The Perfect Planner/Diary

‘Productivity is never an accident.  It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort.’

Paul J. Meyer

Whenever I come across someone who looks as though they are doing it all and juggling everything, I often think to myself, how is this possible? They are so lucky that they have the time to do x, y and z while working full time and taking care of children. It is only really since having children that I have truly begun to understand what it really means to be organised.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not without organisational skills. I mean, I’ve taught classes of 30+ children for the last 15 years so I know that I’m not a total disaster.  It’s just that I never seem to have enough time to do EVERYTHING I need to do in a single day.

So, in my quest to find out how to do/have/be everything, I did what I do best.  Researched.

We all start off with the same amount of time in any given week – 168 hours to be precise. I just came to realise that some people make better use of their time than others. So all these people who look as though they are effortlessly cruising through life? Well they’re not, they’ve just learned how to manage their time efficiently.

I started to look for tools that could help me to do the same. Many people use electronic calendars and apps and really get on with that but after a short trial I realised that this method just wasn’t for me. Possibly in the future I may have to switch over to this method as life gets more complicated and I can see that having the option to synch my calendar with my husband would work great when co-ordinating the school run etc. However, I love the physicality of my pen and paper. I love handwriting and colour and writing lists and plans so I carried on with my search.

I wanted something different.  Not just a boring old diary.  I want to enjoy carrying it with me each day and enjoy crafting all these plans I will be making. So the diary section at Staples, WHSmith and Rymans just didn’t cut it. I turned to the internet for help in finding this beautiful little tool I craved to help me to be that person who does it all .

I narrowed it down to two options. The Passion Planner and Emily Ley’s Simplified Planner. The Passion Planner is available to buy or download.  I decided against a planner that I would have to print out as I thought it may be costly (I don’t have a great printer) and if I had to take it to Staples or somewhere to get it bound etc I may never get around to it.

Therefore I came to terms with the fact that I would need to purchase my planner as a ready-made product. Hmmmm.

The Passion Planner

OR

Emily Ley’s the Simplified Planner

Which one would you choose? Both so pretty and so functional.

I finally decided on the Simplified Planner. Why? Because it is just that. Simple.  I knew that I wanted half-hour time slots throughout the day so I could manage my time efficiently: both planners have this. The only other things that were top of my wish list were a to-do list and a meal planning box. Both of these items were covered. Perfect for home life and my never ending list of teaching duties at work.

I really loved the passion planner also but I felt it was more of a journal type planner and although there are so many cool features in it, I think it would be too distracting for me and I would want to fill in all the journal pages and spend lots of time making it look pretty. I LOVED the goal setting part of the Passion Planner and aim to take something from the logical way the PP allows you to integrate your goals in to your calendar. It’s definitely a product that I would use in the future and I will keep it in mind for 2017!

The Simplified Planner is now sitting in its beautiful box on my desk just waiting to be used. I can’t wait to start 2016 with intention and new plans. I’m taking back MY time!

Anyone else have experience of using these Planners? How do you organise your time? Love to hear from you x

My favourite Baby Changing Bag

Early on in my second pregnancy I made the decision to buy a new changing bag.  A changing bag is one of those items that you don’t realise how much it is going to impact your life until you start using it everyday.  It can totally make or break how organised you are.

First time around I decided on a standard black bag. It was just a run of the mill black changing bag, chosen so my husband wouldn’t feel self-conscious if he ever had to use it on his own (I’m not sure that pink is his colour!) Back then, we did not realise what an important purchase this was. I wanted to show you all a pic of the one we had but it doesn’t look as though it is made anymore. Just as well, as the zips broke off pretty early on and it wasn’t the strongest design. It had two pockets on the inside and a cooler zip compartment on the outside.

When I went out for the day I would pack the bag with everything I thought I was going to need for a newborn.  Typically, nappies, wipes, cream, muslin square, change of clothes, cardigan, coat, hat etc. I would also put my own things in there to eliminate the need to carry another bag, so in would go my purse, phone and keys.  This quickly turned in to a nightmare whenever I wanted to find anything!  My phone would ring and I would be in the middle of a shop or the street and would be pulling everything out trying to find my phone at the bottom of the bag.  Or the baby would be sick and I would be trying to find the Muslin underneath a mountain of things.  I’m sure you get the picture.  This would be made all the worse when punctuated with a crying baby.  I would get red, hot and flustered which, lets face it is never a good look.

The bag was also heavy and never hung well on the pram.  It was forever slipping down the handles which was most annoying. This prompted me to really do my research when purchasing a brand new changing bag.

Enter Pacapod.

Exactly. what. I. was. looking. for.

My friend Alison actually recommended this product to me as she was so happy with hers and I ended up getting the same model but in a different colour.  The reason that I went with this bag is because of its ingenious design.  It is called Pacapod because it is literally just that – two pods that are packed inside a bigger one.  They can be used separately or together.

What do I think of it? I love love love love it!  Everything is organised. One pod is for nappies and the other is for milk and has a bottle cooler inside or when your baby is weaning you can carry food inside.  They are a very good size.  I currently use it for my two girls, one of whom is potty trained now but there was a period that I needed to fit two lots of different sized nappies in there to accommodate both girls and I could do that with ease!  I also carry an industrial sized pack of wipes and they also fit with no problems.  My mini cream pot and hand sanitiser snuggle in nicely too. There is a little pocket inside of the main pod compartment with a fold away changing mat.  This is very durable and has lasted us despite numerous little accidents on it.  Ooops! I also love that the nappy pod itself has a little pocket on the back so that if you decide to use the pod on its own then you still have somewhere for your mat. It’s great just being able to take the pod part off the bag to take in to the toilet instead of lugging the whole bag around.

The food pod is also big enough to accommodate drinks for both my girls and sandwiches/fruit/snacks. All you need really.

The truly fabulous part about the bag is that it has one side just for me. Woohoo! There is a zippered part where I can put my phone (in a special little pocket) my purse and a clip on an elastic where I can put my keys. No more lost keys! The bag is also incredibly stylish so I don’t mind so much that I’m using a changing bag as it doesn’t actually feel like one.

What’s in it for my husband you may ask? This next feature definitely sold it to him. Wait for it. It turns in to a rucksack!  My husband loves rucksacks.  Now my Mr can feel all manly – and with a changing bag of all things!

Now these little beauties come in a variety of styles and colours.  The one pictured is just the style and colour I personally chose. I would 100% buy this bag again.  It wipes clean and shows little signs of wear and tear despite having used it rather heavily.

A step in the right direction on my quest to become even more organised.

So over to you.  Do you have a favourite changing bag? Anyone else using Pacapod? I would love to hear from you.

• All opinions are my own.  I am not an affiliate of Pacapod.