What "planner peace" means to me? And why talking about it so much?

Planner is a planner, what an idiot question is what is planner peace? Why is not enough to have a planner? Whatever planner? Or calendar. No No No! It matters, what you have!

Last time I read some posts about planner peace.
In Philofaxy Blog by Anita and Helen
By Weekendwife 
Giftie Etcetera about the inserts
Homemakersdaily is also searching the best solution.

Planner peace is for me:

- finding the right size, what works for me
- finding the right inserts, what works for me
- finding the right binding - I thing, this one is done: ring binders are the best for me
- finding the right binder - what works for me.
- deciding what to keep in the planner.

Do you see? "what works for me". I write again. What works for me. Not what I like. Functionality is the first on the row!

Why I don't know what I want? 

Good question - maybe because there are conflicting needs. I have already written about my preferences here.
Size: A5 is too big, personal is too small - I have make a decision, what is more important: portability or enough writing space? Both is functionality question. In this moment is A5 winning.
Inserts: What weekly format is working the best? How I can achieve to see together what I want see at the same time?If I see more at the same time, than I have smaller space (for a day or something else). If I want more space, I won't see something I wanted. I need a 100 dimension planner, hihi :D Here again: find the best compromise!
Binding: Stitched or glued need less space. But it is not customizable. This is very important for me, so: ring binder.
Binder: Ok, it has to be nice, but this aspect can be never the first. If it has pocket gives the binder bulkier. But to having place for storing stickers, etc.
What to keep in the binder and how to organize? This is again: I want to keep here everything, but it is not possible. If I have too much in the planner, I might not find what I search, I might don't want to bring with me, because it is too heavy. How to organize? Keeping the monthlies/weeklies/dailies separate? Or somehow together? How? (Back to inserts question). Keeping planning and calendar pages together or separate? How to organize all the other stuff? What sections to have? They are hard questions!
I hope you can understand now, why I don't find my planner peace so easily!

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How to build your perfect planner system? Week 15: Summary

As I promised: before we move on to second level, a little repetition is coming. I want to summarize the previews posts.

Summary of the first 14 weeks

1. What you need?

First week I wrote, you will need a planner and calendar inserts for writing appointments, I recommended for start the week on two pages version. To take notes, notepaper. You started writing appointments to your calendar, to dos and notes to notepaper. I recommended to have your planner always with you.

2. New sections

On the second week you created dividers for Calendar, To Dos and Lists. (I will mark the dividers with green color.)

3. Inbox

On the third week you added an Inbox folder and notepapers as a landing place. You collected here everything you have to deal with.

4. Organizing stuff

On the fourth week you started to organize the collected stuff from your inbox. You added Informations section for infos, Someday/Maybe for to dos you might want to make one day. You left time related stuff in inbox, until the last week, when you made the 17 folder section or you putted your stuff somewhere else. You might added Notes section.

5. Planning

We started talking about real planning only on the fifth week, you added a Planning section with weekly and daily inserts. I asked you to use day on one page for daily planning, until we are talking about other options.

6. Weekly, daily reviews

You could read on the 6th week about why is a review important, and what you have do.

7. Values, 9. Roles, 10. Goals

For seeing, what is important for you, what you really want and must do, you made some exersizes (values, roles, goals).

8. Monthly planning

On the 8th week you added a monthly planner insert to your planning section, and planned your first month.

11. Decorating

On week 11 you got some time to rest, I wrote about decorating the planner.

12. Projects

On the 12th week I wrote about how organizing tasks into projects helps the planning and achieving your goals. In that post I forgot to write to add a Projects divider. Please do it now! :)

13. Monthly review

On the 13th week you made your first monthly review.1

14. Place for time related stuff

Last week I recommended some options to keep time related stuff.

So what?

If you made everything as I written, you have tons of dividers. If you take a closer look on it, it's really 3 different things. Calendar, planning and informations. Calendar tells you when what you can/must do. Informations are in projects, lists, to dos, they are telling you what you can/must plan in your planning sections. This is how the all stuff works together. Now the question is, what sections you need and how you want to organize your planner. This comes in the next weeks.

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10 tips for ADHD people using a planner

1. Write everything down. 

I mean it! You might forget!

2. Find the way to find the place for every little piece of information in your system. 

Not enough to writing down. You have to find it later!

3. Such few distractions as possible. 

It's better to keepyour planner simple and not full of stickers, washis, etc.

