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Planners and how to use them

When you have so much going on, you just have to do whatever works. I’m going to explain to you how to stay organized even when you have so much going on!

4 different ways I use planners to organize my everyday life for optimum efficiency.

I work a job 32 hours a week, run a blog and a homestead, play music on the weekends, and keep up with all the household duties with a husband who’s work schedule changes every day. I use 7 planners in my life and it works out perfectly for me.

Planners for Daily and Weekly Use

The things I have to organize daily are mostly the tasks outside I need to get done and at work and any errands I need to do such as grocery shopping, paying bills, picking up feed, etc. For my daily organizing, I use Day Designer.

This is my first year using the Day Designer and I’ve liked it alright. I might not get it again (I didn’t use anything of the inspirational stuff at the beginning that I thought I would). I might try again, though!

What I DO love about this planner is the hourly break down, the “Don’t Forget” box and the “Top 3 Priority” option. The little box at the bottom asks you to write something you’re grateful for every day. I love that and found it to be a great thing to do.

Every day I write what the next day holds and if I know my schedule weeks ahead of time, it goes in my Day Designer! I start at wake up time, often 6:30 am, and go through until dinner. I check things off as I go and it makes me feel totally accomplished!

Planners – Monthly and Yearly

For monthly and yearly overall planning, I use the larger Ladybird Deluxe Planner (9.5 in x 11 in) and have been for 6 years now. My husband and I play music so I book things months, sometimes years, in advance.

The Ladybird Deluxe Planner is perfect for scheduling events! I can write the general event in the full month view and write all the small details in the daily view. There’s so much room so writing any and all details are very easy to do.

I’ve often thought about just using this planner, but I don’t want things to be too cluttered. There are certain weeks we have so much going on! I also put all my non-music events (doctor’s appointments, vet appointments, etc.) in this calendar also. This is my main go-here-to-know-it calendar and I love it.

Another monthly planner I use is the SMALLER Ladybird Deluxe Planner (7.4 in x 9.8 in) that just has the monthly view. I write all my planned blog topics when I want to be sending out emails, Pinterest, etc. It’s such a nice all-in-one way to look at what I should be doing with this blog to keep it going for y’all!

Google Calendars

I want to briefly touch on Google Calendars because it’s so convenient for so many reasons. It’s right there on your phone, making it so easy to pull out your schedule and know if you can commit.

Second, and this is my favorite, you can share your calendars with other people. My mother-in-law and father-in-law all share our schedules with each other. We know who’s doing what and when because of the Google Calendar. You can also use it to link up with business partners! Finally, it links right up to your Gmail account!

Homestead Organizing

I recently bought The Green Conspiracy Garden Planner to try out for a few seasons. I’m pretty excited about it. I’ll still use the garden planner I’ve always used online to keep things together but I’m planning for the physical garden planner to be a more general look at things.

All of my fruit tree information will be there and all my favorite crops that I plant every single year. This way I can have a very quick on-hand guide to the crops I need without having to open my laptop. And even better it’s tailored to my yard specifically! I also use my homemade planners to track chicken egg production, meat production, etc.! You can get them here for free.

Last, I use this hanging desk calendar in my dining room for my husband to see! This way he doesn’t have to ask me when we have performance, appointments, etc. Super convenient!

Well, there you have it. 7 different ways to use planners! If you’re looking for more amazing organizational tips, check out my friend and fellow blogger Annie at 15 Acre Homestead! Let me know in the comments below how you stay organized!

Recap of planners I use:

  1. Day Designer (everyday use!)
  2. Ladybird Deluxe Planner (9.5 in x 11 in) (monthly/yearly look)
  3. Ladybird Deluxe Planner (7.4 in x 9.8 in) (blogging/content calendar)
  4. Google Calendars (mainly used to keep up with family events)
  5. The Green Conspiracy Garden Planner (garden planner, manual)
  6. Almanac Garden Planner (garden planner, digital)
  7. Hanging desk calendar (general calendar for the house, public use)

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