If you are struggling to use your planner to create a cohesive functional plan that helps you get clear on your objectives and strategic on how to manage your time and energy to get things done, here are 10 steps you must take to create a functional plan!
#1: Map Out Your Month
The first step to create a functional plan is to map out your month. The way our lives are structured, a month is a great unit of time to map out, in order to get a good big picture view of whats going on and what we need to be mindful of for our time management.
On a monthly basis its a great idea to sit down with your planner and take stock of the month ahead:
- Make sure to map out Special days like holidays, birthdays, anniversaries.
- Appointments, scheduled meetings and due dates for projects.
- Track Travel plans, content calendars, and reoccurring items like paydays or trash days!
- If you set monthly goals, make sure to list those out on your monthly calendar as well!
#2: Track Your Tasks for the Month
Sticking to the month as a good basic unit of time management, during your monthly planning session its also a great time to make a list of tasks that you want or need to accomplish in the month.
If you have project plans or lists of todo’s, I recommend reviewing these and identifying which tasks belong to your month so you can have all your to dos listed out on one master monthly task list.
For habits, routines, income, expenses or reoccurring tasks that you want to keep track of, I recommend listing those out on a monthly tracker that gives you the ability to check off these individual items in one place, saving you lots of precious space in your planner!
#3. Manage Your Week
Once you have a plan for your month in place you can break down your plans into weeks!
When I plan my weeks, I like to first identify any appointments or scheduled items and make sure those are clearly marked in my planner.
Next, I turn to my master month task list and assign tasks to my week overall, or to specific days in my week. I try not to plan too far ahead and leave plenty of white space (or buffer time) in my days because you never know what surprises might pop up in your week and nothing is worse than over-planning only to leave tasks incomplete!
In order to avoid over-planning each week I like to identify 3-5 projects that either need to be completed or moved forward during a week so that I stay focused on my essential tasks and don’t take on too much at one time.
#4: Balance Your Workload with a Yearly Project Tracker
Another great step to organize your planner so that you are staying organized and functional but not overwhelming your schedule is to project plan!
If you’ve ever heard the phrase “You can have it all, just not all at once” then you understand the concept of my yearly project tracker! Over the course of a year I might have dozens of projects I want to complete, but I can’t do them all in one month- so breaking them out over the course of the year gives me the sense that there is time for everything, when I am intentional and have patience!
#5. Plan Out Your Projects
Now, when I have a project I want to complete, it’s important for me to create a project plan where I can keep all the details in one place. Think of a project plan like a to do list of like items that have a specific objective in mind.
Making a simple task list for a project is great, but I like to to things one step further and use project planning pages where I can lay out tasks along side a clear description of what I’m trying to achieve and any resources or notes that I need to consult along the way!
#6. Get It Out of Your Head and on Paper
If you struggle to find clarity with your planning, then this functional planning tip is going to be essential for you! From time to time, on at least a monthly basis, if not more frequently, I like to perform a brain dump. A brain dump is a funny way of saying a mental download, or the process of writing down all the tasks, information and ideas that you have been holding onto in your mind!
Despite a popular misconception, our brains are not meant for storing information, but for processing information. So, if you have a hard time planning or finding clarity, a brain dump can really help clear your mind of clutter through the simple act of writing things down.
But once your done writing everything down, what do you do with all that information?
Great question! This is where I like to use a prioritization matrix to help me identify which tasks need my attention and which can be delegated to someone else, added to a to do list for later, or deleted completely. By taking the time to understand which tasks are important, not important, urgent and not urgent, my planning becomes so much simpler and I get an instant sense of clarity!
#7. Brainstorm Your Brilliant Ideas
Now, before I can schedule my tasks into the calendar portion of my planner, I need to have a good idea of what I am working on, right?
Before I even make a project plan, I need to brainstorm to help me outline my ideas and decide what I want to accomplish based on the problems I am facing or raw ideas I want to bring to fruition. So, I will have a brainstorming session (or a few sessions) where I will use a specially designed planner insert to define my problem or objective, and then come up with ideas to solve the problem.
This insert that I designed is a great tool to help me organize different steps or categories of information, and then create the skeleton of a project plan that I can review and edit until I feel confident moving forward. Of course, plans laid out in a brainstorm will then be codified into a project plan!
#8. Take Notes
Your planner is made to be written in and studies have shown that writing things down actually helps us improve our memory and productivity! So, having some lined note sheets in your planner for extra information that doesn’t quite belong in your calendar is always a great idea!
I use the notes section in my planner to keep lists of quotes, meal ideas, and inspiration for my life and business. The options are endless, so make sure you have some spare notes sheets to use as needed!
#9. Index It
What is the point of filling your planner with all this important information if you can’t refer back to it and find what you’re looking for?
One of the drawbacks of using a paper planner is that they lack a search function to help you locate text, but, by numbering your planner pages and using an index, you can create your own system for tracking the contents of your planner for quick reference in the future.
You can create a simple list by page number and page contents, or create categories of information and list out the pages that contain that information for you to track it!
#10. Use It or Loose It
Your planner can be a powerful tool to help you organize your life and achieve your goals, but only IF you use it regularly!
Becoming a daily planner is definitely a habit that you can build through repetition and by using a planner that is functional enough to contain everything you need to plan. I find that so many people struggle to use their planner because they actually have to use 2 or more different planners or notebooks in order to achieve ALL of the tips I shared with you today.
That is why I highly recommend that if you struggle with planning, to purchase the Charmed Life Master Planner!
The Master Planner is a Functional Planning System of my own design that includes all the inserts you need to organize your life and get more done. It comes in book bound or print on demand planner inserts that work with a variety of popular planners and binding styles. I personally use the A5/Half Letter Master Planner Print on Demand inserts with a disc bound system in my Chanel Agenda cover at the moment!
So, what are you waiting for? I would LOVE for you to purchase one of my Charmed Life Master Planners because it truly is a unique planner system that is designed for functional planning and productivity.
I’ve seen the difference the Master Planner and it’s Functional Planning methodology has made in the lives of many within my community and I know it can also be the perfect tool for you to get your plans out of your head so you can get down to business!
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY OF THE MASTER PLANNER NOW!
And of course! Don’t forget the Master Planning Master Class, my companion class for the planner that will walk you through the functional planning philosophy, how to get the most out of the planner and help you to overcome the 3 most common planning mistakes!
I can’t wait to hear about how you are using your Charmed Life Master Planner to organize your life and improve your productivity!
xoxo,
