No New Planner This Year: What I’m Using Instead
It’s that time of year! The season of fresh school supplies, a new uniform, and the crips new planner.
Ever since high school, I think I’ve been purchasing an annual or academic planner. I’ve tried a lot of different kinds. These include the Erin Condren Life Planner in 2013, The Happy Planner (Mom Dashboard), the Passion Planner (Annual, Academic, and Daily), and the Plum Paper version.
The Passion Planner has been the one that I’ve consistently come back to, but after I switched to the daily… I think that I got a little planner burnout. Having to write out the same thing every day, plus the fact that it was undated, meant more filling out. I thought that having a daily planner would encourage me to stay on top of my to-do list and to journal about my day.
Alas, it did not. I found it very hit-or-miss filling it out, and I did not like not being able to see my full week at a glance (or even the month). So, I’m at the strange intersection of wanting a new planner because it’s September and that’s just what I’m so used to doing. And don’t get me wrong, I still very much want to have one. I can’t justify it.
What I’m Still Using Paper For
Don’t worry, I haven’t given up all my paper stationery loves. I currently have a large countertop family calendar. It’s weekly, so I update it with where the boys (and Andrew and I) are doing for the week. I don’t need to change it every week sometimes. I enjoy the meal-planning feature, and it’s not bad for the dollar store.
One I stuck to the fridge that I use for meal planning. I write out the meals I’ve planned for the week so I can remember, and Andrew doesn’t then need to ask me. It’s also undated, so I just put the week when I remember to use it (or am around more. This summer was a bit hectic with cottages, camps, and the boys going to my mom’s.
The upkeep on these planners is frustrating and mostly redundant now.
The Digital-Calendar Plot Twist
I never thought I’d say this, but I use a digital calendar now. I know! Who am I, and what have they done with Jasmine? Now that the family has grown, the boys are in actual activities, and having a joint calendar with Andrew is the way to go.
I use it more than he does and consistently remember to check it, but he does remember to enter his items that will affect me and my planning. Which is really all a girl can ask for. It’s a little crazy how quickly a month will fill up! I hate that this is more practical, and I’m sad that I’ve stepped away from the paper planner, but this makes my life so much easier.
Outsourcing the To-Do List
I have a love-hate relationship with using ChatGPT, but I’ve been brain-dumping my daily to-do list there. Taking that information, it sorts it and gives me a reasonable flow for my day. I’ll tweak it, or sometimes ignore it completely, but it generally keeps me on track.
Something I’ve realized is that I struggle to acknowledge what I have accomplished in a day. It feels like I don’t do enough, but when I write it out (or have it read back to me), I can then say, OK, maybe I do enough. Anyone else feel that way, though?
It does raise the question of whether I’m becoming reliant on AI, but I also like the fact that it removes the mental clutter. I have to give it the list, and it keeps track of the things I need to do but haven’t managed to get to. The bigger projects include cleaning the basement, organizing all my books, and creating master lists of everything. This has actually come up on my feed regarding outsourcing vs. offloading and how it creates efficiency rather than replaces skill-building.
Making Space for Journaling Again
Journaling has come back into focus because there’s still that pen-to-paper creativity I crave. It allows me to brain-dump creative ideas, random thoughts, things that might become a post, or just a future insight into how I think when I’m older, instead of always being about the to-do list.
The Planner I Have My Eye On
But that’s not to say that I’ve stopped looking at planners altogether. I have my eye on a liturgical planner, and it looks amazing. I can’t justify the cost for something I’m not sure I’ll use to its full potential.
I like the idea of using it to help grow in my faith journey. Now that I am a Minister of the Word, I think it will also help keep me on track with the readings. I don’t need a full planner for that. I’ll start with something smaller and work my way up.
A Year Without A Planner
Right now, it’ll be interesting to see how the year goes without a planner at all. I have my journal for thoughts, my mega planner for all my social media accounts, and the family meal planner on the fridge. It’s always fascinating to me how quickly the brain adjusts to a new normal. Now if only I could make it work with exercising.
Let’s go, September, for the first time in memory that I don’t have a brand-new planner.
J x