As moms, we are among the busiest people on the planet. Whatever our chosen vocation or career, being a mom is a full-time job. Our days are usually full of activities, errands and the like. As such, it is super important that we get organized in order to make it all work. Getting a daily planner of some sort is a great start when it comes to juggling family life.
Using A Day Planner
If you are anything like me, you have on several occasions forgotten an important event like your child's track meet or basketball game – much to the disappointment of your little angel. Heck, once I forgot about an early dismissal day and showed up at the regular time. Oops! Lucky for me. Z.E.N.'s school has an aftercare program. The balancing activities act is not an easy one and unfortunately, it's almost impossible for me to remember most things without writing them down. Writing down the things we don't want to forget, is far more effective than trying to commit things to memory. With a daily or day planner, you are able to pencil in all your tasks and the corresponding times of the day. This can help you prioritize your activities and zero in on exactly what needs to be done daily. This way, seemingly random tasks are not merely forgotten and we can go through our days with greater efficiency.
Choosing Your Day Planner
This is where it gets tricky because you have to know what works for you. The best daily planner is the one that you actually use. I tried a few online planners but found that they did not work for me. What I learned about myself is that good old pen and paper is what works best for me. Even though I narrowed it down to getting a paper daily planner, I still needed to make sure that the layout made sense for me. With that said, I wound up buying four, yep f-o-u-r planners. Yeah, I may have a problem when it comes to cute paper products! LOL! I always want to buy them all! Anyway, you can learn more about the planners I purchased below.
Filofax – Filofax planners are among the most popular brands in the business for several reasons. They are durable and well-designed and highly customizable. They also come in a variety of sizes and colors. As such, you can choose one that is best suited to you and the demands of your days. I went with the Filofax Aston Orchid leather personal organizer. I love the quality of the leather, but I think the personal size is too small for my daily needs so I think I will use this one as a wallet.
Lilly Pulitzer Agenda – I used a Lilly Pulitzer Agenda last year and I find myself coming back to it again this year. It's very colorful and pretty to look at and it has a hard cover so it's pretty sturdy. It comes in variety of sizes and colors. I chose to go with the large planner which measures 6.75″ x 8″. At first I thought this was a bit large, and started exploring other planners, but after using it for a while, I discovered that I really like having more writing space. It features both monthly and weekly spreads which is ideal and allows me to see a monthly overview of all the things coming up for the month. I can then flip over to the weekly view to see more details. I also like the fact that it has an inside pocket and elastic closure.
Russell + Hazel Mini Binder – I loved the look of this Russell + Hazel planner and just had to have it. It's basically a designer fabric covered binder. It’s very customizable and also very expensive as you have to buy each component. After playing around with it for a few weeks, I found that I did not really love it. In my opinion it’s a bit cumbersome to use as a daily or weekly planner, however, I think it will work perfectly as a place to file away ideas for future projects.
Mon Journal Planner – The Mon Journal is my latest planner purchase. What drew me to purchasing this one is the fact that every page has grid lines and a lot of free space for jotting down ideas or just doodling. It’s also pretty compact and undated. I haven’t started using this one yet, but hope to customize it in the upcoming weeks.
My daily planner is helping me to be more organized, and I am sure yours will do the same – whatever your lifestyle.
Do you use a daily planner? Which kind of planner do you use?