How using a daily planner will change your life:
Using a daily planner each day is a game-changer. It has helped me, a hopelessly pathetically disorganised person, to become a little more organised. With the help of my daily planner, I have been able to keep up with everything involved in my busy life a little better, avoid double bookings, and (mostly) avoid missing deadlines and events.
If you already love planners, I'd love to have you check out my collection of planners here.
For a bit of background about me, I’m Rachel, and I am the owner of Write and Craft. I love all things stationery, and have always loved journals, notebooks, and planners. I’ve always had a problem, though. I’ve never been able to stick to using a daily planner for very long. I will always choose one with a pretty design (if you also like pretty designs, check this out), and make sure it’s functional. I will always write in the planner and keep it perfectly organised and pretty for the first few weeks before I fall off the bandwagon again. This has happened a few times for me. But now that I have started this business, I have found reason and motivation to continue. I have the need to write things down, keep dates, and I also have access to beautiful designs from the various brands I purchase from. So now I’ve been able to continue with my planner writing for much longer than I previously had managed. And here in this blog, I’ll share some of the benefits I found from using my planner each day. I hope that you might be able to enjoy keeping a daily planner as well and find some things that are useful for you.
A running to-do list:
I love a good to-do list. Having everything written down is a great way to get a clear picture in your head of what you need to do and plan your time accordingly. You can also prioritise the items on your to-do list to ensure that the most important tasks are done first and done correctly. If you’re used to writing to-do lists on random pieces of paper or in a notebook, putting them in a daily planner is also a great way of working through the items on the to-do list. In your planner, make a space at the top for the top three things you need to complete today. These might be professional things, family, or personal things you want to achieve. You can number them according to importance. Below the top three, you can write down any other items you’d like to get done as you have the chance. Then, if you don’t get the time, you can add them to tomorrow’s to-do list. When you’re busy and have a whole lot on, you can schedule a time to complete these items later. It might be in a week after a busy period is finished, or it might be on the weekend when you have some more time. But the important thing is that there is time set aside for each item on your to-do list, and you can keep a running to-do list sorted by priority that is specific and will not be forgotten.
2) Events and appointments:
I am sure that other parents will relate to me with this one. There are always appointments with children, and often these are booked months in advance. It is impossible to remember them in advance. Often, I would rely on the text messages that are sent in the days leading up to an appointment. However, when these appointments were made sometimes months in advance, it was easy to double-book, or forget, or have something come up in the meantime that meant not being able to attend. Having a planner (and forcing myself to use it) has really helped me as I now have an overview of my days, weeks, and months ahead. There can be no double booking.
Weekends in particular were always a struggle, as there were often kids' birthday parties, social events, and other things my family and I needed to (or wanted to) attend. It would always be tricky when someone would ask us to do something on a weekend, and I would have very little idea what was happening on weekends more than one week in advance. I now force myself to write these things down and consult with the daily planner before I commit to anything. I also now am much less likely to miss an RSVP or double-book two events on the same day.
If you are also someone who misses events, double books yourself, or just can’t remember when things are on, a daily planner is a really great way to keep yourself organised, and help you plan your life in advance. Never miss an event, as it’s written down!
3) Daily priorities:
The daily planner I use has space to write 3 daily priorities. I find this incredibly helpful for planning my day. Sometimes I have a number of items on my running to-do list (the list I also keep in my daily planner), and sometimes it can be overwhelming to see them all and decide what needs to be done first, and which items on the list can’t wait. The daily top 3 priorities list really helps. I allow myself only three items on this list. I won’t write more than that, but add any extra items to the running to-do list. When there are only three items, it’s so much easier to focus on those three things and ensure they are completed. It removes some of the overwhelm and some of the craziness in my day to ensure there are only three items to focus on. When these three are completed, I can then move on to the other items on the to-do list. This is a particularly helpful strategy for people who are very busy, people who always feel the need to be productive, and anyone who feels overwhelmed by too many things to do.
4) Habit tracking:
You might have habits that you want to keep and priorities that you want to complete every day. This might include things like drinking water, eating healthy foods, getting 10,000 steps, reducing screen time, gratitude journaling, or some other habit that you want to develop and stick to. A daily planner is a really great place to work on this, as you can write down each day how you go with your habit. You can check off water that you drink, write down how many steps you completed, and write your gratitude in the daily planner. I use this to help me stay off social media. Even the simple act of writing down the goal of my maximum allowed social media time has done wonders for helping me to keep this habit. Whether you are trying to create a new habit or keep track of something you have done for a long time, writing it each day in your daily planner is a really great way to keep yourself accountable.
5) Daily schedule:
If you have a lot on in your day, it can really help to plan out your schedule. This is particularly helpful for very busy people, or people who have a whole lot of items on a to-do list that need to be worked through. I don’t do this every day, but I do like to do it on the days when I am busy and have several appointments or other tasks that need to be completed. It’s a great way to reduce the overwhelming feelings, keep yourself accountable, and make sure everything is done. When I was teaching, I did this constantly. I would write down exactly what needed to be done each day, and the time slots I would work on it for. I continue to do this at busy times in my life. A typical busy day might look like this:
7AM – morning routine
8:30 AM – Children drop off
9:15 AM – Gym
10:15 AM – tidy house
11:AM – Nap time for baby, content creation time for me
12:PM – Lunch
1:PM – dinner prep
2:PM – Work time
3:PM – pick up time
4:PM Swimming lessons
5:PM Ballet
6:PM dinner
7:PM night time routine
Your daily schedule might look even crazier than this. Keeping it all in a schedule in a planner is super helpful to make sure everything gets done.
6) Meal planning:
I’ve mentioned meal planning in my blog posts before. Meal planning is so helpful! And as a disorganised person, I often need to have my meal plan written in multiple places. When I complete my weekly meal plan and have it hanging on my fridge, I then find it helpful to write the night’s planned meal on my daily planner. It’s just another way I can keep myself accountable and make sure I actually plan and prepare enough time for the cooking, meal prep, and making sure my family and I are fed. My planner has a spot right at the bottom for this. It’s just a little extra way to keep organised. Even if you don’t do a full weekly or monthly meal plan, it’s a really great idea to write down what you will be eating in your daily planner to avoid that dread that comes at the end of the day when deciding what to cook for dinner.
7) Financial planning and budgeting:
I find it really helpful to write down when my bills are due. As a disorganised person, I do sometimes fall into the trap of paying bills late and then having to pay a late fee. I have several plans in place to keep this from happening, including setting up direct debits, payment reminder emails/texts, and writing down due dates. This way, I can check in my planner and see what needs to be paid by when. It also helps to plan out expenses according to when pay days occur, especially when paid monthly or irregularly. While I know this system isn’t flawless, it’s just another way to help me avoid paying anything late.
Planner Design
The other item I have to mention in this blog post is the planner design. I know some people are not at all bothered by the design of their planner, and will use any old thing. But for me, having a planner that is well-designed AND pretty really helps me with wanting to use it. One of the draw cards for a planner for me is the design. I want something that looks nice and is nice to use. Being practical is important, of course, but I love some good cover art, little graphics throughout the planner, and some nice places to write in. If you love this too, I recommend one of the luxury planners I have available here!
If you are a disorganised person trying to be more organised, or if you just love to buy planners because they are beautiful (both of which I can relate to!), welcome to Write and Craft! We have planners, journals, notebooks, pens, and all different types of stationery to share. I love selecting beautiful items that I know customers will love. If you’re new here, I’d love to have you along for our journey. Please pop your email below to join us, or follow us on social media.
Lots of love,
Rachel