2023 Planning and Planner Talk
Janna Wilson
Of course, I love planners! I work for The Happy Planner! And my favorite layout is the “dashboard.” But I’ll admit something, I don’t like having a “planner stack.” I want one, all encompassing planner that isn’t too precious, isn’t too thick, but still pretty and of good quality. Is it possible? Maybe?
As a very busy work at home, homeschooling mama, I just do best with a paper planner I can keep open, move with me and pencil things in without being all artsy fartsy (I do not like the “out of sight out of mindness that a phone calendar is” though I do use Google Calendar for loosely tracking some things and Microsoft Office calendar for work things). It’s purely functional for me though I do love paper and pens and highlighters and a few sticky notes. I don’t do the whole decorate your planner thing. I love a beautifully bound book or … gasp, a handmade book. So I’ve been thinking a lot on how to incorporate my needs into my planner this year.
One thing I’ve discovered is that the homeschool crowd is—dare I say, a hard to please bunch. Now this is only because everybody just does it differently. It’s SO not a one size fits all. And that’s a-okay. But I’m thinking if there were a looser format for this crowd, something very customizable and versatile, I think there is a chance that their needs could be met with a paper planning system.
So I’m experimenting.
For me, here’s what I need in a planning system:
I need a weekly planner for freelance projects and related tasks.
I want this weekly view to incorporate space for family happenings (ballgames, concerts, church activities, appointments), birthdays and household task lists.
I need a budgeting planner to keep my finances on track towards tracking expenditures, tax deductions and working towards savings goals.
I need to keep track of Cash’s school readings and assignments, though he does manage his own school tasks in a separate planner that we have tried both in a Google sheet and with a paper planner. We both like the paper planner better though it is more time consuming to re-write it all down from his spreadsheet.
I want to incorporate prayer lists, track/log Bible reading and jot down a daily gratitude list.
I want to keep a tending list with areas of life that need some work/maintenance, to help develop rhythms and habits.
I want a place to plan menus and meals.
I want to document books I’m reading and have a sort of Commonplace Book or pages to jot down ideas from current readings.
And of course I need a monthly view ahead of weekly views.
Am I asking too much? Is this possible! I’m testing some ideas that are actually working so far this year! And I’m super excited to see how it goes!
So pray tell, are you a paper planner that just can’t seem to find the perfect planner? Or are you all about the phone or Google calendars?
I’ll report back!