Hi friends,
Back today to continue our discussion about the various and best ways to keep track of life. If you are just joining us, you might want to start with the first part of this post, here, for a little background. Then come back here for Part II. I want to encourage everyone to chime in so that this does become a true discussion of what works for each of us because we can all learn from one another. As you can see from the photo above, I have sampled my share of planners and organizers yet, I still forget appointments and things that absolutely need to be done!
When I got the idea for this post, I polled my blogging friends at The Blended Blog asking what they use to keep life straight. To plan and share, our gaggle of gals uses something called Slack, a messaging-bulletin board-calendar kind of app. Slack markets itself as “A messaging app for teams who are changing the world!!” [source] And Slack’s tag line is “be less busy.”
[source]
Who doesn’t like the sound of that? There are days when I would gladly sign up to be less busy. We have a Slack account for The Blended Bloggers with channels for different points of discussion including a calendar where we record our upcoming blog posts. I left the following message on the ‘helpasisterout’ channel:
Hey girls…as you know, I am probably the one of us who struggles most with keeping track of things. I do have a shiny new Erin Condren life planner and have begun using it this past week but I would like to write a post sharing the ways each of us – ok, each of YOU – stays organized…one organizational tip. It doesn’t have to be earth-shattering or totally original, just something you do to simplify or manage su vida loca. I am thinking of trying to write this post – homage to you, my more organized soul sisters – for this Thursday. So if you have a tidbit to share, please do! Add it here or email me or both. Thank you. Maybe some of your organizational skills will rub off on me.
I am inevitably the one in the group who is mixed up about what we are posting when, or who’s in charge of what. But I am also the group grandma, so I cut myself a little “slack” (pardon the pun) because I am anywhere from ten to thirty years older than just about everyone else.
Within just a few minutes of my inquiry on Slack, I started receiving replies from my BBFs (best blogging friends).
Deena at Shoes to Shiraz and Whitney from Whitney à la Mode were first to jump in. They both admitted to loving to organize. And I do, too, in many ways – it kind of goes with being a librarian.
Deena responded “
. 1. Have a planner that you love and want to use. I’ve heard great things about Erin Condren. I’ve liked Plum Paper Designs in the past and I JUST splurged on my first Day Designer. I’m so excited. 2. Have color-coded to-do lists. I have one color for tasks to be done at home, another for school tasks, another for errands, etc.” To illustrate, Whitney shared this photo.
She explained her color coding like this, “Pink = home, gold = school, purple = errands. This is from my current planner by Plum Paper Designs. My biggest pet peave is that they only give you three spaces for a daily to-do list. Who only has three things to do every day?! My next planner, Day Designer, has a huge checklist plus a place for your top three priorities for the day. I’m excited to start using it in June!” I really like the bright markers for the color coding. Maybe I will make a real effort to use my colored pens on my E.C. planner.
Sarah from Foxy’s Domestic Side was next to join our discussion. She wrote, ” I have a family calendar and a separate blog calendar all color coded.” She uploaded these pictures of her tools.
Sarah adds, “The left one is my family planner and the right one is my Blog planner. I decided to spit it up because it was just too much to have it in one thing. This one (MOMS) is the family one, I’ve had this highlight system for 15+ years now. The orange color is any birthday/anniversaries, so at a glance I know I need to text or call someone. The green are appointments and the yellow are things that don’t necessarily have to do with me doing something, but something I need to know…like this weekend my MIL is coming to town. Blue is work schedule. For t
Ok, I color-code the library schedule by highlighting each class’s time to come, seems like I could surely figure out how to transfer that practice onto my planner.
While we were all ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over how Deena, Whitney and Sarah keep track of life, others could empathize with my struggles. Alison from Puppies and Pretties admitted, “Wow. I wish I was even half that organized. I tried a paper planner last year and I used it for like two months.” Maybe Alison is my long, lost granddaughter. We certainly have that in common. Lana, the blogger at Two Teens and Their Mama agreed, “Wow! I think we can all take lessons from Deena & Sarah! I’m sorry I don’t have much to add. I have always used a paper planner, but I’m not loving the one I currently have. I write out a master list for the week on Sunday night with all my appointments and to-dos. I like to cross things off!” That sounds pretty danged organized to me, Lana.
So many great ways of keeping hectic schedules in check. Later that evening, Joy from Quilty Joy Joy jumped in. You aren’t going to believe Joy’s solution for organizing life, “I use a paper based calendar/daily planner sheet I call a “daily docket” I made for myself in publisher. I love it and it is completely customized just for me.” And it is fantastic. See for yourself.
No doubt cheaper than an E.C. or Day Designer but best of all, personalized to her exact needs. We are all waiting for the “Joyful Planner” to appear in a store near us. Good gravy, she even has meal planning on this thing. And a space to identify daily inspiration. Wow!
By the end of the thread in Slack, about half of the gals had commented about their preferred planners. Sheila at Making the Most of Every Day said “This has been very helpful. For years I used a paper planner but then switched to the Google Calendar. I think I need to go back to paper to keep the blog organized. Thanks so much for sharing girls!” And Shaunacey over at Simply Shaunacey admitted, “Wow, I have organizational envy!!! I have a paper planner (Kate Spade) but it’s not nearly as organized as you ladies, lol.”
