Don’t you feel like the second you get really good at something, life throws a curve ball and you have to learn and adjust all over again? A new opportunity for growth and learning… Life just seems to work like that. In 2021 I feel like I really perfected my system for keeping my life and business organized and running smoothly, and then boom, at the end of the year I had a baby and I feel like everything’s all chaotic and disheveled again.
I know the all-nighters, the cluster feedings and irregular nap schedule will pass soon enough, but now that I am finally coming out of the postpartum stupor I was in for most of December, I am craving a schedule and a system again, so I’m leaning back into what was working really well in 2021.
I sat down yesterday to plan out the year and first quarter of 2022 for our family and my business, and I already feel a lot more peace of mind. I thought I would share the calendars, planners and apps I use to keep my life running smoothly, help me stay effective, productive, and successful in my business, and even more importantly as a wife and mom.
For long term planning: The Faithful life Planner.
The first step in an effective year always begins with long term planning. To accomplish meaningful goals there is a two step process: the first is mental creation, and the second physical creation. This principle is called beginning with the end in mind. This is an idea coined by Stephen Covey in his 7-Habits book. Just like a building follows a blueprint, running life effectively is about creating a vision and a plan first, and then executing it. Without a vision and a plan you empower other people and circumstances to shape your life by default. So I always begin by planning my year, and then work backwards by quarter, month, week and day.
For this step, and for creating my year, quarter, month and week plans, I use the Faithful life planner. I started using this planner last year and I loved it so much I am using it again this year. The best thing about this planner is that it helps me a ton with another habit that Stephen Covey discussed in his 7-habits book: Put first things first. For me, the most important thing is to put God and my family first, and the whole focus of this planner is to make it easier to enable you to do that. I saw real miracles by approaching my life in this way last year, and I am going to continue using the planner again this year.
What I love about this planner is that it has space to create a vision and set your purpose and intentions for the year, each quarter and then the months and the weeks. There are also prompts and spaces for weekly and daily gospel study and reminders for reconnecting with God and His purpose for your life.
If you are interested in trying the Faithful life planner, I have discount code. Use: dresscorilynn22 for 10% off at checkout.
I start with my long-term, year plan, then I work backwards and that tells me what I need to accomplish each quarter, each month, each week, and then eventually each day. I map out 3 months ahead at a time and it really keeps me on track.
Family appointments, schedules, etc: Apple Calendar.
Having a family of 7 with 3 (almost 4) drivers means there are a lot of appointments, activities, schedules, games, etc. to keep straight and all of that is done in my Apple Calendar. I imagine a google calendar would work just as effectively, but since we all use iPhones and a MacBooks, it’s easy to sync all our appointments and schedules across multiple devices and people. My kids can add whatever they need to the family calendar and that way we stay organized and we all know where everyone is/needs to be and when, we can organize cars and drivers, etc, keeps work schedules and activities straight. I don’t know how we could function without this, but it would be a lot harder.
I plan out my business/content calendar in my planner, but I also add it to my personal apple calendar so I can check it anytime I need to from my phone.
Daily to-do list: Notes App.
My notes is without a doubt my most used App on my phone, and it’s the beating heart of how I function through my day. I love that my notes app syncs seamlessly between my phone and MacBook, so I can drop things in on one device and pick it up in the other. I makes notes to myself, have notes with affirmations, a reminder of my personal legend, keep track of ideas, draft content copy and emails in it while I’m waiting to pick up kids or for appointments, I could go on… But mostly, I love using my notes app for my to-do list. I love that I can check things off each day and if I don’t get something done I can easily paste it into the next day’s to-do list.
I used to write down my to-do list everyday in my planner, but carrying it around with me everywhere I go wasn’t practical, and now I just make weekly accomplishment plans and then decide which day gets which task and then plug those into my to-do list each morning, and I have it with my no matter where I go or what I’m doing throughout the day.
There you go! Those are the tools, apps and planners I use to keep my life, our schedules and my business on track. Just writing this out got me all excited to have a functioning schedule again (nerd alert!).
I hope you found this post helpful and useful, and that this new year brings you the kind of joy and magic you are looking for.
Read about how I set intentions for a new year here.
Read about how to discover your personal legend and tap into your magic.
