Having a weekly planner is the key to staying organized all week.
With this great tool, you have the ideal way to set yourself up for success, manage your time effectively, and reduce stress.
What, what?
Seriously.
A simple weekly planner provides you with all of these benefits and so much more.
Let me explain.
Organize appointments.
A weekly planner helps you track all of your meetings, appointments, and commitments in one place.
Instead of being late for appointments or missing important meetings, you’ll have your entire schedule clearly displayed in front of you.
Plus, it helps prevent you from double-booking yourself since you can record appointments in your weekly planner when you schedule them.
Increase productivity.
When you have a clear overview of your week, it is easier to manage your time.
The biggest benefit is that you can prioritize the most important tasks and finish those first.
Then you can schedule blocks of time to complete similar tasks so you can focus on that type of task.
This helps keep your mind clear so you don’t mentally switch gears.
(Tip: Schedule recurring tasks each week.)
Allow time for self-care.
Once you are better at time management, you should start blocking time for your own self-care.
What is more important than your own health? Whether you need to exercise, meditate, or plan doctors’ appointments, now is the time to make it happen.
Use your weekly planner to make this an important part of your routine.
Encourage goal setting.
Setting a weekly schedule encourages you to achieve your goals.
If you are often overwhelmed by large projects, break them into smaller tasks and spread them out over several days.
The work seems more manageable, and you can see your project progress over the week.
This is one way to help you achieve your long-term objectives.
“Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.”
Brian Tracy
Reduce stress.
I personally feel less stressed when I am aware of upcoming appointments, events, and work due dates.
It helps when I have a plan for my week and I can actually see where my time is going.
You could use this same strategy in your life to help keep you informed about upcoming appointments and events.
If you tend to forget to buy gifts, add a reminder a week before a birthday party or baby shower.
Look at your schedule for the past few weeks and see where your time has been going.
Are there any unnecessary meetings? Can you remove any unimportant tasks?
Now, try the opposite approach.
Are there any tasks that you continuously repeat each week?
If you notice that you set a nail appointment every two or three weeks, it’s time to set up a recurring reminder.
Look for other recurring tasks that you can add to your planner to remove that stress from your brain.
Before long, you will probably feel more in control and less overwhelmed.
Increase motivation.
Having a weekly plan can help you stay motivated.
Just looking at all of the tasks that you finished will give you that sense of accomplishment.
And sometimes, you’ll just be eager to check off some of tomorrow’s tasks just to get ahead.
It’s fun to see yourself achieve these goals each week!
Maintain work-life balance.
Writing down your schedule will also help maintain a work-life balance by allowing you to plan and organize your week.
You can visualize the entire week to get a “big picture” of your plans.
This gives the opportunity to group similar items together, plan work tasks, and see where you can enjoy your personal life. Source
Improve memory.
The simple task of writing helps reinforce ideas in your memory.
Whether it is an important appointment or a simple recurring task, scheduling each item on your weekly planner can help you remember plans on your calendar.
Plus, you always have the backup in writing!
Have more time for creativity.
The simple task of writing helps reinforce ideas in your memory.
Whether it is an important appointment or a simple recurring task, scheduling each item on your weekly planner can help you remember plans on your calendar.
Plus, you always have the backup in writing!
Enhance recordkeeping.
Think beyond the future; your weekly planner is also good at remembering the past.
Do you remember the last time that you gave the dogs their flea medication or took the kids to their dental checkups?
I’m gonna be completely honest with you; I can’t remember the exact dates right off the top of my head.
But, if you’ve been keeping that planner, just flip through the pages, and all those records are right at your disposal.
You can even jot down some extra notes if you think you’ll need them in the future.
Example: (Fertilized the lawn.)
If you ever need to reference that information, you know exactly where to look.
While a weekly planner is a small tool, it can have a large positive impact on your life.
This article shows you some of the many benefits of keeping a planner.
It can increase your productivity, reduce stress, and so much more.
Life is short – make sure that you enjoy it!
