Pre-Post Spiel: In a personal effort to improve at blogging, photography, and time management, I am pleased to announce that my goal is to upload a new post each week! At first, I thought that posting daily on Instagram and monthly on the website was enough, but I think that I need to pay attention to the website a whole lot more. The website is, after all, the heart of everything…
With that said, I would like to share how I’ve been planning my life for 2018 so far. I started out the year with a new planning system, and it’s doing a pretty good job at managing my schedule. The planning system is mostly for work-related projects, but I recently incorporated more projects from outside of work in there too, including the blog.
So, what is this planning system exactly? Why, it’s simply this beautiful leather planner from Eccolo Ltd.!*
Yes, I’ve simplified my planning system a lot more. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I planned my days with a binder planner. That binder planner was helpful when I worked full-time as an instructor. However, I do more management type of work now, so my needs for handouts are decreasing. Nowadays, I’m trading in math worksheets for meeting times instead. Having just one planner makes more sense for my current lifestyle. I usually have a hard time finding a planner that fits my formatting preferences, but this one actually fits the bill in so many ways!
Doesn’t it look similar to the templates that I created for the binder planner? Kind of, right? The planner combines a monthly schedule and a weekly schedule. Like the binder planner, I use the monthly schedule to jot down important events and the weekly schedule to plan out my days. The weekly schedule is more than just a simple breakdown of the days for the week. As you can see from the photo above, not only does the left side of the planner lay out all the days of the week, but the right page also has sections for notes, to-do’s, reminders, and a goal of the week.
This all-encompassing layout helps me stay organized, productive, and most importantly, goal-oriented.
Regular obligations, such as work-related activities, blogging, and meal-planning, go on the left side of the planner, where I can plan them out day by day.
Meanwhile, long-term “skill-building” obligations go in the notes section of the right side. For example, if my long-term goal is to read more or learn how to code, I plan a drill schedule each week, such as read x amount of pages by Wednesday or do pages x-x from my coding workbook.
Overall, this planner is my secret weapon for how I handle multiple obligations and achieve my goals in 2018. I am excited to have it with me for the rest of the year as I continue to work on some goals and share those stories with all of you!
*This post is not sponsored by Eccolo Ltd.
