How to Use a Planner Effectively
How do you balance work and your personal life’s crazy schedules? From meeting the demands of work, attending and caring for the needs of your family, socializing (pre-COVID) and other pressing matters in between? It’s not a result of pure luck I’m sure. The key is always time management and proper planning.
Now that we are living in a world of advanced technology, we have the advantage of choosing what tool to use to plan properly and exercise time management. You can use Google calendar, apps in PlayStore or AppStore, or go with the traditional one and use a paper planner.
What Planner to Choose
Choosing a planner must not depend on whether it’s the trend or not, or whether it is visually pleasing than the others. Your planner should fit your lifestyle, schedule and personal preferences. There are three types of planner you can choose: the Weekly/Monthly, Monthly, and Daily planners. You can also use the same styles digitally.
Digital calendars are convenient to use especially if you are always on the go. However, a study shows that you are likely to remember things better when you are writing things down on paper rather than by typing them on your phones/laptops.
Using the Planner Effectively
When you search how to use a planner effectively online, you will probably find the same tips and ways but in different wordings. It’s always about writing everything down (your goals, appointments, schedules, deadlines) prioritizing, and scheduling. I’m sure you already know about it since you purchased the planner with that purpose in mind.
What those tips forgot to include is how important consistency is in keeping a planner. Research shows that it takes around 66 days to form a habit. And when you are a first-time planner user, writing on it after the first week might be troublesome for you. Yes, I’ve been there, I experienced that as well. Don’t de discouraged. Just keep writing on your planner daily and the next thing you know, keeping a planner will be second-nature to you.
