Well, it’s here! August 1st is the official National Planner Day and I am officially excited! What is National Planner Day, you ask? Well, it is a day dedicated to celebrating planners (those big spiral bound calendars) and the ways they change people’s lives for the better.
As you can see in the graphic, book-style planners help you manage your time, set goals, keep appointments, journal your thoughts, dreams or concerns, remember events and milestones, and track important elements of self-are, like how much water you drink, exercise, etc. They also help you manage stress because you are not trying to remember everything in your head. Planners that you write in are more effective and better for your brain than digital or smartphone planners (although those reminders have their place). And they never run out of battery power!
I keep my planners year to year in a plastic box. I’m so glad I did because it has helped me remember important dates for legal matters, medical issues related to my child and other things. I have even taped in things like business cards in my planners. They are chronicles of my life. I know when my son’s first words were and what he said because I wrote it in my planner years ago. I tracked everything about Covid in my 2020 planner.
So, back to National Planner Day. Why is this day on August 1, do you ask? Well, teachers and students who are going back to school often buy academic planners — and those start in July or August and run for the length of a year and a half, typically. So retailers are putting out those planners on the shelves this time of year, for back to school. They have also started putting out the next year’s planners (the ones that start in January) in August as well (although December is still a big month to buy calendars and planners). So, August 1 is a great time to buy a planner because the selection is best right now.
Now — let’s take a pause. there are planning work shops, Tik Toks and podcasts. I am not going to get in that deep. You could spend 100s of dollars on a planning habit. I am here to tell you that none of that is necessary. Planning is supposed to simplify your life, not complicate it. You do not have to spend a fortune and use a complicated system with a whole bunch of tools just to organize your life.
What you need — at the basic and purest level —
- A planner ($1 to about $40). You can get decent ones at Dollar Tree for a $1 in December…I used them for years. The more elaborate styles are on the shelves now at Wal-Mart, Target, Michael’s, Barnes and Noble, Staples or Office Depot. Monthly ones are the most lightweight but if you shop around, you can find a weekly that is not too heay to carry around with you. Then you can journal a bit, which is very good for your brain and your memory, even if you only write a few words.
- Pens. I like to use Papermate felt tip pens in different colors. The felt tip doesn’t bleed through, they slow my hands down so that my handwriting is neater and I like the colors. I find that gel pens smear. So they are my personal preference.
- Stickers. Planner stickers, like the Happy Planner brand kind, can run as high as $20/pack. You don’t really need to spend that much, unless you want to. You can find planner stickers at Dollar Tree (like the ones below). Of course, you don’t really need the stickers but they are nice to have, if you like color. I like them because the images help me remember things and the messages motivate me and cheer me up.
I need a planner that I can carry around with me, so I don’t like it to be very large or very heavy. I used to use monthly calendars but I have graduated to month + weekly format ones. My handwriting is large and messy so I also look for planners that have enough space for me to write down appointments and reminders.
The planner I used last year is a beaut and I’m going to try and nab another one this August. What I love about my Mintgreen planner (from Wal-Mart, exclusively, less than $8) is that it has plenty of space for me to write, it came with a page of stickers, it had very sturdy binding, it wasn’t too heavy, it had motivational messages and goal planning pages for every month and the weekly sections had a place to write down every day what you were grateful for and what you did for self-care, plus your mood and how much water you drank.
I’ve used it all year and it has been awesome! Writing down what I am grateful for and what I have done for self-care has made me happier. The goal and to-do pages are keeping me on track for what I want to accomplish each week and each month. It is very gratifying to see what I have done each month. The academic version is now available on line for less than $10. I highly recommend it. It does everything planners that are twice the price do. I just wish there was a less girly version that also had the self-care and gratitude section that I could give to my son.
I love all the promise and hope a brand new planner represents! 🙂 I hope you find the perfect planner for yourself today! And some great stickers! In the comments, please let me know what kind of planner you use and how it has improved your life.
#BESTLife Workshop 