How To Get Started With a New Planner

Your planner should be messy. No, seriously!

It should be full of scribbles, white-out, and half-finished thoughts. It should have notes that you struggle to read and different colors of ink throughout.

Why? Because a messy planner means that you're using it.

You're not waiting to figure out the "right way" to use it. You're not researching how others are doing it. You're not mapping out or thinking about what it will be like when you start using it.

You're learning by doing.

Too many times I've talked to women who have a beautiful planner or notebook that they haven't used because they're not sure how they're "supposed" to use it. And while they research and think about it, life goes on. Their mental lists grow out of control, their days are frantic, and they're too exhausted to even remember that they have a tool waiting in the wings, just ready to make life easier.

So how do you get over the fear of "doing it wrong"?

How do you get comfortable with making a mess - in this beautiful notebook that you spent money on or in this new routine that you want to get "right"?

By remembering this:

It Will Never Be Perfect

I've used dozens of tools and planners over the years, and think of myself as an expert when it comes to the process and still, my notebooks and planners are a mess.

I'd rather that mess be on paper than in my brain creating chaos.

So I get it out of my head and onto the page where I can start to make sense of it, cross things out, and re-work my plan.

I spend money on planners so that I can USE them. And I expect them to be messy.

Expecting perfection will keep you stuck exactly where you are.

What if planning was never meant to be perfect? What would you do if you believed that to be true?

Doing is Learning

I worked with a client recently who thought she needed to plan each day down to the half-hour.

Once she finally got over her fear of making a mess in her planner, she started slotting in tasks and appointments to the daily schedule spread...

Only to learn that it wasn't working. With her type of work and the need for flexibility to respond to quick changes in priorities, she realized that she actually needed a weekly priority list. A list that she could pull from once she knew what her day was going to look like because it was always changing.

She would never have learned that lesson if she hadn't started using those daily planning spreads.

Now she knows that for her next planner, her top priority should be having a detailed weekly layout. That information is GOLD!

Those daily planning pages did their job. They showed her what doesn't work so now she knows what does. And the only way to learn that is to use it.

Taking Imperfect Action

Taking imperfect action is a muscle that you have to strengthen.

Making a mess of something on purpose is a practice you have to learn. Learn to act instead of research, to do instead of think.

Nothing about the start of a new year has to be perfect. And nothing about your planner needs to be perfect either.

I'm challenging you to get that mess out of your head. Put it out there, scratch it out, start over, and learn.

I'm over here cheering for you!

If this has you excited to figure out a planning process that works for you, I've got something coming in February 2022 that could be just what you need. I'll be offering an 8-week group coaching program all about planning and time management for working moms. I promise to hold you accountable for taking messy action and figuring out the planning tools and routines that will make your days easier. To be the first to hear about it, click here and add your name to the list.