2013 Planner

January is the month for new beginnings - new goals, new habits to focus on, and also new planners to help carry out our dreams and plans. As I love organizing and planning, I am continually adjusting the format of my planner so that it works most efficiently for me.

And I know that I am not alone in my love of and need of a good weekly/daily planner. It is very interesting to me that the most-read post of this blog, throughout the two and half years that I have been blogging here, is one entitled "A New Planner", written in January of 2011. It is also one of the most-read posts on my blog this week! (As seen in the sidebar list of most-read posts this week as I am writing this.) Click here to read that post from two years ago, if you are interested.

I thought it would be fun to post an update on my "A New Planner" post from two years ago. There have been some changes - especially, as I now have an iPhone. With all the amazing little apps that are available, it has affected how I do my planning.

I've tried several different apps over the past eight months since I've had an iPhone, and the one I have settled on using for my planning is NoteMaster. I use Evernote for quite a few things, but I prefer NoteMaster for my weekly planner. There are just a few more options to make it pleasing to the eye - giving me the option of background design which I can change with the seasons, in addition to adding photos.

As is covered in my previous post from two years ago, I write out my weekly plans according to the priorities that God has impressed on me; something I started doing years ago. This is so valuable for me, and helps keep my week in perspective and gives me focus for the things that are most important.

I've tried using my iPhone for all the planning, even the daily, but have found that I still prefer to break down my tasks and priorities to my daily lists on paper. There is something comforting and secure about having my daily plans written down on real paper. So, I continue to use the same daily planner sheets that are described in my post from two years ago. I've changed some of the format a bit to meet my needs better, but it remains much the same.

It works well for me to have my weekly tasks/goals on my iPhone, and then transfer the items onto my daily written pages. These daily pages are printed out from my laptop, and fastened into the back section of my Quiet Time journal. I usually fill in the items for the next day in the evenings ...

This format works well for me right now - and come back in a year, and I may have another plan! If you have any questions about my system - or have some great suggestions to share with others - feel free to share in the comments, or on my facebook page.

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