Do you use planners to help keep your life on track? If you do, perhaps you are considering moving to an electronic version but you don’t know which one to use.
I have used planners for my work and personal life for over twenty years now. Honestly, I can’t imagine attempting to be productive without using a planner. Here is my take on the best planner, along with some tips on going paperless in the 21st century!
Why Do We Need Planners?
In the past, I have used the Franklin Covey system of organization, but now I prefer to be paperless. About five years ago I moved everything over to an electronic app and my life became streamlined overnight!
Some people enjoy journaling and spending time writing down reflections, but I can’t seem to get into a habit of that. When I used a Franklin, I would dedicate about thirty minutes each day to planning. I would re-write my tasks from the day before and update my daily lists every morning. That was a lot of work just to be sure I stayed on track!
Honestly, that is even too much for me now. With an electronic planner, I just swipe right and I have a new page with everything automatically forwarded. Love that!
Planners help us stay on track with the multiple things we are all juggling day to day. Now, you may think a task list is just fine for that. Perhaps. But a planner has everything in one place for complete focus. (more on that to follow!)
A Mind-Blowing Change Of Habit!
The number one reason for me to have a planner is to focus on my goals. Just using a task list or reminders doesn’t quite fill the ticket. Our lives should be focused on our goals and things we want to achieve.
As such, your daily schedule should be filled with tasks related to your goals and the steps you are taking to achieve them.
I also use my planner as an agenda to schedule my time in relationship to my tasks.
Read that sentence again: I also use my planner as an agenda to schedule my time in relationship to my tasks.
That was a mind-blowing change!
In the morning, I look at my task list and schedule time within my day to complete each task. If I have simply don’t have time to schedule the task, it moves forward until tomorrow or I delegate the task to someone else.
This also removes all of the stress surrounding the feeling that I can’t get everything done. I can see that first thing in the morning. Will it be a busy day? Do I have spare time to goof off a bit?
An added bonus is having my agenda on an app that will remind me throughout the day as to what I should be doing at that time. Rarely do I have a day where I just can’t get everything done.
Too Many Apps
When I first got a smart phone, years ago, I thought it was great that there were apps built into the product. The trouble was that they weren’t linked.
You can have a calendar app that connects your contacts. You can have reminders that show up on your calendar. But these items are not really interconnected. If you are looking at your reminders task list, you need to close it to go into your calendar.
A planner app is all interconnected, which is supreme!
While there are many planner apps in the marketplace, my choice is Planmore (FKA Any Plan).
This is the closest system to the Franklin Covey planner on the market. Believe me, I have tried a lot of them.
This app does everything and is super dependable. I never drop a meeting, alert, task, appointment.. anything! Their customer service is exemplary as well. If I have any questions or need assistance, the Contact desk replies back within hours, sometimes minutes with a personalized reply.
Get Inspired!
I have talked to a lot of people who say they don’t set goals and I think that’s a disservice to yourself. I cannot imagine another year going by where I haven’t achieved things that I want to complete in life. Time is ticking, why are you waiting?
