‘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.
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
inspiredteacher 