Melissa’s Planning Series: Part 3 – Journals & Planners

This is the final part in our series on the best ways to plan. To round off the series I want to focus on the benefits of using a productivity planner or journal to help bring order and efficiency to your day.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know I wax lyrical about my planner. When I feel out of sorts I stop, make a cuppa and write a list.

The major benefit of taking pen to paper is that the simple process of getting your thoughts out of your head can make tackling your to-do list less intimidating and far more manageable.

Much like using a spider diagram and time blocking, using a journal or planner is a process of externalising your thoughts and making your ideas and tasks more do-able.

This is a particularly useful way to plan for those of you who are visual learners, as you can clearly see everything on your to-do list on one or two pages.

What are the benefits of using a planner?

  • It inspires productivity – there’s nothing more satisfying than ticking something off on your to-do list at the end of the day or week,
  • It helps you to compartmentalise and break down tasks,
  • It brings structure to your day,
  • It helps you keep track of the important tasks, and clearly identify tasks that can be delegated or outsourced,
  • It allows you to keep separate lists for work, personal life and even self-care,
  • It encourages you to be more organised, simply through the task of writing down your list,

How I use my planner to plan my day –

My to-do list planning has 2 halves.

Firstly:

I use list software called Asana, which I have open on my computer and / or phone (app) – noting down tasks as and when they come to mind.  Those tasks to be undertaken by one of the team can be delegated immediately from Asana to their to-do list.  

When adding a task, I make sure I break it down to the component parts.  For example instead of putting ‘Instagram’, I’d put ‘film these 3 reels…’

I also use Asana for my content ideas and creation stages for Instagram, blog and newsletter planning (which I highly recommend!)

Secondly:

Next I will plan each day. To do this I select tasks from my Asana list and separate them into:

  • 1 key task / priority (the one thing that I must achieve that day)
  • 3 secondary tasks (the key to these is that they should be achievable, e.g. sending an email, making a call)
  • a number of easy ‘nice to have done’ tasks (such as a filing task, or paying a bill.  These are all manageable in a few minutes)

I find with this method, even on the worst of days, my business still makes progress.   All it takes is one completed task a day to move forward.

What planners should you use?

So as promised, here are some of the best productivity planners I have come across:

Intelligent Change

Ultimate You

Ponderlily Planner

Positive Bullet Planner

And for those of you who want to build a list online…

Asana

Trello

I would love to know if you have tried any of the tools and techniques I have recommended so far? If so, drop me a message and let me know how you have got on.

Melissa x

More Articles

To download this information, we need to send you an email confirming you are happy to receive content from us.  This email will be in your inbox now.  On acceptance, your download will become available. 
 
By downloading this information, you agree to receive marketing material from SpareMyTime.  This includes our weekly newsletter packed with tips to help you start, grow and manage your business.  You also agree to our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe from receiving information from us at any time.