4. Separate the informations

In time and topics. In time: don't have to do's on your daily page only you MUST do it on that day (not too much to dos) - if you have more time, pick more tasks from other lists. In topics: have more, than one todo list. For cleaning, work projects, family things etc. What makes you sense. more in time: use the 43 folder system or my 17 dividers system, and move in those projects/todos/infos, what are time sensitive. This way they are out of picture, until they come back, if you will need it. 

5. Use time blocking

In daily planning: use blocks for different activities. Make all phone calls at the same time. make work at the computer same time. housework, or anything make you sense. Write this categories clear separated on the daily page. 

6. Use color coding 

to make visual separation more clear. But only if it menas not visual clutter for you!

7. Use routines 

Create daily/weekly/monthly routines. Write them down! 

8. Have checklist for any recurring activities  

If you have do that thing take out your checklist and you have the steps, you don't need to thinking about it. 

9. Mark the task what you started

If you will be distracted, you will be know, where you have to go back. Mark it with a point, highlighter, arrow page marker...

10. Track your items

Started but not finished tasks, delegated tasks, orders, etc has to be tracked.  Write somewhere in your planner - you can make a tracking section, or take a postit, and write it on. What are you waiting for? When it is started? When should you check it? Place to that date in your calendar or your daily page, if you have already for that day, or in the 17 dividers system. Write, what the other part promised, asked, what you answered...

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How to build your perfect planner system? Week 14: Place for time related stuff

As I promised before on week 4, now we will add a section for time related stuff. The idea comes from the 43 folder system, where you have a foder for 12 months and for 31 days. The actual month and day is always the first. All todo-s, projects, info pages is going to this system, to the day/month when it will be important. Concert ticket on the day, project files, when you have to start work with, etc. But we have our planners, where we plan our days, weeks, months... In a planner would be 43 dividers or folders too much.

17 dividers

I simplified this system for months and weeks. If you like the idea, create 12 monthly dividers, first comes September, the actual month. Plus 5 weekly dividers - you can choose what first week means. It can be from the first day of the month to Sunday (Saturday?), or decide where the mixed weeks are going (I use this mostly, 28-3 is the last week of the month for me).

Put all time related stuff, like information for events, or to do-s here.

Some example:

Letter from school - there is more thing, I will move it forward

Camp packing list for tis weekend

Next year camp reminder by May

A call for submission - I don't know if I want to do this, or not, but I will see, when the time comes

You can keep here reminders for recurring tasks must do always on the same month or week. Events happens yearly, like birthdays.

You can collect ideas for the future, maybe for birthday presents.

Some Christmas marketing ideas by November

I have an envelop also for 2017 with a note about ID-s will expired.

Future section

If you don't want the 17 dividers system, or you maybe have only a few of such things, you can use the future section for saving this files too. Or (what a scandallum!) keep this stuff outside your planner. Create a folder for it, or a papertray, what makes you sense.

Homework for the next week

Find your way to store the time related stuff, and install it. Place here your stuff you already collected. Don't forget from now  to review this weekly!

I think, we have built the basics of a planner. Before we go further - with more ideas, variations of calendars, files, sections, more planners, next week we will make a little repetition with a summery of the first 14 weeks. Stay tuned :)

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The greatest menu planner you have ever seen in Filofax - includes recipes

As every family, we have also usual meals. But sometimes we forget them. We also have recipe book - what is hard to use. 

When I wanted to try out a personal size planner, I bought a cheap used Filofax Domino, then I moved out to another planner, and this one stand on the shelf. Why couldn't be this one my recipe book combined with menu planner?

Purple Filofax Domino, personal size

Recipe book

I placed a-z dividers to the planner and I place recipes in this order. 

No categories, only first letter. I think this way is simpler to find the right one.

Menu planner

This is more interesting! I have here month on two pages "calendar". 

Page marker of course kitchen themed :)

And some laminated craft paper, with the names of the dishes. Here I use categories: the color of the flags means: meal, sweet, soup, vegetarian, etc. The dashboards are: quick dishes, complicated dishes, desserts, etc. 

Quick dishes for workdays

Time consuming recipes for the weekends

And we have also a wishlist dashboard, all family member can move here a flag he/she want to eat. It makes me also simpler to choose, first I go here! At Friday I plan for the whole next week and write a shopping list. I have some rules, what also helps, like we eat noodle on Wednesday, we eat chicken at Thursday... I leave the flags on their place for a month or longer for we eat variously enough.

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How to build your perfect planner system? Week 13: First monthly review

One month is gone after you wrote your first monthly plan. The question is now, what happened? Did you finished everything what you wanted? Did life changed? Had you have to changed something? Could you predicted what you can finish in a month?

