The Life-Changing Magic of Planning

All set to plan!

I love planning! I love the feeling of having a sense of where my time will be going so that I can be more proactive (rather than reactive). The last few years, I have not felt as organized as I would have liked—due to many different reasons.

Last Sunday, I spent multiple hours planning the academic year (I think of September as the start of the new year—it works well with my schedule). This planning session allowed me to really get a sense of what is happening this year—my kids’ school breaks, when we will travel, when I have a busier time for work, and when we want to make sure to go on smaller, but fun adventures.

This summer, I took Sarah Hart-Unger’s Best Laid Plans Academy. It’s a course dedicated to planning. One big take-away I had from the course is planning at the season level as well as at the monthly level. Sarah has a nested planning system that she teaches: planning at the yearly, seasonal, monthly, weekly, and daily levels. The seasonal level has been a game changer for me because I have a sense of the whole fall and can plan more strategically at the monthly level. I had seen (and forgotten!) about a workshop that I want to attend in November, but as I was looking at the fall, I was able to add it to the calendar and put it on my list to register for when the link is released. Had I not looked at the whole season, I likely would have forgotten all about this and not remembered until late October, which would have meant that I’d probably have to move things around because I would not have had the time blocked off.

While I use (and love!) my Erin Condren planner, while I was on vacation, I discovered a company out of Australia—Creator’s Friend (their site is under construction right now as they are preparing for their new launch of products). They have a Future Planner that allows you to set yearly goals, plan each month, and track habits. It’s super thin, but really holds a lot. And, I found this tool really helpful for planning out the fall season.

I’m so glad I spent the time planning out the year and the fall. Planning can be life-changing—I know what’s coming and have a more realistic view of what I can accomplish each month.

Here’s to the new year!