Before you can organize your methods, it’s important to identify your needs first. Take into consideration your lifestyle, job, family, community obligations, and anything else that you spend time on. For instance, if you are a college student living in a dorm, you probably won’t be very interested in creating grocery lists on a regular basis.
Your needs will tell you what options to look for in a planner so you don’t have to waste time (and money) with trial and error. Some things to consider are:
- Your life – Do you have a demanding job or are you a student? Is your family always on the go, or are you single? Do you have any hobbies or do you volunteer in your community? Do you have multiple appointments, or are you an avid binge-watcher?
- Digital or paper – If you tend to ignore the alerts you receive on your phone, or you miss a lot of texts and calls, you should probably consider paper. If you have a hard time reading your own handwriting and you depend on your devices for everything from entertainment to communication, then digital might be the way for you.
STIL Options – Do you prefer to have labeled sections to guide you? Or would you like the freedom to label it yourself? Do you need an hourly, daily or weekly layout? Ring, spiral, or disc paper planner, or sharable digital organizer?
- Size – If digital is your style, how much space do you need for notes? Do you need to access it across all of your devices? Or if paper is your style, do you want to be able to fit it into a bag? Or will you need a big one for your family to be able to see/use, too?
These are just a few of the options you should consider when deciding on your planning style.
Remember, the goal is to create time for yourself, so don’t pick something that will overwhelm you, but DO choose something that you will want to look at daily. That’s too important not to repeat.
Choose something that you will want to look at daily!
While function is your number one goal, it’s completely useless if you don’t look at it. I’ll post more about how you can customize your method so it’s appealing to you a little later.
In the meantime, I suggest taking some time to think about all of the options you have, do some research, and decide which method you’re most interested in. I don’t suggest buying anything at this point, but if you come across a free app or free printables, definitely give those a try! Planning can be expensive if you don’t know what you want. So try everything free that you can before settling down and making your purchase.
You got this!