Before you can get started with your planning you need to know why you want to be or use a planner. Are you wanting to have more time for your family? Are you wanting to have more time for you? Are you wanting to not just look like you have your life put together, but actually feel like you do too? Are you concerned with having too many spinning plates, and you want to make some decisions about what can realistically be taken off of your agenda? Whatever the reason is for getting started with a planning journey, continuing down the one you are already on, or mastering new styles of planning this is a great place to start, and probably the one that holds the most value in creating a planning routine that you will stick to, making you more productive with your time.

Reason #1: More Time for Family

My number one reason why I use a planner is because I have a busy family. I need to know who needs to be where, why they need to be there, and what time they need to be there. But so much more than that. I use a planner so that I can manage my time in such a way that when I have activities planned with my family, I can be 100% present. My family is why I take time management and planning so seriously. It gives me an opportunity to go to sporting events, to participate in academic recognitions, and to spend my weekends being with my family, spending time with them.

Reason #2: Setting Boundaries

Using a planner makes it possible for you to know what you really need to dedicate your time to. If you are a “Yes Man” and that’s your first response when someone asks for your help and you don’t actually check your calendar, how do you really know that you have time for that extra commitment. When you use your planner and know what your responsibilities are for work, family, and you, then you can legitimately say no to someone when they ask about adding one more thing to your already full plate. 

Reason #3: Actually Have It Together

I don’t just keep a planner, so I look like I have my life together. I use it because without it, I wouldn’t know what is happening in my day to day. My planner isn’t just for appointments. It’s for my daily to do list, my meal planning, my financial planning, and for running my business. It truly helps me to see the full picture of what I need to accomplish with all the aspects of my life. But it isn’t just there to look at. I write in it, I look at it often, and it goes with me everywhere. When you create a habit of using a planner you don’t just put on the “show” that you have life together, you can actually “have” it together. And being prepared, and knowing what your day looks like, takes out the unknown from your day.

Reason #4: It’s Not Just a Calendar

Planners aren’t just calendars. Like I mentioned in Reason #3, my planner houses many aspects that keeps me organized throughout the day. There are many people out there that use Bullet Journals and make it possible for them to have their journal, their planner, and all other organizational aspects right at their fingertips. I add my journal in my planner as well and carry a small photo printer right in my planner tote with me so that I can actually do some memory keeping at the same time. A planner is so much more than just a calendar. It is all kinds of organizational methods all rolled into one, and NO planner is “One Size Fits All.” You get to make it what you want, build it how you want, and add what you want to make it work for you and for your needs.

Reason #5: More Time for YOU!

Like time, which is a finite resource, YOU are your most important asset. You can’t replace you; you can’t make another one just like you (although many would argue that their children are mini versions of you), and therefore you need to be able to take care of you!! You can’t fill from an empty cup, which means you need to be able to make time for you to. It is no different than scheduling a date with your significant other. Schedule a date with you. Put you in your calendar. Not just to decorate the pages or spend time planning, but also reading a book, taking a bubble bath, going on a hike, spending time with your favorite hobby. You have to be able to schedule time for yourself too, so that you can give to those other responsibilities that you need to give time to as well.