Keeping a schedule, especially in these hectic, unprecedented weeks of social isolation and pandemic concerns, is one of the BEST MENTAL HEALTH skills you can have.
I am a planner.
Planning allows ME to have a cognitive overview of my life.
Planning allows me to feel in control when so much of the world feels and IS out of control.
Today, I'm going to share HOW, WHAT, and WHEN I plan.
Let's get started!
First, I plan out each month. I do this about week three in the current month for the next month.
YES, I use stickers and washi tape and markers; anything that's eye-catching, fun, pretty, and makes my calendar appealing to ME.
Yes, I am a 54-year-old woman and I make NO APOLOGIES for creating cute monthly and weekly spreads in my planner.
They make me happy and the color and details help to always have a visual picture of what's going on in my life.
Keeping a bit of child-like magic in your life is imperative to growing old and stodgy.
 |
| Last week's spread |
I also plan out each week. This occurs around Thursday or Friday of the current week for the upcoming week.
There are several things I plan for each week, not just the appointments.
I'll walk you through that as you virtually plan with me in this post.
I have quite a bit of planning supplies, curated from many different stores and suppliers.
No, you don't need this much.
Yes, I have tons, but in my defense, I have used every single item here on my planning cart and love to have options when planning my weekly and monthly spreads.
I've also collected tons of washi tapes.
These tapes are great for just about everything!
(I have an upcoming post focused just on what to use washi tape for when crafting and creating.)
Much of this came in sets of 5 or more tapes, and it's relatively inexpensive to buy washi.
I start by selecting my color theme, stickers, washi, and pens for the upcoming week.
Since this week had St. Patrick's Day in it I went with the obvious greens and coordinating stickers, then added the hot pink florals and other touches.
My sticker books are coordinated (by the manufacturer Happy Planner) into color families and themes, so if you purchased one book you would have things very coordinated to begin with and wouldn't have to pick and choose if you didn't want to or if that isn't your style.
Once I settled on the basic colors and stickers, I pull out the ones I know I'm using and place them on these sheets.
These sheets are actually leftover from stickers that have already been used.
I keep them to temporarily hold my sticker choices without ruining their stickiness.
They also let me see how much I've chosen and how I am thinking about the final product.
I pull out the weekly spread that's already in my planner for the month.
I use Happy Planners for just about everything in my life. The disc rings allow me to pull things in and out, reconfigure, and create exactly what works just for me.
For years I tried to fit my style of planning into someone else's style and it never worked.
I even tried to create my own planning sheets - UGH! It was so much printing... I hated it.
Happy Planner has so many different options that I'm able to use what they already have printed.
I pull the spread out and line it up on my crafting table.
I use a verticle spread that has the days running across the top. There is an option for a horizontal spread through Happy Planner as well.
I line up the top edges.
This allows me to seamlessly create my personal spread from left to right.
When I put this back onto the discs it will look cohesive.
I start by covering the pre-printed "Notes" part on the left of the page.
I like to layer my stickers to add depth as well as to coordinate the color theme for the week.
I also add a washi right on the first line in the spread.
Above that washi is where I coordinate all my weekly appointments and any notes that I want to make about the week.
Some weeks are full of stuff to do outside the house while others may have only one appointment.
Another thing I like to do here is record different life events as they happen.
For example, as this pandemic has occurred, I have made small notes in these boxes as a way to archive what's happening.
Below the washi is where I put my weekly TO DO lists.
I create those lists from Monday through Thursday, adding any additional weekend items to a general box for the weekend starting on Friday.
I like to use my clamp tweezers to place these stickers to keep them in as straight a line as possible.
This week I just alternated the colors, including the check off sticker strips for the items on each list.
I always have our meal plan on my weekly spread.
Here, I used a "Rescheduled" sticker, covered with the "What's for Dinner" as the base.
It perfectly covered those letters and now really sticks out on the overall spread.
I also stuck a few cooking elements with my floral so that too coordinated with the spread by my meal plan.
I usually place this in the lower boxes and side areas that are not used for a specific item.
When placed all together with a few other stickers, meal planning never looked so great!
 |
| Happy Planner makes sticker books specifically for food, disconnecting, workouts, work, and a whole host of other topics. |
I add a "section" during my week where I take a "break" from technology.
It's very important, especially right now, to take a break from the world for a few hours to regroup and recenter yourself.
Too much stimulation from the outside world can seriously harm your mental health which can harm your physical health.
The mind/body connection is real and we need to care for both in equal measure.
I always set aside space to record my workouts, daily step count, as well as my water intake in ounces.
I use an app to record my water and my Apple watch to record my daily steps.
Keeping account of these things makes me accountable and keeps my mind focused on what I need to improve upon when staying physically healthy.
I will just put the initial of each day of the week in the box and then record my water and steps next to it.
In about 20 minutes I have my week already prepared.
The only thing left to do is the written part.
I do all the writing on Sunday afternoon once I've finished with the current week.
This allows me to look over the tasks that got completed - if not they are added to the new week.
It lets me review my workouts.
I can plan meals so as not to overlap or repeat the same meals over and over again.
I can feel a sense of accomplishment.
I understand that this type of planning may not be your "cup of tea." And while it looks intense, it really is quite satisfying and relaxing for me to do in order to manage my time and commitments.
It's one of the ways I "create" my own rules to live by.
Post a Comment