Tuesday (Not) in Texas - Planning to Achieve

by Tracey G

I discovered last year that in order for me to remember anything, I needed to write it down. Now, I know I've said before that I'm a list-aholic, so that's nothing new - grocery lists, chore lists, packing lists, dinner menu lists and so forth. But I now discovered with Harry's school schedule, my Creative Team important dates and just general appointments, I needed a planner. So, I scoured Amazon for a planner and bought this one, which by the way, I love. And it comes in lots of cute covers too!

Bloom Daily Planner Goal Organizer

But somehow, this year it just wasn't going to cut it. I had way more I wanted to do than just a few lines for a day and the monthly layout. Since I ordered it late in the year, I went with the academic year version - it runs from August to the end of July. But as I got to this year, as I said, it was just not "enough". It's the smaller size, so I may turn it into a purse model, yes, my purse is big enough and could probably accommodate it.

When Kris mentioned she was doing Ali Edwards' One Little Word project  I was intrigued. I'd seen the title before but was clueless as to just what it was about and what it entailed. Kris, kindly enlightened me! With the way I'd been wanting to shake things up this year and achieve certain goals for myself, big and small, I decided I was going for it. So, I signed  up and got my binder (and a pen, because, well, I just love pens!). My word is "Achieve" for the year. It's exactly what I'm hoping to do in all kinds of ways, once again - big and small. And since my word is Achieve, I needed some tools to help me do that. I figured the place to start, was a planner that could at least come close to what I wanted in one. I limited my search to Amazon because, I know myself, and, if I allowed myself to search everywhere - I'd likely still be looking! So, Amazon it was and even then, I had a hard time deciding. My list looks a lot like the one Kris came up with for her planner wishes:

ð A bigger size - I too went with an 8.5x11

ð Monthly Layout

ð Weekly/Daily Layout

ð Hourly Scheduling

ð  Place on the weekly/daily section for notes and goals of the day and of the week

ðPlace for things to be checked off  - because I just love checking things off!

ðSpace/Place for Monthly Goals to accomplish, both big and small

The planner I got for myself actually has all of that and MORE. It's almost intimidating! I told Kris when I got it, "I think my planner is mocking me!"! It's definitely a different push for myself to become a bit more CLEAR on my goals and things I want to accomplish. In the goal sections, it asks for your goal - then in the next space why it's important/it's value and in the 3rd space it wants details on how to make it happen. So, for example, instead of just "clean the kitchen" you have to state why: so I can cook in peace!  And what to do to get there: wash dishes, put dishes away, clean counters, clean stove etc etc etc. That's just an easy example I could easily come up with, lol. But you get the idea! 

This is the planner I bought for myself at Amazon - Tools4Wisdom Planner 2016 Calendar 4-in-1: Daily Weekly Monthly Yearly Organizer - Purpose Driven Goals Planning Book - Personal Life Progress Journal Notebook

I, so far, am really pleased with it, it's really forcing me to think not only WHAT I want to accomplish but WHY in addition to all my other scheduling needs. I am only on the 2nd day of my down-to-the-half-hour planning of my days, and yesterday was a bust because Harry was home on a Snow Day, that sort of derailed anything I wanted to accomplish and fill in that morning, so it was a Snow Day for me too! But I am confident it will a great tool. And to make it even more "fun" I bought some fun colored pens too!

I can totally relate though to what Kris stated about actually seeing just how many hours in the day there are, but how much we underestimate just the amount of time needed to accomplish the things I say I want to.

As I type this and finish it up - I'm already a behind an hour! Oh well. It's guide, not written in stone I suppose. That may prove to be a problem for me though, I tend to get rigid about schedules and start to get anxious if they aren't going the way they are supposed to - hopefully I can be easy on myself and try to plan in time into the next day for the things I didn't get done in the current one!