What is a monthly review?

It will take 1-2 hours, please schedule time for it! You have to revise everything: your yearly plan, your goals, projects, last month, changes in your life.

Steps of monthly review

1. Clean up your inbox

Hopefully there is not too much things here :) As a reminder, here is how to do it.

2. Make a frame for your upcoming month

Take a look into your monthly calendar: what will be happening in the near future? How much appointments do you have already scheduled? Are you planning vacation? How much responsibility do you have? Start to write to your monthly plan tasks/projects you must/want finish - related the calendar items. Deadline: it connects surely to a project. Birthday: Do you have to buy present? Do you have to organize something? 

3. Revise your goals

Are your goals still actual? If not, rewrite them! Write tasks to the monthly planner connected to your goals.

4. Revise your yearly plan

You could have adjust it, if you should make changes in your goals, if you hadn't predicted what you can do in a month and you didn't finished something or something came up. Write the tasks for this month from the yearly plan to the monthly.

5. Review your projects

Actualize your projects list, you might finished some in the last month, or created some new one. Go through the project pages: check if you marked all finished tasks, steps, if not, do it no. Actualize your task lists. Decide on which project you will work in the next month.

5. Last month

Review the last monthly plan: have you finished everything? What not, is still actual? If yes, plan it for the next month.

6. Write in your recurring tasks

It worth to create a list for things happens/has to do every month. I have to pay bills every last week of the month. I make the same promotion on the first week of the month. Presumably you have also similar things.

7. Make the plan!

I highly recommend to portion out them to the weeks, as I showed in the monthly plan post. But of course, you can make a simple list also. Or thematic. 

Homework for the next week

Make your first monthly review. Please share with us your plan in the From Chaos to Order Facebook group!

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How to build your perfect planner system? Week 12: Start to thinking in projects!

Until now, we written only tasks to our lists - in fortunet case. But tasks aren't separate things. They are connected with each other. Sometimes is hard to finish something, because you don't know, what to do. "Organize the vacation" - what the hack is that? Such "task" can sit in your planner for a long time, because it is not doable. What is it then if it is not a task? I would call it a Project.

Why to thinking in projects?

If you think on something like a project, it is easier to organize. A project can have a deadline. It has tasks. It needs material. There is also informations connected to this. Organizing a trip is a project. I will explain the whole thing with this fictive project (not really fictive - we are organizing a trip to Paris in October...)

Paris trip project page

How to organize a project?

1. What steps or parts has this project?

Decide: when and where.
How we get there? Buy tickets if necessary.
Where to sleep?  Book hotel.
What to do? Only relax? Sightseeing? What to visit?
What to bring with you?

2. Deadline(s)

Deadlines can be artificial too. Define a deadline for all parts of your project, if you don't have one from outside.

3. Informations

Collect all necessary informations on the same place. Catalogs about hotels, interesting places. Your notes about these. Booking numbers, etc.

Notes about the train - we didn't chosen this

Hotels in Paris. A very messy note page :)

4. "Things"

I didn't found a better word on this. Things you need. For a skiing you need ski. If you flight first time somewhere you might need to buy suitcases. You might need a valid passport.

5. Tasks

The trickiest part. We tend to think on things like tasks, also if they aren't tasks. You cannot only buy flight tickets. Yes, it is a task. But what have you do first time? (David Allen calls it next action.) You have to discuss with your family, when will be the trip. You have to decide you will flight. That can you go and search flight tickets, that can you buy that ticket. You have to analyze your project: ask yourself "what can I do next to achieve this part of my project?" Don't be afraid, you don't have to write all tasks for the whole project at the same time. You can do it step by step.

How it comes together with other planning things we talked before?

Handling 10 projects in monthly/weekly planning is more simpler, as handling 100 tasks. Have a list of your running projects and take a look on it every week.

My current Projects List

Plan projects, or part of the projects in your monthly/weekly planning. Than take out your tasks in the daily planning.

On my monthly planning page:

On my weekly planning page is a little chaotic: sometimes I wrote tasks (buy Disneyland tickets), sometimes stuff (finish bookkeeping).

On my current weekly planner page

Homework for the next week

Take a look on your goals, your tasks from the last week, and try to find out, on what projects are you working on? Write a list!
Take for all a piece of paper and start to organize the projects as written above. As you practise to thinking on things like projects, you will be better in finishing and track things. Let me share a project. My daughter has to go to dentist. It is an appointment. I write it to my planner. Then the doctor tells me, when to come back, how to clean her dent etc, and then I think on it: cannot be "going to dentist with D" a project? It might be an extreme example... If I have for it a project page, I can keep dentist contact, next visit date, gotten informations etc at the same place. Next time I have that all by hand.

