My Digital and Paper Planning System
My Digital and Paper Planning System
When it comes to planning systems, I have tried them all. I have tried dated and undated planners, traditional and pretty bullet journals, every Android and Chrome app, and finally came to the conclusion no one system was for me without some tweaking. So today I am sharing how I plan my life using both digital and paper planning systems.
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In case this your first time on the blog, here are some quick things you should know before we start:
1. I have stage four endometriosis and it takes top billing in my life
2. Thanks to the endo, I suffer from brain fog, fatigue, exhaustion and general not being able to do all the things my non-chronically ill friends can do
3. In addition to running my blog, I work full-time from home and am a brand ambassador, which requires its own tracking
4. I am married with no kids and lots of furbabies. My spouse works 5 days a week, with a 2 on, 1 off, 3 on, 1 off schedule
5. For the most part, we split the chores and do our shopping together, but I handle paying the bills and most of the menu planning
6. My days aren't very varied. I wake up at the same time, work, do chores and errands as needed, eat pretty much the same lunch daily, go to bed at the same time, and honestly it can be quite boring to watch from the outside, which is why I don't do too many day in the life posts
7. While I might briefly mention my social media planning, I am not going to go over those products too much as I have a more detailed post about them here
OK...I think that is all the backstory you need! Let's begin!
My Planning System - The Products
Digital Products
• Trello
• Google Keep
• Google Calendar
• Default Phone Memo App
Paper Products
These supplies aren't fancy and any brand will do. Most of my paper craft stuff comes from Walmart, Target and Five Below.
• Hard Cover, Lined Notebook
• Undated Weekly Planner
• Undated Weekly Keyboard Wrist Rest Memo Pad (one of those ones you can write on a sheet each week then tear off while still having a functional wrist pad)
• Sticky Notes in various colors, shapes and sizes
• To Do List Sticky Notes and Pads in various colors, shapes and sizes
• Highlighters, Pens and Markers in vibrant colors to help my memory
• Correction Tape and White Gel Pens for mistakes
• Side note - I do decorate my planners, a lot! But as I am going over the process not the pretty, I will leave out all the washi tapes, stickers and other fun things I include.
My Planning System - The Details
Everything about my process revolves around being able to pick up my phone, notebook or laptop and know what I have going on at any point in time. While I do take time each week to plan out upcoming days, the beauty of my system is I could skip that time block and still know what I have going on, because tasks are recurring more often than not and I utilize time blocking like a mofo. So while my process isn't exactly linear, its Celtic knot shape keeps everything connected and flowing.
Trello - Recurring Tasks, Bills and Command Center
I have been using Trello for a few years now for both my personal and business lives. I like to drop things in there that I need to refer back to often, checklists that I will use over and over again and to remind myself of ideas I wanted to try. Since they introduced "Workspaces", I have broken my boards down by life area and in some cases, clients if I am working with someone 1-on-1. The biggest boards are my personal and work "Command Centers" and the only ones that play a role in my planning system.
For my home life, my command center board has an unprocessed inbox list (where I will send anything I need to remember later on), recurring bill schedule list, birthday list, and a to-try list (like recipes, books, movies, etc.). My blog's command center has a list of all my blog posts, post ideas list, social post ideas list, the current month's holiday calendar list, and running to do list. My day job's command center has an unprocessed inbox list (this is the list where I automatically forward emails as well as sent as a text so I never miss message from my bosses - this has been the smartest thing I ever did as I don't have to constantly check my emails), priority to do list, listing changes to do list (I work in real estate), sold and terminated listings to do list, running to do list (for non-urgent matters), reference list (for anything I may need to look up quickly like logo color numbers or rental company contact info), and a template list (where I keep all my recurring task cards saved as templates, I have everything from listing checklists for every stage of a listing/closing, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly tasks. Because I handle so much for my company, I have to utilize checklists or nothing will get done in the proper order).
Trello clearly plays a dominate role in my day job but it also keeps all the other areas of my life rolling along smoothly because it allows me to hyper-focus when I am in a work or blogging time block.
Google Keep
Let me just say, I use a lot of Google products, even my blog is run through them on BlogSpot. If you don't like them, there are plenty of similar, free products out there, but as I also use an Android phone, Google suits me best.
I use Google Keep to keep running notes on anything that pops into my mind. It is essentially a digital brain dump that I can pick up at any point in time. Additionally, I log anything that I might need at a later date (such as gift ideas), or recurring verbiage I need (such as hashtags or showing instructions). I keep separate accounts for my day job, but my blog stuff is mixed in with my personal (same goes for all the digital products I use). Because Google Keep has reminders, this is really handy if I need to remind myself of something like sharing a Reel on Instagram.
Google Calendar
Speaking of reminders, I use Google Calendar to remind me of all my appointments, birthdays and events. Even though I can set up reminders in my Trello cards, I find they are often on a weird delay. I may get the email reminder or phone notification on time, but I won't get both at the same time. It's not a time zone thing, so I don't know what's up. But I do know that Google Calendar reminders come through on my phone and email like they should. Additionally, I have a daily agenda sent to my work account each day so I can ensure nothing there gets missed and I know who has duty each day. I also like that I can see all my calendars - work and personal - at one time. This lets me know if a work Zoom call and an oil change are in conflict or not.
