At the same time someone mentioned in the Giftie Etcetera Facebook group the book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever". I started to read it. It is about how to declutter your home. Exactly what I wanted to do.
Than as I browsed on the Audible, I found the "Happiness project", what I can read with my ears... It is about that the writer is not unhappy, but even she is not happy but want to be, so she starts this happiness project. Some elements are the same, what I plan: make your life clutter free, and get better relationship with your family. I'm in chapter 4 maybe and I sometimes no mood to hearing it, it gives me too much to thinking about.
So yesterday I went back to my "Watch later" Youtube list, full with planner videos. I love to look them, even if they are sometimes boring, because I heard the same things 1000 times before, but I always learn something new or get a new idea. And on a list was a video about the 7 minutes life daily planner. It looked very interesting, a little bit other as usual, so I searched what it is? I found the homepage and started to read about the system. Downloaded every free material, read it through, and I'm watching the related videos on Youtube. (I'm created a list with them.) This is a time management system. What is all about? Find out what is important in your life. Create goals (for 90 days). Make doable actions from them. Plan it, do it.
3 so different things. Tidying. Happiness. Time management. But for me, now is this the same thing. Take a look on my list, what I planned for the rest of the year. And take a look what the books are saying I have find. I knew the solutions before! These books strengthen me only on that, that I'm on the right way.

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