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10 Easy Tips To Stick To The Plan(ner!)

10 Easy Tips To Stick To The Plan(ner!)

10 Easy Tips To Stick To The Plan(ner!)

We all get excited by ads of beautifully crafted planners as the new year comes close. “This time, I'm going to use it!”, you promise yourself, as you add it to your cart. But 2-3 weeks into the new year, the excitement begins to wane, and the planner sits gathering dust, even taunting you from a corner of your desk or that drawer you’ve probably stashed it into.

Don’t worry…sticking to a planning habit just takes commitment and a few smart strategies. And the rewards are many! Here’s how I’ve managed to make it work for me for over 10 years:

  1. Keep it simple - Use your planner for essentials like to-do lists, appointments, events, and habits. Avoid overloading it with too many extras. If you do want to include more, ensure that you buy one that has a few open-ended sections, so you can customize them as you please.
  2. Start with monthly spreads - Fill out the monthly overview first. It makes planning your weeks and days much easier. I usually start by filling in all the birthdays of the month. It's fun and doesn't feel overwhelming. 
  3. Stickers are magic - Stickers add fun and make even mundane tasks less daunting. Use them to highlight appointments or important events. I always put doctor’s appointments on cute little neon stickers in my planner in my monthly spread, and it somehow helps!
  4. Colour-code everything - Assign different coloured pens for different areas of your life (e.g., work, personal, kids). Every page of my planner is a rainbow of colours that only I can decode - black for work, red for my daughter’s classes, pink for exam dates, etc. One glance at the page and I know what’s happening!
  5. Move incomplete tasks - Rewrite incomplete tasks for the next day. This makes you more aware of unfinished work, keeps you accountable and you’re unlikely to move any task beyond 2 or 3 days.
  6. Tick off completed tasks - Check off completed tasks - it’s satisfying, and it gives that productive dopamine hit which you’ll eventually get addicted to! It’s also a great idea to reward yourself for sticking to your planning routine (eg., a new set of pens or stickers).
  7. Commit to the process - Remember, it takes time to build a habit. Consistency is more important than perfection. So if you’ve fallen off the planning bandwagon, just dust yourself off and begin again!
  8. Keep your planner accessible - Keep your planner on your desk or in your bag so it’s always within reach. Treat it as the important assistant that you must update in real time, to get the most out of it.
  9. Make it personal! - Add your photos, concert/movie tickets, or memorabilia from events. Treat your planner as a part journal, part productivity tool.
  10. Sunday night prep - Sounds painful, but 15 minutes taken out on a Sunday evening to map out your week sets a positive, organized tone for Monday and beyond.

Stick to these tips, and your planner will go from ‘just another notebook’ to ‘how did I ever live without this?’, and your future self will thank you!

- Sheetal Goel (Founder-Chief, cupikdesign.com)