The Proper Way To Use A Planner

Do you use a planner? You should. They free up valuable space in your brain, and make it far less likely that you’ll forget anything ever again. Remembering to do things and being punctual are two basic trademarks of someone with their shit together.

It’s no secret that I’m a planner nerd (a plannerd, if you will). For me, they walk that wonderful line between being functional and beautiful.

For now, I’ll focus on the functional aspect, because you should get your shit together BEFORE you make your shit pretty.

The two most important aspects a planner should have are a diary and a notes section. After that, the rest is up to you. Personally, I use a paper planner for my diary, and a digital app for organising my notes and to-do’s. Paper and digital both have pros and cons, so just figure out which works best for you and get on with it. I’m a perfect example of how the two can live in harmony, so no griping, please.

Here’s my planner set-up:

For my lists, I use TeuxDeux (my review is here):

There are eleventy billion different ways to make your planner work for you (and I’ll try to cover them all in future posts), but the main thing is just to write everything down. EVERYTHING.

If something needs to be completed on a specific date, it goes in your diary. It’s pretty much that simple. Appointments are an obvious one. Holidays. Flight times. Collecting your mother from the airport. Having dinner with the in-laws. Deliveries. Guests arriving. Workmen coming to fix something. All these things go in your diary because they’re happening on specific days.

If it’s any way wishy-washy, it goes in a list. Finishing your book. Updating the photo album. Catching up on a box set. Cleaning out the garage. Etc. You might WANT to get them done on a specific day, but unless they HAVE to be done on that day, they don’t go in your diary.

It should be pretty obvious by now that your diary is your priority. When planning out your day, it should be the first thing you look at. Everything else is for filling in the blanks.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a cheap notebook you pick up in a discount store, a super expensive Italian leather-bound planner hand-stitched by monks, or the basic calendar and notes apps on your phone. Just get out there, get a planner, and get your shit together.

(If you DO have a planner, I would LOVE to see pictures. Planners are my porn, people! Pop them up on the Facebook page, tweet them to @HowToGYST or, if your account is mainly planner related, leave a comment below with your Instagram name and I’ll be sure to follow.}