Get Organized in The New Year

Ok, so I am going out on a limb here and probably getting ready to sound like a huge dork, but I am so excited about my new planner!  I think I am in love.  Yes, I am referring to my planner.  Here’s the deal, for the last few months I have been looking for the “perfect planner” for me.  I have to stay super organized between “mommyhood”, being a wife, my full time teaching job and of course my fitness business.  I have felt lately like I was slacking and to be honest I probably have been.  The holidays have been tough for me to stay on track.  But, have no fear, the New Year is here!  I love the fact that the New Year is a chance to start fresh, start over, change old habits and start new ones!  I am lucky and get this feeling twice a year because it is the same concept at the beginning of every school year.  After searching high and low (literally those shelves have a lot to look at) I FINALLY found THE PLANNER for me.  I bet you are on the edge of your seats right now.  Can’t wait until I tell you what planner it is that I’m using or maybe no one else really uses and or cares about planners.  Either way, here it is.  Drum roll please…. for 2011 I will be using the Simplicity Planner by Franklin Covey.  I love this planner for SO many reasons, but before I go in to that I want to give you some visuals.

Now, here are the 5 reasons I LOVE this planner!

1)  I absolutely love the 2 page layout.  Most planners hardly leave enough space to write anything.  As you can see this planner provides PLENTY of room to get on track!

2)  I can write in MY OWN hours of the day!  Seriously LOVE this feature.  On so many of the planners I found the day starts at 7:00 (if I were lucky) or 8:00 am and ends at about 7:00 pm (or earlier on a lot of them).  I don’t know about you but my day is a lot longer than that.  As I said before I am juggling a lot and need the flexibility of adding my hours in.  Mission accomplished!

3)  There is space to write in my to do list.  Writing a to do list is one of my New Year’s Resolutions.  I have been using a to do list for my fitness business, but not always so good at making it for the rest of my life.  This year that will change.  FYI if you want to get better at to do lists follow Chalene Johnson on twitter (@chalenejohnson) or Facebook.  She rocks and really knows her stuff!

4)  I love that the second page for each day is simply space to take notes, jot things down or for me re-write my long term goals!  I have been searching for a notebook I liked to start writing in my goals daily to stay focused on what it is I am trying to accomplish.  This planner does everything!  No need for yet another notebook to carry around or store in my desk.  I can fill in my schedule, my daily to do list AND review my goals with room to spare for those pesky grocery items I need to buy or random thoughts I don’t want to forget!  Oh, and did I mention it fits in my purse?  SWEET!

5)  The last reason I am loving this planner is the fun colors and patterns.  Let’s be honest here, no one wants to look at a boring, plain sheet of paper over and over again and this nips that in the bud for sure.  I realize it may not be such great colors for the guys in the crowd, but for the ladies this may be a keeper!  For the gentlemen who may be reading this I would recommend the “leadership” planner by Franklin Covey.  It was a close second for me and is more “gender neutral”.

With all of this being said I bet you are wondering where you can get your hands on this awesome planner.  First things first, you will need to get a binder to hold you planner pages in so I recommend either going on line to http://store.franklinplanner.com/store/ to order both the binder and the refill pages.  To be honest buying both at once can get a little pricey, but I promise it will be worth it.  If you make an investment you are more likely to use it anyway, right?!  If you already have a binder then you are good to go!  You can also find these inserts at your local Office Max, Staples or other office supply store.  I tried Wal-mart and Target, but was out of luck.

There you have it!  My planner for the year, why I love it and where you can find your own!  I’d love to hear your thoughts on using a planner.  Do you use one?  Do you find it helpful?  Has your planner become a paper weight?  Show me some love and leave some feedback below!