This is a post from Kathy Helgemo of Mothering from Scratch
My history with using a planner goes back decades.
As a mother, I’ve always had one.
I’ve learned the hard way that if mom doesn’t know what’s going on, no one does. The pressure is enormous and the use of a planner helps us moms keep our cool and dignity when our kids say, “So what’s going on today?”
When mom knows what’s going on, everyone is more likely to follow.
Planners are like external hard drives for our brains. They store things that we don’t need in our short and long term memory spaces. The rest of it can be neatly (ignored, really!) tucked away on planner pages.
Here are some examples of typical things on my own calendar:
What on earth am I making for dinner tonight? I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning, let alone dinner. But my planner knows that I planned on pulling out that frozen casserole because we have soccer tonight! I may have even told myself to thaw it out the night before.
This is not genius. It’s just pen strokes, honestly.
Do I know when school starts next year? No, but my planner does. It even knows when I need to shop during the “no sales tax” season!
Can I recall when I need to start thinking about Christmas cards? Nope, by my planner does.
You see, about 14 years ago, (true story) I was so miffed when a mom who had TWINS at the same time I had my third seemed to get gorgeous Christmas cards out during the first week in December. Oh, the nerve! This complete feeling of inadequacy (so silly, now. Really.) prompted me to forever put on my calendar, around the first week in October a note like this:
Who needs cleats for next soccer season? Um, yeah, I have no idea. But my planner knows who! I wrote down at the end of last season when I had to throw away a pair that had finally lost every battle super-glue and duct tape could fight for them. It ended with this notation:
This is the secret of all of those super-organized moms (that really only exist in your mind, by the way) you see and wonder, “How does she do that?” {By the way, I’ve met them all in my mind, too. They’ve all told me to stop wishing them into existence just to make myself feel awful.}
In a few words….please…
Write it down, Sister! Using a planner effectively is as simple as that. You can’t have too much information in one of these glorious devices.
When we do that, our brains heave a long sigh of relief. It’s out — out of our minds. It’s like sending your brain to The Bahamas every time you write it down.
I have tried both electronic versions of planners (i.e. Google Calendar, iCal, etc) and paper planners. Both have their pluses and minuses. I recently rebelled against the Google Calendar Application because I just wasn’t getting enough out of it. The things I loved about my paper planner weren’t there: the look and feel, the sense of accomplishment as I looked back on past weeks.
It was definitely all about me, not about Google Calendar.
But, here’s another secret:
All planners work — if you use them! It’s a beautiful thing. Sometimes things don’t work in our lives even when we use them. In the case of planners, they always work. They work to constantly tell you what to do IF you…
Write. It. Down!
The bottom line is that your planner is your best friend, personal assistant, and therapist all wrapped up in a neat little package.
Your concerns are always addressed. Your life is more predictable.
And you can tell yourself on December 15th that it really is going to be OK if you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping.
What more could a busy mom want?
What are some of the silly things you have written on your calendar right now?
How has using a planner helped you?
What do you think you need to write down today to free up space in your busy mom brain?
Yes! You are so right! I keep telling people I’m not organized, my planner is. It really isn’t genius, it’s just a habit of self-defense. I love your tips! Pinning and sharing with my peeps.
I sometimes call my planner my “brain”. I love how you call using one a habit of self-defense. Thanks for sharing!
I have the *Ahhh-Mazing* Well Planned Day planner, and I am hoping to get in a VERY good routine and habit of keeping up with it better this year than I did last year! 🙂 I love this post – encouragement needed!
This is good…. we need to “write it down”…. and I do….. but I have to remind myself to also “look at the planner”! 🙂 Thank you for posting. 🙂
I would be lost without my planner! It has taken me years of trial and error with different forms of planners until I finally found what works for me. I use an online calendar (Cozi) to keep track onts for my whole family but also keep a full size paper planner just for me. That way, I’ m not cluttering up the online calendar with a bunch of my personal household chores, etc and I can avoid the computer/tablet/phone until all work is done. Cozi does have great features such as task lisys, shoppingblists, etc but I’ve learned that I need to avoid distractions which occur when i look online, even at my calendar. Cozi saves me from the need to remind my family of their activities/appts as it sends a txt message to them at assigned timeframes(2weeks ahead, then 2 days, then the day of for my husband) For myself, I have a regular schedule of daily/weekly household tasks that are my bare minimum. When I plan the coming week, I am always so grateful for the notes jotted down…”call to f/u with neighbor”, shop gor birthday gift, check wrapping paper supplies, etc. I can easily see what tasks need to be done that iI otherwise would have forgotten about, how busy the week is going to be, where I can find time to finish painting my daughter’s room or whatever project is going on. I even go so far as to jot down what meal prep needs done ahead or what time I need to start cooking if it’s more than 30 min ahead. Too many times I’ve been busy with my day and realize that the meal will take 90 min but I only left myself 30.
I also run a small home daycare so I also use a separate paper planner to track anticipated attendance, plan activities, field trips, fire drills, and weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly tasks. Seems like a lot, but I found it was too much clutter to have everything on one planner. I just schedule a planning session each week to prep ahead for my family schedule, daycare schedule, menu plan, project scheduling, etc That way, when the week begins, I’m all set and if something unexpected comes up, I don’t need to panic and avoid feeling overwhelmed. I can also easily see when/where I may or may not have time to fit other things as they come up.
I can relax in the evenings because of planning ahead and sleep at night because I write everything down! I’mm not clutteringot cluttering
I know this is an older post but it came up for me on Pinterest today so I thought I’d add a comment. For me, beyond writing everything down in my planner, I need to keep referring to it and reviewing what I’ve written down! Otherwise, out of sight, out of mind, I review nightly, weekly and monthly – and it’s not because I’m naturally organized, it’s precisely because I am NOT organized! Have a great week!