Default Phone Memo App
Here is where you will find all things grocery shopping. I don't really use it for planning out anything else as it doesn't live anywhere outside of my phone, but when I am at Lidi with no signal and can't remember if I like their smoked sausage or not, my "Do not buy at" list comes in handy as I am food-forgetful. (And no, I do not buy Lidi brand smoked sausage. It's one of the few things I don't get from there along with toilet paper.) Additionally, I keep a running list of things we need along with our weekly dinner menu, so when we are randomly at the store, I can access it easily. I sometimes use paper lists or even a list on the whiteboard that I take a photo of but 9 times out of 10, I use my memo app.
Hard Cover, Lined Notebook
A notebook that I can carry with me easily, that doesn't require me to have access to a hard surface to write in it, and that can take a beating is key to my daily life. Here I keep my daily schedule with my time blocks, tasks that must be done, chores to tackle, what we are eating and if I need to pay any bills. I actually have 2 notebooks, one for both my month and week at a glance as well as a a version of the recurring bill schedule for my husband to use if he needs to and then the daily book. On Sundays, I plan out my week in my weekly book and then each day, I write out what I need to tackle. If I know my day is going to be extra busy, I will write it out the night before. I use bright colors, sticky notes, and highlighters to help catch my eye and to help my brain remember things, even if I don't have the opportunity to check in with my book all day.
Undated Weekly Planner
My undated planner is for tracking my health. I do have a period tracking app that ensures I never forget when my period is due, but I like have a paper version for writing notes. Also, my handwriting is noticeably different on bad days and during flare-ups, so even if I don't record much, I can tell a lot by how heavy I write or if I skip an entire week. You don't always see those recurring, noticeable traits until they are on literal paper.
Undated Weekly Keyboard Wrist Rest Memo Pad
Here I keep track of Phil's work schedule (I try REALLY hard not to work on his days off), upcoming deadlines for my day job, any appointments for the week and which of us is getting paid that week. I fill out a new one in less than 2 minutes every Monday and don't bother saving the previous week's.
My Planning System - The Process
So after reading all that, you are probably wondering what my actual process looks like. Truth be told, some days it looks flawless and others it just collects dust.
But here is an overview of the process on my good days:
• Sunday Planning - On Sundays while Phil is at work, I plan out my social posts for my blog for the week using my Trello Calendar of Events, my evergreen post list, my hashtag lists, my daily notebook and my schedulers. It takes minutes to scratch out on paper, and a bit longer to come up with the images and captions, but this is why I set aside plenty of time. I HATE when brands reuse the same exact image and captions all the time. If I have seen the same exact (non-launch) post from your brand more than twice in a month, you are using it too much. Give me something new to engage with! But I digress. I plan my social stuffs on Sunday during the day. Sunday nights, I will plan out my week in my weekly notebook using my personal Trello Command Center and Google Calendar, set up my health planner for the week, and plan out my Monday in my daily notebook. If a new month is starting, I go ahead and set up my month at glance spread as well. I like making sure everything is synced between my paper and digital systems on Sundays. This way I can confidently start my week knowing exactly what is in store for me.
• Monday Planning - As stated above, each Monday I set up my keyboard wrist rest memo pad. I also go over any upcoming listings and closings for my day job and note anything I need to tackle in my work Trello Command Center board. I go ahead and set up my daily and weekly task cards from my templates as well as sorting any high priority tasks.
• Daily Planning - I really prefer to do my planning at night before bed, but sometimes I am too lazy, too tired, or too into whatever Phil and I are doing to make time. When that happens, I tackle my daily planning the day of after I send Phil off to work. This takes as long as I want it to (at night, I get crafty with it, during the day, it's just black ink pen) but if I am being fast, I have the whole day blocked out with my must do list for each time block in the 10-15 minutes it takes Phil to get to work. If I am planning at night, I log the day into my health planner. If I am planning in the morning, I will log the previous day's info. This keeps the number of books I have to lug around daily to one as my health planner can live with the weekly notebook until I need it.
• On the Fly Planning - The only updates I ever really need to do during the week are work-related ones, family time that pops up midweek or the occasional call to make. If it is something that I need to remember later on for work, I will immediately send it to my Trello Command Center and put a sticky in my notebook. If it's an appointment, I will log it into my Google Calendar with a reminder and as needed on my weekly memo pad/on a sticky note. If I am out and about, I will add a note to my Google Keep or text/email it to the correct Command Center. though not too much gets added to the personal Command Center unless it's further out than this week or a permanent change to a recurring task/bill/etc.
Whew! That was a lot of typing... Honestly, my system is pretty easy. I spend a little time at the start of the week and a little time each day to stay on top of my life. If I wasn't also running this blog and its socials, I would spend even less time planning as that is where the majority of my planning time goes (as it is both planning and creating at once).
I hope this helps you figure out a system that works for you!
Until next time, my lovelies,
-M
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