I talk a lot about my planners and how I use each of them for various things, but it’s always a work in progress for me. I buy something with the best intentions and end up forgetting it, using it for something completely different, or half-ass the whole thing. I recently streamlined how I use my planners during this quarantine period because yes, there ARE still things to do. There are definitely less events out of the house, but I still need to plan (now more than ever!) meals, groceries, house chores, work, and reading. Here’s how I’m doing it all now.
Artful Agenda:
Blog/Books, Calendar-Based, On-the-Go Lists
My online planner is the best place for me to include anything that I’d want to reference while on my computer or phone (on the go). I traditionally use it for easily adding appointments (like when I’m leaving my hair appointment and schedule my next while I’m there) or events when I’m with friends (determining our next holiday party or something). While this will be true again someday, right now it’s mostly helping me from a blogging perspective. If I have a few posts I want to plan out and complete, I’ll include them in the to-do sections. I’m able to leave this tab open on my computer and reference it whenever.
The second thing this planner is currently helping with during quarantine is planning out my grocery shopping and lists whenever necessary. Obviously I’m shopping less often than the million times per week I’d usually shop, so I try to make rolling lists in here (and in Google Keep) of groceries as I think of them or run out of things. I can have my planner right on my phone for reference during shopping. I also include other errands in here. For example, if I’m heading to the town my office is in for shopping, I’ll also stop by the office to check mail, the brewery to get beer, and probably get my Target pickup order. I try to multitask and keep all of those to-do lists that I’d need on the go in here.
Blogilates Fit Planner:
Food, To-Do, Fitness/Health, Cleaning
I’ve finally gotten into a good rhythm with this one. I can leave it open to the daily page and use it to track what I have plans to do. Sometimes it’s as simple as reminders to meal plan, do the dishes, get laundry going, organize a room in the house, etc. I’m trying to do a better job of planning meals out (aren’t we all) so the daily food/meal sections are so helpful. Using erasable pens is a game-changer too! You’ll also see my “around the house” to-do list that doesn’t make sense to put in my digital planner. This one sits on my desk so I can see it whenever needed.
The weekly and monthly pages in this one are used for my newly-created recurring task/cleaning organization. I loved reading Hannah’s journey (relevant posts here and here) with this stuff and decided to follow along with her plan in some ways. I determined how often I needed to do certain things around the house (like deep cleaning rooms, cleaning and oiling the cutting board, dusting, washing towels, etc. – anything and everything) and assigned certain times during each month to do them, or every few months.
Printables:
Meal Planning Calendar, Inventories
I’m planning out meals long-term (usually do around 2 weeks at a time) and tracking them on this printable from Louise Lane. I got my freezer, fridge, and kitchen/pantry inventory printables from Jordan Page. I use these to help plan out my meals according to what I have in my kitchen already. I’m able to see what’s running low and what I need more of. I use my erasable pens on the monthly calendar too because sometimes I switch things around or get takeout randomly instead of making the predetermined meal.
I’ve tried several planners but I’ve stuck with none of them. For school I use a simple planner from B&N and for meal planning, I find that an excel spreadsheet does the job for you. I love looking at other people’s planners though! Those printables sound like a good idea!
I just use a standard notebook. Mine is more to-do lists than actual planning!