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How to build your perfect planner system? Week 11: Add some fun!

After the hard work we are going to give some fun to our planners (if you like it).

You planner don't must be boring!

You don't like the pure planner pages? Everything black and white, only to do-s, responsibilities.

Lot of pages looks like this in my planner

 For me is functionality is on the first place, I think, who reads this series, also. Decorating is only an extra. But, decorating can be also functional, let's see some ideas.

I used here: stamps, stamped stickers, stickers, washi tapes for cover not used space, washi to mark holiday, sticky notes, colored pens...

Color coding

Color coding is funny, nice and practical. What to color code? People in the family. Different types of activities (like work, household, relax). Projects - use colors for the tasklist corresponding to the projects. Key areas in your life. Add a color to all values you stated and write your goals, tasks with that color. It makes keeping balance simpler, only take a look if some colors are missing or dominating.

Color coding for appointments: green - I have to go, pink - work, blue - personal, black - I have to know, but I don't have to do anything (my daughter goes to dentist, alone)

Some people don't use color coding, but uses different color pens only to make the planner more colorful.

Stickers

Lot of people uses stickers to make their planner cute - it is not my strength, I cannot show you pictures concentrated about this topic. Just go to Instagram if you want to see something beautiful. But there are also stickers with functions:

Colored dots

I used these before for color coding, when I used only black pen.

Stickers with icons or words, like to do, important, or a car, cloth, etc. 

See in use on the second picture

DIY stickers

My favourites! Combined with stamps - colorful and useful. I should make a tutorial for them... Here can you also use color coding! My out-of-house color is green. I try to stamp such activities on green colored stickers.

See in use at the second picture

Stamps

On the border of functionality. More fun. It takes lot of time to use the clear stamps, I know. But once a week, if I have time for it - I do it. Last week I made my daily layout with stamps.

If you create stamped stickers as I wrote before, you can spare time, and "you can have your stamps with you" - in form of stickers. Bring stamps, acrylic blocks stamp sets with you would be crazy idea.

Washi tape

I love them, but I don't use them too much, because it's complicated to take out, I need a scissor too, I want to write quick and go. But it is so nice to use some washi in different places...
At the bottom of a page.
Highlighting a title:

Orders

Separate a part of the paper (like a border).

Mark more-day-events. - See on the next picture.

Cover not used space:

Dashboards, dividers

I'm obsessed with beautiful papers. I have lot of them, I only should know, why... I try to find some clever way to use them. Like a laminated dashboard. It not only nice, but protects the pages too, and...

I use the back to keep post its on it.

When I use dividers, I make it myself. It could be more sophisticated, some people use more papers, washis, project life cards and other stuff to creating their dividers, I only cut to size and laminate them.

Sticky notes

I mostly use the Super Sticky Post it Notes (see on my dashboard), because they are really long lasting. But I love also these colorful too:

Stickies from Happy Planner

Wow, I didn't thought, that I use so much decoration! 

Housework for the next week

Make fun or not. Do what you want :)

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How to build your perfect planner system? - Week 10: Goals (With free printable)

This time I will be short, I give your more work! :)
You wrote together, what is important for you, and what roles you have. I hope, you could decide what roles you keep, and where you want to change! Now you should build on these goals.

Braindump

Even if you don't want to work on something from your lot important things, write all ideas on a paper, what you could do to achieve your goal. It will make easier to set your steps later.

Yearly goals

Take the two above mentioned worksheets, and start to figure out what you want to achieve, connected to your important things. Would you like to live a house (long term goal) instead of an apartment, because for you is important to be near to nature (value)? Create a goal to start looking for houses in the next year ("sub goal"). Living healthy is important for you? Set up a goal to live healthier from the next year. Etc.

Quarterly goals

Think about it, what can you do in the next 3 month?

Monthly goals

And what can you do in the next month? Think small, don't wait too much for yourself! Be concrete! Back to living healthier: write such goals, as: learning about healthy meals - for one month. Leave sugar from our meals - another month. Start exercising - another month.

Be aware to want change your life totally! It is the right way to failure! Change only a few things. If you wrote 10 different important thing in your life, you cannot do for all something in the same month! Pick up one, or two!
Every month, when you do your monthly planning, take a look on this sheet, and see, what you thought to make as a step to get nearer to your goals, and if you want to change it. Plan the steps to your monthly (weekly, daily) plan.

