Start Your Organized Day With a Plan

I love/crave/thrive on being organized.  I always have been, just ask my little sister who used to get mad at me when I had to have a "plan" before we played Barbies.  Or my daughter who makes fun of my color coordinated closet.  But it's just who I am, if I'm not organized, I get a little crazy.  When my older sister lived here, I used to go to her house quite often just to help her organize and dig out of her piles or keep her on task.  She even asked me to teach a class for her Relief Society (women's church organization) activity.  I really had fun with it and was honored she asked me.  I thought I'd share some of my ideas from that activity on being organized and what works for me in a series I call "A House of Order".  So here's my first in the series, start your organized day by having a plan.

I know, not a new concept.  Many of you probably have something you use, IPhone or something similar (I think I'm the only one is the world without one), planner, calendar, scrap of paper, but how is it working for you?  I find that if I have some sort of idea for the day, I can get a whole lot more done.  However, I still haven't found the "perfect" way for me.  I don't like electronic things, for one, I don't carry my phone with me so I wouldn't look at it much.  I have a family calendar hanging on the fridge, works great when I remember to write things on it. :)  I also have a planner/notebook thing and it's okay, but want to try something better.  So I've decided on a clipboard with a daily or weekly calendar on it.  I've found several all over the internet, and I'm testing out which one I like best.  Easy to try it all and if it doesn't work, all the new planners will be out in stores for the next few months.  Here are some of my favorites I've found.

Mine For The Making

I really like this one for a couple of reasons - 1. It's cute  2. I love the title "Today's Plan" and in the bubble, it says "Today is going to be a great day!"  3. I really like the water bottles to mark off as you drink your water for the day - great idea!  and  4.  For $3, Kara will customize it for you.  So where she has the homeschool section, something I don't need, I'll have her change it to something applicable to me. 

Here is another one I really like.

Clean Mama

This calendar comes in a kit of 4 different calendars for $8 on her etsy shop. So worth it, because they are all undated, so you can use them forever. Or you can buy just the calendar above for $5 and all the blue sections are editable, meaning I can download it to my computer and type in all my to-do things for the week. For a neat freak like me, that is awesome! (I have a problem with things looking nice and neat, I think. Starting in 6th grade, when we got our very first computer, I seriously would take notes in class and then come home and type them all up so they wouldn't have that pencil smear on them (HATE THAT!) or mistakes, or just my sloppyish handwriting from writing so fast. I know, I'm weird.) My favorite part is having my whole week visible at once. And again, the meal plan for the whole week is right there.

Another great, free one is at http://printables.yourway.net/daily-action-planner/. Sorry, I couldn't get a picture of this one. This one is also editable, type your plans in and print it up, or just use it on your computer. It is a daily calendar, but also has areas for "Calls", "Emails", and "Notes". Really useful.

Finally, I really like this free printable from Clean Mama, to use with the other calendars.

Clean Mama

It is a "This and That" printable. Sections for "phone calls", "emails", "to do now", and "to do later". So right now, I have the "Today's Plan" on my clipboard with the "This and That" list underneath. I love having the different lists right there and on-going. I can keep a running list of what projects I need to tackle around the house and just check them off as I get them done - so satisfying! Then I can organize each day by what I plan to tackle. Another great idea from Kara at Mine for the Making, is to slip your calendar in a plastic page protector or laminate so you can use a dry erase marker and use it again and again.

I like to take 5 minutes after the kids are in bed and I'm just watching tv or whatever to plan out my next day. Really easy, and makes a world of difference in the next day.

So how do you organize your day? Are you all electronic or a list maker or both? What works or doesn't work for you?

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