Is using a planner really helpful?

Are you planner by nature? I am. I like to know what's coming next, I like to be prepared. However, any adult quickly learns that life often doesn't go as planned.

And this is the reason that I take 15-20 minutes every Sunday to plan out my week.

If you have followed me for a while now, you know I love my Happy Planner. I decorate it with stickers. I use different colored pens. I enjoy the whole process. I'll tell you a secret though. Even without all the stickers and the fancy pens, when I am having a really hard weekend, I still take the time to write out what's coming next and here's why:

Planning my week makes it so much easier to handle curveballs during my week.

Yep. At first glance, that sounds like it doesn't make any sense; but friends, it does.

When I plan my week, I write down:

• Any personal appointments we have for the week (hubby included)

• Our kids extra curricular activities

• Special events

• Work meetings

• Client meetings....

You get the gist. And this helps me make space for:

• Unplanned events

• Personal time

• Dinners with friends or family...

And the list goes on. I already know that something is going to happen this week that we didn't plan on. Sometimes it's fun, like a playdate to go sledding. Sometimes it's not fun, like the root canal I have to schedule this week. You see, because I took the time to see what we have going on for the week, when the unexpected happens, it takes me just a moment to check my planner and see what time we have available or check if I need to move some appointments around. It also helps me see when we are really busy, so I know not to book anything else for that day.

Now you may ask, is it necessary for me to write all of it down? Not necessarily. But whatever system you use, you need to be able to see ALL of your events in one place. This includes personal, work, and family calendars. Not a planner person? Use a paper calendar on the fridge to quickly jot these things down. The goal is to be able to see a snapshot of your week.

That reminds me of my last tip - I only plan my week one week at a time. If you open up my planner to the week of February 15, it's blank. I won't fill it in until February 14th. We still use our Google calendars to schedule all the things we have going on, so for me, it's not necessary for me to see a snapshot of my week until that week comes up.

So tell me in the comments below, have I convinced you to use a planner?