• About
  • Book Recommendations
  • Contact

Sincerely, Sara Meadows

a lifestyle blog about seeking simplicity

  • Goals & Routines
  • Organizing
  • Books
  • Family & Food
  • Wellness
  • Style & Decor

Goals & Routines, Organizing • October 17, 2021

How I Use My Simplified Planner

Despite all the digital apps and calendars, I still rely on a paper planner. And for about 5 years, I’ve used Emily’s Ley’s Simplified Planner. For me, it’s the best one out there in terms of quality, format and as the name implies…simplicity.

While I’ve used her weekly and daily versions, the daily is best for me. Here’s how I use this planner throughout the year. While I use the Simplified Planner, this could work with any simple daily planner.

Goal-Setting

The Simplified planner has some really nice “worksheets” at the beginning of the planner to help you think through your year ahead. Since I use the annual calendar, this is a great tool for me going into a new year. There are simple sections to fill out that include:

  • A yearly bucket list, providing a very laid back way to write down some goals and accomplishments you’d like to achieve
  • A review of routines and healthy habits that worked/didn’t work, along with a section for new routines and healthy habits to adopt
  • An outline of routines by day of the week and morning/evening
Planing for the Week Ahead

Using a paper planner allows me to do something tough for me digitally – absorb and focus on my weekly/daily schedule. The act of putting pen to paper is an activity every Sunday that helps me truly see what’s going on in my life that week and then set priorities and plan my time. Here’s how I do it:

  • As appointments and meetings get planned, they go right into my Google calendars (for personal appointments) and Outlook for my work meetings (unfortunately I can’t sync Outlook to my Google for various reasons). If an appointment is within work hours or work extends beyond my office hours, I would have already checked the other calendar to avoid a conflict.
  • Every Sunday, I sit down with this planner, look at my week in Google and Outlook and write down my week into the Simplified planner.
  • Once I can see my week on paper, I touch base with my husband on any extra appointments or conflicts that we couldn’t avoid earlier. For example, if one of the kids has a dentist appointment after school but a meeting popped up for either oof us, we’ll figure out who will drive to the dentist or reschedule the appointment.
  • I still work out of my Google and Outlook throughout the week, but my Simplified planner is out on my desk too to remind me of everything that’s happening. Especially with my Google calendar, I find it hard to see the broader view on my phone and don’t typically have it up on a computer, so this really helps me to have it written down.
Managing Daily To-Dos

Organizing my to-dos is a constant struggle for me. I have a few different systems to capture to-dos digitally and I haven’t quote mastered one way to do it. However, I do have a great system of keeping track of what I need to do in my planner on a daily/weekly basis. In the daily Simpified planner, there is a large section each day for a to-do list. Here’s how I use it:

  • On Sunday when I write down my weekly appointments, I’ll also write down what I have to do that Monday knowing what’s on the calendar. If I know of a weekly to-do that is later in the week, I’ll add it to that day.
  • I look back at the previous week’s to-do lists to make sure nothing fell through the cracks. Usually these items were nice to haves. At that time, I’ll also assess — does that really need to get done?
  • Once a day is complete, I’ll move any to-dos that didn’t get done to the following day. Again, if I didn’t do it, I’ll assess, does it really need to get done.
  • If a to-do comes up during the week that’s far out (ex. I learn that in a month I need to sign the kids up for an activity), then I’ll add that to my Google calendar for that date. When the week comes up, that would then go into my to-dos when I go over my calendar on that previous Sunday.
Habit Tracking

I find paper is the best way to track habits — there’s something about putting pen to paper to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Because all of vacations, appointments, birthdays and holidays are in Google, I found I didn’t use the Simplified planner’s monthly view. So, I started using it to track my workouts. I’m the type of person who needs to do something every day tor nearly everyday to make it a lifelong habit.