I also asked the gals where they keep their planners, at home? work? car? purse? Overwhelmingly almost everyone keeps their planners with them, like on their person in their purse so they have it with them no matter where they go. I can foresee the need for larger purses in the near future, if I plan to follow suit. And Katie, whose Erin Condren life planner I shared yesterday, chimed in from her vacay in Florida to join the discussion saying “I’m in Florida now and it’s with me! Writing everything we do and my daily sentences!!”
You might remember that I mentioned starting to wind up my posts with a question to my readers, in hopes of making things more interactive around here. At the end of yesterday’s post I asked the burning question: How do you keep track of life?
And some of my readers responded! Glory be! Please go back by yesterday’s post to check out their suggestions for keeping track of life.
Overwhelmingly, the paper planner is the preferred method for keeping track. Kind of refreshing in this day and age of technology and apps that will do everything for you. And apparently it is quite necessary that one take that paper planner with her everywhere.
So, what have I learned? It’s time I get with it. I am writing this from the guest bedroom at my daughter Lauren’s apartment in Houston. Lauren is having some health issues so I am here to help with baby Lucia for a few days. And beside my bed on the nightstand? Not the Bible, although I did bring Jesus Calling, terrific book for devotional.
It’s my Erin Condren life planner. Even packed my bling. Will be setting this puppy up…well, since it is past midnight, I will be setting it up later today.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read these posts, play along by joining the discussion and leaving comments. Now, here’s the question for the day…ready?
What book is on YOUR nightstand tonight? Please leave me a comment with your answer. Oh, and by the way, Erin Condren life planners are 50% off right now…should I have waited another month before ordering? Check them out here.
Beddy bye time in Houston. Sweet dreams. And, of course,
Hugs and kisses,
Deena
Best post ever! Love how you recapped what we said!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you and thank you for your input. It was so fun to see how others stay organized. We are all so busy these days.
Joy C.
Leslie, many days most of my pages are still incomplete and I forget things (35+ days after my neurology appt I finally went and got my lab tests drawn). I believe you and I are tied for first place in the mixing things up for blogging bunch!!
I have probably 7 different things I tried before I just said “forget it” and made my own. I’m thinking of taking a bunch and having them bound at the office supply store but for now I use an ARC punch and purple leather-look cover.
Oh and on my bedside table: my planner, my Kindle, a copy of Lonesome Dove, Prairie Collection cookbook, and a super-huge print KJV Bible my mama gave me.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Wow, your bedside table is as full as mine. I keep my Nook, The Message, Jesus Calling, Thrive (another devotional), and a couple of paperbacks
I am wanting to read. Hardly room for a lamp and the alarm clock!
I think your dockets are just genius but like you said, we have to look at them. Even when I write things down, I forget to open mine and
read it, so I still miss to-dos and appointments. Kind of defeats the purpose!
Three weeks and school is out and then I can start having fun with Adobe. Maybe we can chat some about branding this summer? Can’t wait to see how your
new blog design is coming along. Exciting stuff!
Whitney @ Whitney a la mode
You did such a wonderful job organizing this post! Even though I read it all in Slack, I had fun going back through others’ tips! Even though I love organizing already, I’m always ready to up my organization game! Maybe I should do a review of my Day Designer when I start using it. Do you think people would like that?
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Absolutely review your Day Designer. Maybe we could do something where we compare and contrast your DD with my EC? I could
show some up close pics of the pages in my planner and we could compare the two so people have a better idea what they are buying
before they make the decision of one over the other. Let me know if you are interested.
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com
Leslie, my husband uses a simple calendar on the computer, but I’m sticking to my paper! When I was running a business, I kept a planner (paper). But now that my life is less complicated I just use a calendar (paper) with big squares. And I use a pencil rather than a pen or colored markers.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Yay, a new friend. So glad to meet you, Jean. Thank you for coming by and for leaving a comment. I like the idea of “big squares” on you
paper planner – plenty of room. And I am thinking I need to use pencil because things change and I hate to mark things out in pen…so ugly!
My PC even commented on this post to say he uses Outlook calendar, and his memory and his wife to help him keep track of things. What kind of
a business did you run? Are you working now? I am scared that I will slip into a depression this summer once my long-term sub job is
over and I am back to being a retired lady. If you are retired, and have any tips for me, would love to hear them. Maybe you and I and
some of the other retired gals could write a post together about adjusting to retirement. Thank you again for coming by!
Lana
Great job recapping our discussion! I know some people love to use their phones, but I can’t survive without writing everything down, and crossing things off. I’ve decided I’m definitely getting an Erin Condren next year – they’re so pretty. Great post!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you! I am really getting into using my planner and left it at work one day last week, and felt lost without it at home.
Sheila @ Sheila's Potpourri
Since you asked, on my nightstand I have a huge pile of books-to-be-read as well as my current read: A Pig in Provence.
Michael Ann
Thanks for the great post! I use my iPhone calendar for calendar stuff (oddly enough!) because I rely on the reminder function. For my daily planning I’ve just started using a bullet journal. I’m loving it so far! I’m trying to keep it really simple right now, so it’s not pretty or colorful, but it’s definitely helping me be more organized and productive. I think I’ve about got my “system” dialed in. Sheila D. and I compared bullet journals over the weekend, and that was a lot of fun!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for digging through my older posts to find this one. I use my iPhone for the reminders,too. What is a bullet journal? I need pics!!! OR a post?