EP 010 | Setting Up Your Planner For Success
With our brand new planner released and already shipping, we start getting the question…"Where do I START?" We get it, blank pages can be a little intimidating at first! We have some ideas/tips to set you up for success! There is NO wrong way to use your planner! We want to give you a SOLID foundation for you to effectively use your planner, and find your inner planner peace!
Writing down your goals increases the odds of them happening by 42%! Take some time to write and organize your goals in your planner. Visualize what you want your next 90 days to look like and work on that vision board!
Ask yourself these questions to start the process:
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Where do I want to be in 90 days?
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What does it look like when I get there? How will I feel when I achieve it?
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Are there 1 or 2 BIG goals that I want to focus on? What about smaller goals that I want to integrate into my life?
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What are the action steps I need to take to help me reach each one of my goals?
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Who can I lean on for support and accountability
Goals should govern how you allocate your time and plan out your schedule. You must focus on different areas of your life to move it forward!
Time to get those dates mapped out! Thats right, the STARTplanner is undated, which mean YOU get to decided when it starts!
July 1? August 1? You choose! Also, there are no days of the week pre-printed at the top of the overview, so you can decide if you would like a Sunday start OR a Monday start! Its like a choose-your-own-adventure for planners! Once you have decided when you are STARTING, here are a few other things you might want to fill in:
• Holidays and Birthdays
• Trips and Vacations
• Health and Fitness
• Appointments: Doctor, Dentist, Specialist, Hair, etc.
• Social Events
• Membership Schedules: Clubs, Groups, etc.
• Nonprofit Events and Volunteer Schedules
• School Schedules and Events (yours or your kids’)
• Sports Schedules and other After-School Activities
• Work Schedule
• Spouse’s Schedule
Your planner won’t do you any good if you aren’t using it and accessing it regularly! Set a time each week to plan for the next week ahead! Here are a few things that will help weekly:
• Plan your upcoming weeks meals and grocery shop/meal prep once a week
• Assess your days and time block like items so you are switching gears as few times as possible during the day.
• Assess your overall goals and see what action steps you can take in the upcoming week to make sure they happen.
• Pinpoint your priorities for the week and make a plan for how you will achieve them
Once you have your weekly planning complete, spend 5-10 minutes in your planner each day (usually at the end of the day or first thing in the morning work great!) and plan out your list for the day! Here is our biggest tip for :
• Don’t overfill your to-do list! This can be overwhelming and lead to a scattered day feeling like you need to get it ALL done! Your best bet here is to choose your top three priorities, determine how long they will take and then fill in the rest of your day (according to your schedule and available time) with to-do’s that make sense for the time you have available! If your day is full, turn the page and add overflow items to tomorrows list or later in the week!
There are so many ways to get started with your new planner, find a way that works for you! Setting up your new planner is exciting and here at STARTplanner we are ready for you to see the change in focus, productivity and make time for the things in life that matter the most. And remember it doesn’t have to be pretty to be functional! Happy Planning!
This is something new for us, but we have been finding more motivation and personal accountability by sitting down once a week and reviewing how we did the previous week! We rate how we did on Energy, Wellness, Purpose, Productivity, Courage, Sleep and Presence. By doing this, we can be honest with ourselves about where we were lacking and where we excelled! Celebrating our wins and putting plans in place to improve in the areas that might need some attention. This is a great exercise because depending on the season you are in, you will likely excel in different areas and need focus on different areas, but by checking in with yourself weekly, you will be able to make adjustments before things snowball and become overwhelming! We believe in this new system so much that we have created a FREE download that you can print out and keep in your planner each week (we use washi tape or the stuck on you sticker sleeve)! GRAB THE DOWNLOAD HERE
There are so many ways to get started with your new planner, find a way that works for you! Setting up your new planner is exciting and here at STARTplanner we are ready for you to see the change in focus, productivity and make time for the things in life that matter the most. And remember it doesn’t have to be pretty to be functional! Happy Planning!
Are you ready for a fresh START, but not sure exactly how? This week on the podcast, Kristy, CEO and co-founder of STARTplanner, walks you through how to plan! Where to start with a brand new planner and the why behind it all! From making your first mark to setting goals, to how she uses a digital calendar in tandem, to planning with purpose, she explains all the tips and hacks that she uses to get the most out of our planners. If you have a new STARTplanner and you are ready to make some BIG changes, you won't want to miss this episode!