For a long time, my workouts were all or nothing. If I missed a few days, they fell off. Now, with this monthly view, rather than planning workouts ahead and then feeling bad when I missed, I track what I did. To me, it’s all about finding a consistent rhythm and this system rewards me for doing something, even if it’s a walk or stretch. It’s all about keeping my movement going. And if I miss a day, no big deal, I just put that it was a rest day and keep going the next day.

After my workout, I simply write down in the monthly view what I did — often that motivates me to do a little more than I would have. For example, if I write down that I did a 10-minute arm weights class, I may add another 10-minutes abs class.

So to sum it up, I really rely on the Simplified planner to help me keep my life in order. I can’t imagine having everything purely digital since I’m such a visual person. My brain just doesn’t work that way. I want to hear from you — do you still use a paper planner in some way?

Writing more soon!

Posted In: Goals & Routines, Organizing · Tagged: #emilyleyplanner, #planneraddict, #plannergirl, #plannerlove, #plannermom, #simplifiedplanner

Get on the List

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

A photo of Sara Meadows.
About Sara

Keep in Touch

Categories

  • Books
  • Family & Food
  • Goals & Routines
  • Organizing
  • Style & Decor
  • Wellness

Sara Elsewhere

Affiliate Links

Links on this site may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Raise your hand if you love moving furniture aroun Raise your hand if you love moving furniture around in your home? 🙋‍♀️ Bringing this @serenaandlily cart into the living room and adding an old lamp gave this reading corner new life! 

#readingnook #readingcorner #readingchair #readinglife #homedecor #serenaandlily #barcartstyling #barcartdecor #readingcommunity #readingspot #redecorate
Saturday things: thank you notes, starting a new b Saturday things: thank you notes, starting a new book and a pretty cup for my second coffee of the day. Have a great weekend, friends!

#saturdaythings #saturdaystyle
New Year’s Eve at home. Love making these simple New Year’s Eve at home. Love making these simple memories together. Wishing you all health and happiness in 2022!
✨🥂Giveaway🥂✨ Ready to cheers to another ✨🥂Giveaway🥂✨ Ready to cheers to another year of reading and surpassing my goal of 52 books! I’m celebrating by giving away a book from my 2021 favorites list to a lucky winner. My blog post listing these favorites is now up — click the link in my bio — this pic only shows a few! 

To enter:
📚 Read my blog post and comment with what book you’d want to win
📚 Like and save this post
📚 Tag a friend (or more) or share to your stories

Giveaway ends 1/2 at 5 pm CT.

This giveaway is not sponsored, is for those 18+ and you must be within the U.S. to win.

#bestbooksof2021 #favoritebooks #favoritebooksof2021 #bookrecommendations #bookreviews #bookrecs #topbooksof2021 #booklist #readinggoals #readinggoal #readinggoal2021 #2021readingchallenge
Do you have a reading goal for 2022? The past two Do you have a reading goal for 2022? The past two years I’ve read about a book a week, hitting 52 books in 2020 and even more this year. I can happily say this goal is no longer a tough one for me, but a new habit and hobby that bring so much joy to my life. Part of that is this community, so thank you all! I’ll continue reading (and posting about it) just as much next year, but I’ll be focused less on quantity and more on quality. I’m excited to see where another year of reading takes me.
 
I’d love to hear what your plans for reading are in 2022! And watch for a post on my favorite books of 2021 coming soon!

#readinggoals #readinggoal #readingchallenge #readingcommunity #readingislife #currentlyreading #readersofig #readingismagic #readingisfun
Merry Christmas to those celebrating today and a v Merry Christmas to those celebrating today and a very happy birthday to @chrismeadows8 ❤️🎄❤️
Christmas Eve magic 🎄✨ Christmas Eve magic 🎄✨
Squeezing in a couple more holiday reads this year Squeezing in a couple more holiday reads this year! 🎄

#holidayreads #holidayreading #holidayreadinglist #holidaybooks
  • Books
  • Family & Food
  • Goals & Routines
  • Organizing
  • Style & Decor
  • Wellness
  • © 2023 Sincerely, Sara Meadows • Terms & Privacy