Maintaining a Consistent Planner System
So I was thinking today as I watched (yet another) Janes Agenda Masterclass video, that Jane gives me the greatest inspiration for blog writing! No, really…She talks all about planners, and I love listening to what other people like, dislike and think about planners in general.
Currently, we are learning about check lists and systems and something that I heard today made me think about whether or not I’ve already written on this topic. (LOL). I went back and checked, and sure enough, I had a blog on changing your planner system, or how to stick with one system and prevent yourself from changing systems (or brands) so quickly.
Today, I want to talk about how to maintain the consistency of your planner system. Consistency is termed loosely here as performing in a similar way. As Jane stated today, a system is an organized method to get something done. In effect, what we’re talking about then is maintaining efficiency and organization in your planner the same way all the time.
In the same way that you treat people equal by treating them different (i.e. every child learns at a different rate and a by a different method, but the goal is to get them to learn a standard curriculum), you want to change your planner system to suit your needs at any given time in order to maintain organization and efficiency of your planner.
It’s important to reflect each month on what worked and what didn’t work in your system. What this does is weed out the bad or unnecessary parts of your system to make it easier and faster to find what you need. This may mean that you change things up occasionally.
For example, during the school year, I keep a divider in my planner labelled school. This helps me find the section very quickly when I need to reference important information. I can flip to that tab quickly when I need to transfer dates to my main monthly calendar as well.
In summer, especially if I’m travelling, I like to have a slimmer, downsized planner. This year, I took out all my tabs except for the six side tabs and I took out all school and other non-essential papers. It’s a little bit more of a hassle to find things, but the lighter weight is essential for me during the season.
It’s easy to fall into regular patterns and habits. Sometimes it’s hard to look or plan outside the box. You may get trapped in a cycle of doing something again and again, simply because you are so used to doing it. It takes a bit of work to change the pattern and to analyze what you could be doing better in order to make your life easier. Most of us avoid work like the plague, especially if it doesn't seem absolutely necessary. However, if you already have a planner, and consider yourself a planner, you know it’s essential to streamline your system to keep improving upon it all the time.
You can get great ideas from online - reading blogs, watching YouTube videos or talking to another planner friend. You can brainstorm ideas on your own. The trick is how to implement those ideas and to know whether or not the change works for you or not. What works for me, might not work for you.
There is also a difference between a person who plans, and a planner who creates content for social media. There is more pressure when creating content, because you want to share good ideas with your followers. You want them to feel like they’re getting value from your content so they can support you in other ways.
In this case, I would still recommend staying true to who you are and doing what you need to do for your planner needs/system. No matter what you’re doing, it’s still probably helping others in some way. As always, it’s important to show your true colours online and to be authentic, because people will know quite easily when you’re fake. You want to create content and a reputation that people can trust.
Thank you so much for reading today’s blog, and I hope to see you next week!
Sandra
