With the start of a new year just around the corner I thought this would be the perfect kick off post. I love to plan and organize. I find that it saves me so much time, not to mention it alleviates a lot of my anxiety. I use planning to help cope with stress, stay organized, and accomplish my never-ending list of mom tasks. My planner is my happy place. Actually any kind of organizing is my happy place I guess you could say I an organizeaholic.

These are the things I like to do a few weeks before I start a new planner.

1 – My CRACK – Color coding! This is not necessary, but it really helps me recognize specific tasks at a glance. I like to write a key on the notes page of the planner. Then I assign a category  to each color. Sometimes my categories are very specific and sometimes they are much broader or encompass a few categories.

2 – Bills, Bills, Bills – UGHHH, I hate this part, it’s my least favorite part of planning. I have found it is a necessary evil. I have seen and experimented with a lot of different ways to track bills. Currently I just write it on the due date.  I use auto-pay for most everything, but I like to check around the due dates that those bills are actually coming out and the amount is not going to be a surprise. Nothing like thinking your cable bill is going to be $100, then a debit comes out of your account for $500!! (sad face, this is a true story) Hence why I obsessively check, but it really is a good practice to follow.

3 – Goals – Ok let’s get real for a second, how many people make New Year’s resolutions and give them up a few weeks in? Raising Both Hands! A goal like that is so daunting to me. But 30 days, I can do that. So I try to set monthly goals. Realistic, attainable goals are what keep me going on the path to achieving what I want. I am a big picture person and I catch myself all too often feeling overwhelmed and stressed about how to achieve a large goal. Then I think…what small thing can I do today to help me reach this goal? I also do not plan goals for the entire year. I know that who I am today is not who I will be in 2 months. No I don’t have a personality disorder, but I grow and change everyday. I learn new things, my interests change, and I’m ok with that (this took me sooooo long to figure out).

That’s it!  It only takes me around an hour to get this done. Also you can break it down into a couple of different days if you have your new planner far enough in advance. This year I bought my 2018 planner in June. Have I mentioned I love planning?

Let me know in the comments what things you include in a new planner.

XOXO, Heather