10 Tips for Better Planner Organization

Paper planners are a great complement to a digital planner. But as helpful as they are, they can quickly get out of control if you don’t have the right one or you don’t have a system to keep your self organized.

Here are 10 tips that you can use to keep an organized planner and incorporate into your own way of doing things.

1. Choose A Planner That Works With the Way You Think

Planners come in many different styles and layouts – and not all of them will work with the way that you think, or with the way that you plan to use it.

Personally, I love the Erin Condren LifePlanner. But even this comes in a variety of different layouts – vertical, horizontal, hourly, and the new dashboard layout.

Planners also come in some of the following different page layouts:

• one page per day,
• two pages per day,
• two pages per week,
• and more.

The key to choosing the right planner for you is to think about how you plan to use it.

For example, if you use the time blocking technique to map out your days, then you will need a planner in an hourly layout like the Passion Planner, the Erin Condren LifePlanner hourly, or the Erin Condren Daily Duo.

But if you want to use the planner for project management or more like a diary, then a horizontal layout may work better as this style has more space for notes. If you prefer a combination of the two with goal planning built in, the the Full Focus Planner could be the best choice.

The bottom line is that the decision of which planner to use is highly personal.

2. Decide How To Use Your Planner

Many people these days use both a digital planner and a paper planner – together.

Using two planners can be a disaster if you don’t have a system to follow. When using two calendars, you run the risk of missing an important event because you forgot to record it in both places.

I use my iPhone calendar and my online to do list as my master calendar and use my paper planner as my daily work in progress.

At the end of each day, I transfer all new information from my paper planner into my master calendar and to do lists or vice versa.

This way I have everything in sync.

3. Decide How To Keep Track of Your Tasks

Managing your tasks are a big part of the planning process and is the key to your personal productivity.

This is where some planners fall short. Many planners offer a place for you to manage your calendar but not your tasks. However, for you to manage your time – you need to know exactly what it is you need to accomplish each day.

One planner that offers a unique way to keep track of your tasks is the Planner Pad. This planner uses a funnel like system where you start by listing your tasks for the week by project, then funnel them down into what you will do each day, and then further funnel them into what you will do by hourly timeslot. It is a great way to stay on task.

I like to keep a running master task list as part of my planning system. To manage my Master Task List, I use an app called Things (this is for the Apple ecosystem – Mac and iOS).

Alternatively, you could use apps like:

• Nozbe
• Apple Reminders
• ToDoist
• or simply a notebook and a pen.

4. Prioritize Your Tasks

Review your master task list every morning and transfer the tasks that you must do today or have time to do today into your planner.

Assign a specific time slot to these tasks to make sure that you actually get them done.

You don’t want to keep carrying tasks forward day after day because you never got around to getting them done.

5. Use Planner Accessories

Planner accessories like colored pens, stickers, and embellishments can help you remember things.

These pops of color can make things “jump off the page” and break up the monotony of your words – so you take notice of important things.

6. Do An End of the Day Sweep and Weekly Review

At the end of each day I collect all the notes that I have written in my planner and add any deadlines, events, and appointments onto my master calendar on my iPhone or computer.

Similarly, I add any new tasks to my master task list in Things.

Once a week, I review ALL of my task lists to add any new ideas and cross off things that I already accomplished or are no longer relevant.

Then I review my upcoming appointments and plan out the coming week.

This simple practice will help you keep important events and tasks front and center in your mind – and will help to make sure that you don’t miss critical deadlines.

A weekly planner review will also make you more time aware – so you don’t take on more responsibilities than you actually have time to do.

7. Use Lists to Stay Organized

Lists are an essential planner organization tool – and they aren’t just for to-do items. You can use lists to keep track of so many things.

I have divided my Master Task List into many different project lists.

There are different lists for:

• upcoming travel,
• post ideas for my blogs,
• movies I want to watch,
• school events for my kids,
• household projects I want to get done,
• holiday entertaining and gift lists
• things I want to accomplish this month and even this year,
• goal lists,
• shopping lists
• and more.

Paula Rizzo talks about how to use lists in her book Listful Thinking which I review here.

8. Achieve Planner Organization By Using Sections

If you rely solely on a paper planner, it is a good idea to divide your planner into sections.

You could have a section for

• meal planning,
• goals,
• projects,
• travel,
• notes, etc.

I like the Erin Condren Petite Planners for this.

You include up to four petite planners in the outer folio – so each notebook would serve as a separate section.

There certainly are many benefits to using a planner, including:

• better time management,
• increased productivity,
• better retention

9. Have a Filing System for Loose Papers

Good planner organization is easily derailed by all those loose papers that you don’t know what to do with.

You could add a few folders into your planner to corral any notes and documents that you want to hold onto.

Or, you could create a system of folders in your home office file cabinet – using a method like the Getting Things Done (GTD) system by David Allen so you know exactly where to put those papers and where to look when you need them.

10. Always Have Your Planner With You

A planner is no good if you never have it with you, so I take my planner almost everywhere that I go.

This is easy enough for my digital calendar because I always have my phone with me. But I usually like to have my paper planner within reach as well.

To make this easier, I have a big tote bag by the door that already has a few pens and planner accessories inside. Whenever I head out, I toss in my planner as well as anything else I need for my daily errands.

Planner Organization is a Work In Progress

Keeping your planner organized (and your life, too) requires active participation.

You need to be hands on with your information – yet you need to find a balance between too much planning and not enough “doing”. So, set up a solid system for managing your appointments and to-do items, but don’t work too hard on making it perfect. Instead, focus your efforts on getting the job done.