Free download: goals in personal size (print on A4)

Something to read:
http://www.giftieetcetera.com/2013/12/habits-happen-when-you-least-expect.html
http://zenhabits.net/

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My ideal planner would be...

I think it doesn't exist.
Lets see what I want, and what planner gives me that.

1. Monthly calendar

It has to be big enough. I'm visual, I love to use my stickers to see what's going on. I got this feature perfectly in the Happy Planner. I think A5 Filo would be also enough, I never tried. In personal, too small, hate it.

2. Weekly calendar

I prefer now the vertical layout, but I'm not sure in that, maybe what horisontal I used hasn't enough structure, and that's why I made it chaotic. In A5 Filofax was too much lines on horizontal, and for me was not enough wide by a day to write in. Happy Planner give me the size. Personal size: too small.

3. Monthly planning

It's ok by any planner I used before, I can add my planner pages in any size. I want to see the big rocks, and having place to distribute them to the weeks. It's ok to having it separate from the other stuff, I take a look on it once a week.

4. Weekly planning

I want to see it somehow together but separated from the weekly calendar. I want it together but separated from the daily planning. In Happy Planner it's not perfect. Projects listed on the left column, but I don't have enough space for all todo-s I want to listing. So I added a list paper in the middle, what is disturbing, I would like to see the whole week at a glance. It is the same thing with the page marker. How could I have the page marker and the todo list make at the same time visible and invisible? :D I don't want to flip to my todo list. I want to keep it at the week - see? It seems to be impossible. But I write here, who knows, you can give me a good idea! In personal I had enough place, and made a fold out, what was not bad, but also not good. Somehow I didn't checked the list, I don't know why. It wasn't simple to write on it.

5. Daily planning

I want to keep it together with my weekly planning and calendar. Mission impossible (or I didn't found the way). When I have do2p in personal I felt it so separate, I have seen only that day. But what I do today is influenced what I will have tomorrow...
What I need here: place for time schedule, visual! To do list, notes. But I don't want to copy events always from the weekly calendar, it is wasting time. I don't want to write tasks to the schedule, but I hate leave unused space on the schedule it is paper wasting. I need different amount of space every day for notes. When I had do2p in personal size, I often left the whole note page clear. Wasting paper and place in my planner. I need something more flexible. No idea.
Size: personal was for daily's perfect, A5 was too much, also do1p, in Happy Planner: no way a whole page for a day, would be crazy. I'm experimenting now, how to use the weekly layout for daily planning too. I would be happy for pictures in my Facebook group how everyone use a system similar to Happy Planner. Not nice decorated ones, they distracts my attention. Functional ones. I'm hesitating to create Chronodex stickers for the schedule, they would be left me enough space for planning, but it might be too small. Notes aren't solved in Happy Planner. Maybe Post its. But where to keep them?

6. Notes, infos, tracking

Is not a big deal, I can solve it in any planner.

7. Size

I want to keep all stuff together. What exactly? Minimum my calendar to bring with me, giving the opportunity to make appointments. Have place to take notes, and some very important informations always with me (as insurance numbers). I used for a while for this reason my Filofax Pennybridge as a wallet plus monthly, weekly calendars and note papers. But I didn't liked to have that separate my "planner planner" :D So adding to the minimum: weekly, monthly planning and more infos, tracking items. I make lot of notes and I love to keep lot of informations with me. What makes my planner bulky. That's why I bought the Kikki K medium, which has 30mm rings. Too bulky. Why have all planners soooo bulky covers??? Paper is already enough bulky. Plus point to the Happy Planner: no cover only that laminated paper. If I could solve everything in the personal size - or pocket... hmmmm, I would be so happy! The Happy Planner is too big always to bring with me! Also the A5 Filofax - it seems to be bigger because of the cover. I might try again the Domino... It has no pockets.

8. Bound

I love much more the rings as the disks! I'm thinking sometimes about the Traveller's Notebook, but that I can't give anywhere an extra sheet held me back. Plus it is also small, isn't it? And laying flat is a must. I keep my planner always open next to me.

Conclusion

I think, I covered all things here.
My ideal planner would be a Filofax Finsbury Pocket,
which can keep a lot of paper without turning too bulky
with a Happy Planner size monthly planner
with some magic a big weekly and daily view together.

OK. If you see somewhere my ideal planner do not hesitate to share with me! :D

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