planning

I don't know about you but I love the start of a new year. New planner, new calendar, clean paper, all that writing and scribbling to come. Every year my kids get a brand new calendar as part of their holiday gifts. I usually get one too. But there is a problem that comes with all this blank paper. Having too much of it. At one point I had a work planner, a daily planner, a PDA, a family calendar and my personal calendar and an online calendar. Then there was my husband's calendar with his schedule on it. There were too many places for information to reside all related to dates and times. Needless to say it got a bit overwhelming; one unfortunate result being the day I took the wrong kid to the dentist (a 30 minute drive each way).

My brother and I frequently talk about the best way to keep track of all of these appointments, electronic, paper, bound, unbound, it can get rather overwhelming.  Some people love their Palm Pilots, some function with a small purse-size two year calendar; I have one friend with a truly amazing huge planner-system (I wasted a lot of energy being jealous of her system and trying to adopt it for my own - it didn't work).

I've realized that the most important part of stress-less planning is to learn what your style is and go with it. For me that means a family calendar and a small planner similar to the Hipster PDA.   In order to simplify your life I suggest you consolidate your calendars, reduce your planners and go with what works for you.