my brain

Sent from my iPhone

I get asked about my organzational system rather often.  I'm no role model, for sure, as my keys are missing and have been for a week.  But since you've asked, I thought I'd show you my system - my brain.  That's my brain up there in that planner. 

I started using Franklin-Covey planner products way back in the early 90s- those planners were big at Penn State when I worked there.  Franklin Covey came in to do  workshops and we were given a nice voucher towards a planner.  It was hard to find a good fit- with sizes and accessories.  Nowadays, you can mix and match between a few brands of planner to get it right- Franklin Covey, Day Runner and DayTimer... maybe even others, all have a 8.5 x 5.5" -ish page size that fits in the same size binder.

So, the book you see up there is my planner, and of course, it has a calendar. I use a month-on-two pages with tabs, and week-on-two-pages sheets that I stick inside the current month.  I like the weekly ones without hourly appointment blocks.  I also use to-do lists, "today "scheduling sheets with hour blocks, and notes pages.  All the products come from different brand names.  

The to-do lists are self explanatory, but it helps them seem less overwhelming if I make them in categories: House,  Kids, Errands, Blog, Classes, Computer, River, etc.

The "today" scheduling sheets go from 7am to 8pm. Of course, they are useful for planning a day with multiple commitments at set times; if I have an appointment at 9:30, and then a conference call at 1:15, then I know I have x amount of time between- what might I get done in that amount of time?  But, they are very useful for when I keep feeling like- where the heck did my day go?  Where?  But more useful to me, is tracking my time.  Our home is my responsibility- it was even when I worked outside the home- the laundry, grocery, cleaning - all of the blah blah blah in home keeping and kid wrangling are always on my to-do list. Sometimes I forget just how much time it takes to get those things finished.  So, tracking what I do in a day, helps me understand how long various things take and then I can plan accordingly, I also know where my day went and feel a heckuva ton better.

I use Notes sheets to write it all down and sort it all out, and then those get tucked into the most important part of that planner- the part where I keep my brain- the part that takes up two-thirds of this monster planner- the TABS!

The key thing that makes the planner incredibly useful are those tabs.   I have my whole life organized inside sections denoted by those tabs. I have a tab for each child, each online class, classes I teach at venues, notes from things I've read, all the paint colors I own, details about magazine articles needing written, book contributions I need to complete, ideas, travel info, class concepts, and of course, my book.  I print out important things (class descriptions, my table of contents, emails) on regular  8.5 x 11.5 paper, fold them in half and puch them to fit in the binder.   It really is my brain.  I empty everything I am trying to remember into that planner.

Yes, I could get apps for my phone and software for my computer.  Been there-done that. Computers go to sleep, turn off,  sit silently. I forget to use them.  I ignore the reminders and push notifications.  But my planner?  Oh, it is large and looming and full and well, I do like paper and books.  And, just seeing the big fat book on a tabletop is a reminder in and of itself...

Comments

[Ann Somerset Miles]

Loved this L.K. - because I too am a planner, an organisation freak, and am always devising my own systems which I won't bore you with. Essential however for anyone who is multi-tasking across so many aspects of their life; and I think anyone who runs their own business would not succeed without some sort of paper system that can move around - and be adapted - as time dictates. Thanks for sharing, and also for all I have learned through your online classes.

[Jackie]

I love me my paper planner too!! I can't do the computer calendars. I HAVE to write it down with good ol' pen and paper! So glad there are other people out there like me!!

[connie freedman]

glad to hear i am not alone on this... when my kids were young and i had my career, I too was a covey girl! infact my team of managers called me connie covey! it was my brain and helped organize my children, home and work. did i mention highlighters? each child had thier own highlighter color in which on my 2 page month i would highlight thier events! now they live on thier own and are in collage. my covey has gotten smaller, much... to a 3x5 and let me tell you it was hard scalling down and finding a fit. my family knows i still depend on my planner to remember everything! it is still my brain and my very good friend!