Planner Overwhelm
Have you ever looked at your planners & felt overwhelmed? If you are avoiding planner overwhelm, then chances are you are like every other planner in this community. What is planner overwhelm? What does avoiding planner overwhelm look like?
Planning is supposed to be a way for you to organize your thoughts, ideas, tasks, appointments & important or pertinent items in your life in a system that is organized by time or purpose.
-The Minimal Sophisticate
As a planner, we often purchase all the things that comes with setting up our planner system as I have shared on my Instagram feed. I have purchased stickers, sticky notes, washi, Tombows, pens, dashboards & dividers. In addition, I have used several planners for different aspects of my life when it comes to planning. This can be overwhelming, as we plan our day.
Planner overwhelm is not just about the amount of planners you have but it also consists of the ways we plan, how we plan & what we want our planning systems to look like. Often times we get too concerned with the aesthetic aspect of planning as opposed to the functional aspect of planning. Having a pretty planner is nice but is it functional?
Is your Planning System Working for You?
How do we know if our planning system is working for us? When we actually have a deeper understanding of how we use our planners we are avoiding planner overwhelm because we are not concerned with how our planners look or how many planners we have. We are not asking ourselves why haven’t we planned in all our planners every single day. Instead we are asking how these planner systems are working for us. A planner system works for you when you are able to plan your day, week, month or finances with ease. It is not a process that is too cumbersome or complicated.
Planning should be easy & should not be overwhelming as to what sticker or pen to use with a specific page. It should not consist of you becoming frustrated that your style, writing or use of stickers is not “pretty.” Planning is supposed to be a way for you to organize your thoughts, ideas, tasks, appointments & important or pertinent items in your life in a system that is organized by time or purpose.
Questions to help with Planner Overwhelm
So when you start planning your day, don’t ask what your planner is going to look like but instead ask:
- What do I have to accomplish this month?
- Do I have appointments or tasks this week?
- What do I have to complete today?
- List your top 3 priorities.
- Which tasks take up the most time?
- Is there anything due for work?
- Is there anything that has to be accomplished at home?
- Are there any appointments?
- Do I have to email or call anyone?
- Are there any errands to run today?
- What bills do I have to pay?
I hope these questions can help you plan functionally & not feel overwhelmed in your planner. Thanks so much for reading!
Until next time.
-The Minimal Sophisticate
