It’s a new month (well, six days into it) and the start of a new week! When I sat down yesterday (Sunday) to do my planner for the month and week, I realized there are some tips I use that I should share with y’all. So here are some small ways I keep on top of what we have each week and month, and how I tackle my constantly growing to-do lists.

WEEKLY

Tip #1: Write out the week ahead. This one seems like a no-brainer, but each Sunday (or heck, even some early Monday mornings), I sit down with my planner and phone and look ahead at the week. I keep my calendar on my phone/computer for the most part (especially because that’s easiest to share with Al), but have also found that writing out the week ahead in my planner helps me not forget anything, as well as helps visualize what we have each day. If I skip this step and just think “oh everything is on my online calendar”, I often realize the morning of that something has been cancelled, a time has changed, or I failed to get a sitter for an appointment.

Tip #2: Spread out the “to dos”. For ten years when I was in the corporate world I worked off of one master to do list. I just kept adding things to the page and updated it each week. This worked well for a job that I focused on exclusively for eight (ha more like ten to 12) hours a day. However, once I became a stay at home mom I quickly realized this method wasn’t going to work. Whenever I had a free ten minute chunk of time, I’d look at my to do list and be totally overwhelmed at everything on there and I’d end up starting several things and never finishing one. Now I have learned to put a few to-dos on each day. So since I have child care on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I typically have more blog work tasks written out for those days. Mondays I tend to catch up on housework so I don’t put much on my list then aside from “laundry” and maybe what errands I can do with the kids. Knowing that I can usually only tackle, at most, three tasks on days when I’m mom-ing full-time has allowed me to 1.) be more productive and 2.) not feel like I’m failing because I only did three out 75 things on my list that day. Breaking down the giant to-do list into smaller bites makes it seem so much less overwhelming.

Tip #3: Locate the week’s “special items”. This one matters more when school is in session, but still can apply to our summer lives. Go find the “special things” things you need for the week. You know what I mean: the birthday gifts, special clothes for spirit week, items that need to be returned, etc. I find gathering all of those items is 75% of the battle so I go find them and set them in a safe place where they won’t get thrown/put away (for me the counter in my mudroom). That way when it’s purple shirt day (Stepmom reference, anyone?) the purple shirt is located and clean!

Tip #4: Think about meals in a general way. Before we had kids, I was so strict with my meal planning. No matter what time I got home from work, we were still going to have X because that’s what my meal calendar said. Cue God’s plan to make the type-A woman less rigid: children. So if it’s a short nap or short temper day, swapping the dinner plan for something easier is OK! Especially right now for us as we are in the middle of selling our house, showings can come up at the last minute. The key is to not plan them for certain days, but rather have an idea of what you have on-hand to cook and can make the call either the night before or the day of. Looking at the week ahead and highlighting when you have late extracurriculars or your partner is out of town or any other dinner-dilemma inducing schedule, can help you get an idea for when you should just pick up something and when you should have time to make that from-scratch recipe you’ve been wanting to try. I now plan only three (MAYBE four) meals a week. The other nights are left for take-out, leftovers, and (before quarantine times) out at a restaurant. I loosely plan for three out of the four of these categories of meals:

one make-ahead meal (casserole or slow cooker),
one fast meal that takes less than 30 minutes,
one meal that makes enough for two nights (often the same meal that is the make-ahead meal),
one “special” dinner (a new recipe I want to try, or something that takes a bit more time/skill, or something decadent that I know everyone loves)

Mug / Bookmark / Planner / Pen Cup Candle / Pens

MONTHLY

Tip #5: Use the monthly calendar to create your master to-do list. I use the monthly part of my planner to highly the non-regularly scheduled things. For example, I don’t write down “speech” on each Tuesday and Wednesday because I know in my head (and its written out on the weekly section) that my son has speech therapy every Tuesday and Wednesday. Essentially, I don’t want to clog my monthly calendar with the normal daily items; I use it to highlight the big stuff - the vacations, no school days, one-off appointments, visitors, parties, etc. Once I have that visual picture of what’s coming up, I build my to-do list around it. So if I see we have a birthday party parade the second week of the month, I’ll put “get birthday present” on my to list for the week prior. To many of you, this seems like “duh!”, but I’ve mentioned before to friends this method for staying ahead and some were like “whoaaaaa”.

Tip #6: Have one big project for the month. Especially in these times when we are all at home all the time, it can feel hard to come out of “survival mode”. But frankly, this is our new normal so it’s time to try and install new processes to make this life work for us. It is easy to feel like my weeks are full of the small minutia of our lives - folding clothes, running errands, tidying the house, and that nothing “big” ever gets accomplished. When I was pregnant with Emilia and nesting hard-core, I implemented a “one big thing a month” and it helped so much! So whether it be plant flowers in the flower beds, frame and hang art in a room, clean out a closet, upload photos to the cloud, book travel plans, or clean out the pantry - plan for just ONE of those a month. And then build in the necessary time to do it on your weekly calendars. So if I know I want to get the front flower beds done, then I block off a weekend for it (and make sure Al isn’t golfing so he can help with the kids). When I wanted to reorganize our kitchen cabinets and drawers, I realized I needed to do one or two cabinets a week because I didn’t have a large enough chunk of time to empty the whole dang kitchen and the put it back together again in one day. Planning for one project a month helps you feel like your making progress on your long-term goals without feeling totally bogged down by the little daily must-dos.

Tip #7: Schedule in the fun stuff. Al and I try to do one date night a month (as I type that I feel like once a month is far too infrequent, but it’s our reality with two small kids and his very demanding career). We coordinate our calendars in advance, make the dinner reservation, and book the babysitter all at the beginning of the month. Planning it all at the beginning of the month helps us actually make it happen and it gives me something to look forward to. It doesn’t just have to be date nights though, it could be big family outings, girls nights out, heck even a hair appointment for me is considered a super fun activity. Doing whatever needs to be done to have the fun stuff booked results in a greater probability that it will actually happen.

A note on planners:

I love a planner/calendar/system. And I have tried many. My friends in junior high and high school used to make fun of me because I’d get a new planner half way through the semester because the old one just wasn’t cutting it for me anymore. I’ve been using The Simplified Weekly Planners for three years now and I have found that they work best for me. I love the weekly version because, as you just read above, I think more in terms of weeks than days. (They also have daily and teacher versions, but frankly I don’t have enough going on for a daily version). I love the gorgeous cover deigns (this floral! this happy stripe!) and the high-quality paper that doesn’t bleed. I like that there’s space for everything I need, but not too many areas that I feel like I need to complete. I use the academic versions that go from August to July because my brain thinks in terms of the school year, rather than the calendar year. Anyone else feel like back to school is actually the real “new years”? (P.P.S. please Dear Lord let there be school in a safe manner this year because a teacher I am not.). Just want to shout out these planners and all of the Emily Ley Simplified products (I also have and use these!). If you’re also a school-year-is-the-new-year type, now is the time to get one of these planners now so you’re ready in August!

Aside from the tips above, my general planning “philosophy” (if you will) would probably be “Be prepared, but be flexible”. Don’t over plan and don’t stress out trying to keep to your plans. Plan just enough to not feel ambushed, but be flexible enough for the unexpected.

Be prepared, but be flexible. Don’t over plan and don’t stress out trying to keep your plans. Plan just enough to not feel ambushed, but be flexible enough for the unexpected.

I hope that helps some of y’all if you’re feeling in a planning rut!