{Planning 101} My Planning Tools

When it comes to planning, it is probably safe to say that we all have a different planning tools and a preferred method of keeping everything organized. What works for me, may not work for you and vice versa.

Over the years, I’ve used many different planning tools. Today I’m going to share with you what I currently use to get and stay organized. I want to share about my planning tools before we dive into the actual planning. Perhaps it will give you some ideas for your own planning needs.

Calendars

There are two different calendars I use on a regular basis – my master calendar and my perpetual calendar.

Master Calendar

I use Google Calendar for managing my family’s master schedule. I have it synced with my iPhone and my husband’s calendar.

My iPhone is always with me. My husband’s iPhone is always with him. We can share our calendars and invite one another to events and activities easily and quickly.

You can read more about my master calendar system here.

Perpetual Calendars

I keep my perpetual calendars in the back of my home planning binder (see below). I use these perpetual calendars to keep a master list of all the birthdays and anniversaries I want to keep up with. I have one for birthdays and one for anniversaries.

Special Calendars

During my yearly planning, which we will talk about soon, I gather various special calendars for anything extracurricular we want to do.

For example:

• School calendars
• Extracurricular activities
• Church events

Planner

I’ve been using a daily planner since college. It’s my preferred method that I always come back to no matter how many times I try to get away from it. I’m a paper and pen planner through and through.

My favorite daily planner is the Homemaker’s Friend.

The Homemaker Friend’s Daily Planner is broken up into seven sections:

• Yearly Calendar
• Monthly Calendar
• Weekly Planning
• Tasks List
• Projects & Events
• Information
• Shopping Lists

Each section starts with a scripture or encouraging quote to help you think about what matters.

I’m going to talk more about how I use my daily planner during this series, but for now, you read this post. I did a thorough review of the Homemaker’s Friend Daily Planner last year that you’ll definitely find helpful. I tell you exactly how I use it.

 

Daily To-Do List

I go back and forth on whether I use my daily planner for my daily to-do list or my own daily to-do list printable. It depends on what I have going on that day and if I need a more structured list.

You can find the old version of my printable here, but it’s also available in my eBook, Live for Him: A Grace-Filled Look at Planning (along with several other handy planning sheets). Plus, if you’re interested in how I create my daily to do list for the maximum efficiency, check out my eCourse, Intentional By Grace Unpluggged. Can you tell I’m passionate about this stuff? 😉

Pens & Pencils

My favorite pens are these Paper Mate Pens. Colorful pens certainly aren’t necessary for planning, but to me they make planning much more fun! And the best part? They don’t bleed!

My favorite pencils are these Paper Mate Sharpwriters.

I don’t think I realized until now that I’m a Paper Mate fan.

Trello

Another planning tool I rely on pretty heavily is Trello. It’s a free tool that can be accessed on the computer or via phone or iPad app.

I use it mostly for business to collaborate with my team, but I also it for keeping up with my master to-do lists, freezer inventory, home project list, etc. Plus, my husband and I can collaborate on the boards so we can share lists (read: it’s where his honey-do list is located).

You can read more about how I use Trello here.

Home Binder

I have recently revamped my Homemaking Binder. I’ve spent a lot of time simplifying it and boy, am I loving it! You can read my original post about my Homemaking Binder here.

One of the ways I simplified was by creating a Prayer Notebook for all of my quiet time and spiritual growth materials. You can read how I made a Prayer Notebook here.

Then, paired down my Homemaking Binder to the necessities that I need on a regular basis. It is more aptly called my Home Planning Binder, I think. Either way, I’m loving my new binder.

My binder is broken down into the following sections:

• Goals
• Planning
• Meals
• Cleaning
• Hospitality
• Finances
• Holidays
• Contacts

You can watch the video below for a tour of my new and improved Home Planning Binder.

{If you can’t see the video, click here: Home Planning Binder Tour}

I will talk more in depth about how I use my planning tools in the coming weeks as we continue our Planning 101 series. Be sure to sign up here to receive my weekly newsletter so you can keep up with all the new posts. Plus you’ll get a FREE downloadable monthly checklist packet to help you with your monthly planning.

This post is part of our Planning 101 series. See all the posts in this series here.

Did you know that I turned this series into an eBook (and added even more to it?)

You can now download this entire series plus more in one easy PDF download. Click here to learn more!

This post contains my affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.

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