A planner is anything from an application or a device to a hard copy or notebook which is designed in a way that it helps you schedule your daily life tasks including from work life to business or personal everyday activities. Planners can help you to organize your daily tasks.
Planners are specially designed and are very specific in accordance with their themes.
Following are the few benefits of using planners:
- With a planner you will not be confused and overwhelmed with the amount of tasks you have at hand. Getting organized helps to gain perspectives and set priorities for which task needs to be attended and when. It helps simplify things for its users.
- The simpler the tasks seem you will feel more at ease, less overwhelmed and will be stress free
- An organizer helps you gain a clear sense of control of your life and you gain confidence in your capabilities of taking on work and completing tasks in a timely and efficient manner.
- Organizers help in working smarter rather than harder, it helps you look at the big picture and also take care of the minute details and processes at the same time hence, increasing productivity for its users.
- It helps you multitask in a productive manner instead of getting distracted or overwhelmed by an increasing number of activities you plan them and start working on them one by one leading to the completion of a number of tasks.
- It makes delegation of tasks easier, with a precise and clear plan of tasks and what needs to be done when it will be easier for users to get whatever help they need and can get by delegating tasks.
Here are a number of ways in which a planner or organizer can be used to get the most out of it:
Choosing the Right Planner
With a variety of options available in the present, the foremost thing is to choose the planner which works well with your personality and you can easily access and carry in your daily routine with you. If you are a type of person who likes to keep notes in a notebook and paper organizer you buy yourself that on the other hand if you are someone like most people who spends time on mobile or laptop you can get yourself the digital planners or applications available in market.
When it comes to choosing another important factor to consider is the level of detail and categorization offered in the organizer. Some people thrive and need to write down and anticipate all possible details while some like to keep things simple. That all should be considered while buying one. In addition to that one should also consider if they require a daily, weekly or monthly planner according to their buisness and needs.
Organizing Planners
Organization of your planner is an important step which should be done carefully. Adding in tasks and information of activities keeping in view the order of priority while also keeping the timeline in mind is essential to help yourself make better plans for your days and weeks.
Priority and Time Setting
Be mindful of the time you have available which is only a fixed number of hours in a day and set tasks for yourself accordingly. Touch all domains including your family, work and social life when setting aside time and tasks.
Priority setting is a significant thing when it comes to using your planners correctly. If you are able to set aside the most important current tasks in the day, or coming weeks you will be productive with everything you set your mind to as long as you prioritize which things in life am I going to spend the most time on.
A few following questions can help or prioritizing can look like this:
- What is the most important task I need to accomplish today ? Present week ? Or this month?
- What activities can be done later or delayed ?
- How much time do I have to invest in this certain activity?
- How can I break my long term goals into smaller steps and add them in my routine ?
Color Coding
This is where color psychology comes in, using bright colors such as yellow and orange assists in motivating and increasing feelings of persistent actions in individuals and helps in boosting mood which helps in increasing productivity. Color coding helps categorize tasks into various types such as the ones that require urgent attention can be coded with bright colors and the rest with different shades accordingly. Moreover, using different shades and colors in texts help recognize and distinguish the tasks from each other and leads towards a more clearer approach.
Execute Time Blocking:
It is an effective strategy which involves planning the coming day or week beforehand and dividing the 24 hours into different time blocks which are specified for a specific task and activity hence giving an objective view of productivity and outputs that can be achieved on average in a week or month.
More Free Time:
With a structured schedule and routine to follow it becomes more clear where the free time is and how it can be used instead of sitting unproductively all day long and still not appreciating or using that time for having fun or leisure activities, one can use this free time in creative endeavors, doing arts, taking up hobbies etc.
Measurable Progress!
Make sure to write down the progress you have achieved while using the planner. This will build on the credibility of the process and also increase your confidence that you are using the right planner for you and it actually is helping you achieve more and do more!
Flexible Reviewing
While there are fixed ways and structured schedules for performing tasks, be flexible in your approach when you review your planner weekly or monthly , and observe where changes are needed, what is working or what isn’t. Too much right will hinder productivity.
To sum it up , it is recommended to add a planner or organizer in your life to help achieve and review success ranging from a small scale step to large life goals, planners are as effective and efficient in helping us as it gets! Especially with digital planners of the modern world which come with customized features and accommodate the needs and requirements of individuals. Hence choose wisely and achieve limitlessly!
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