Sunday, April 15, 2018

How I Use My Create 365 Daily Pages

          All planner girls use a weekly spread. Lots of them also use a monthly view. Planner moms almost always use both! It is the only way to keep up with everything! I am a mom. But I also know that I am unorganized and undisciplined. I am easily distracted. I am very good at procrastinating. I often talk myself into believing that my child limits my productivity more than he does in actuality. I often think tasks take longer than they actually take to perform. I have found that two things motivate me. One is seeing space. Doing whatever task will make the most visible difference first helps me keep going. For example, If I'm doing dishes, I do the big pans first! Then I will wash the medium sized cups and lastly the silverware! The second thing that motivates me is making a detailed "To Do" list. For example, I don't just write "laundry." I write "1.Match socks and put in drawer. 2.Start load of towels." The makes the HUGE task of laundry less intimidating. It also gives me more items to check off and makes it seem like I got more accomplished. It also makes it easier for my husband to see how long I worked on different tasks. Imagine that you are a husband who has been hard at work all day. If you come home and ask your wife what she did all day and all she says is laundry, you are going to really feel like she is lazy. You are going to think that she is laying around all day while you bust your butt to earn an income. But if you come home and see her planner laying out with a huge "To Do" list checked off and a visibly clear space, you will feel grateful that your wife has worked so hard all day.
          So how do I make sure I attack the things that will make a big visual difference? Well to do that I need to make daily priorities. So how do I keep myself from procrastinating? An hourly layout helps me plan my day and be sure I stay on task. Plus planning my hours helps me realize over time how long tasks actually take to complete. Often I find they don't take near as long as I imagined! Those of you who saw my Happy Planner Plan with Me, you will be aware that my weekly spread is vertical, not hourly. So how do I plan hourly, to do's, and priorities? Why with daily pages of course!
          So how about you guys. What types of spreads do you use? Do you use daily pages? Do you use other inserts like full sheet checklists? Or maybe you re-purpose some inserts. Tell me how you stay productive in the comments below!