I’ve mentioned before my love of all things planning and goal-setting related. I wrote about my PowerSheets Goal Setting Planner and how I combine my planner and bullet journal. However, while I’ve talked about the planning tools I use, I haven’t really done a deep dive into the planning routines that are working for me.
This is a snapshot of the short- and long-term planning routine that I currently follow; this hasn’t always been my system, but it’s what works for me right now. One note: this is my planning routine for my personal, family, and blog life, which I keep pretty separate from my work life.
{yearly}
Every year, usually in December, I purchase a planner for the following year. The past couple of years I’ve purchased both a goal-setting planner and a blank notebook to keep as a bullet journal.
After I have those, I set aside time to think about my big-picture goals for the next year, and for the past several years I also choose a word of the year. I’d like to say I also spend a lot of time reflecting on the past year, but I’m not as great at that–I’m definitely more of a forward-thinker than a reflector.
{quarterly}
Toward the end of each quarter, I dedicate a few hours to thinking about what is coming up in the next 3 months. I think about the birthdays that are happening in the upcoming quarter, as well as any big events or travel plans, and make sure that I add everything to the calendar.
Usually I just use a page in my bullet journal and list out all the things for the upcoming quarter so that I have them all in one place.
Additionally, I plan out my blog posts for the upcoming quarter. For my blog editorial calendar I use Google calendar, and I plug the post topics into each date, which makes it really easy to switch things around as needed. I don’t add much detail to the posts, just the topic I want to cover (although if I have specific details in mind I add them to the event description in the calendar).
{monthly}
On one of the last weekend days of the month, I set aside some time to plan out my next month (or if it’s the end of a quarter I also combine this with quarterly planning). I look at both my work calendar and my personal/goal calendar, and add anything that affects Aaron’s schedule to the family calendar that I share with him.
I use my PowerSheets planner to help me create monthly goals, but I also include events like birthdays and holidays into my “goals” for the month so that I stay on top of gifts and plans. For all the goals I set each month, I give them deadlines and add them to my personal calendar–without that I won’t stay on track.
Also on my “tending list” (monthly planning sheet within the PowerSheets planner) are lists of items I hope to do weekly, and daily. For example, each week I try to have a “date night in” with Aaron where we watch a show together, or eat dinner without the kids, and a couple of my daily goals are doing yoga and taking a walk (an example of a big fail these days).
{weekly}
My current routine is that I do my weekly planning early Sunday morning when the house is blissfully quiet. I create a fresh weekly spread in my bullet journal for the following week, and plug in the things that are on my personal and family calendars.
I also add the tasks I know I need to accomplish each day, as well as general lists for “this week” and “next week.” I try to add what I write down under “this week” to an actual day, but sometimes that is a challenge when I don’t know when I’ll have extra time.
{daily}
I don’t spend a lot of time on my daily planning. It is mostly maintenance: adding tasks to my list, moving tasks to another day, and (the best part!) checking things off.
I also use my bullet journal to track what we eat for dinner, each time I start a new book, and things I want to remember about the day or the kids. I would like to be better about that last part; I don’t always write things down and wish I had looking back.
Well, that’s the nitty gritty of my planning routine. I hope I haven’t bored you to tears, but if you’re anything like me you like to see how other people plan and organize their lives.
What are your planning methods?
