Four Innovative Planners (Not Apps!) to Help Organize & Set Goals for the Year Ahead   

This year is almost over.  Are you ready?  I feel like I’m still trying to organize what remains of this year: piles of papers on my desk; a to-do list that just keeps getting rewritten in other formats (while crossing off one item and adding two or three more, of course!); and another stack of papers just waiting to be filed. And of course all of the year-end and holiday tasks don’t make things any easier:  parties, kids’ shows and playing chauffeur, and family time (forget about any long chunks of personal time). But if you do have a free moment, are you going to organize your desk, or sneak away under that blanket with a cup of coffee…?

The bottom line is that going into the New Year feeling overwhelmed is definitely not going to be the most productive way to turn over a new leaf or get on track. You want to set a good tone going into January, and that means setting better habits.  Not because what you were doing wasn’t good enough, but because the truth is, we can always improve.

People always ask me how I manage everything so well.  With four daughters, a husband, three grown-up businesses, and baby businesses always in the works, you would think I have fantastic organizational skills.  You’d be partially correct.  I’m one of those “messy organized people,” I suppose.  But I also have learned to prioritize, and that means some things get left behind.  (A favorite meme of mine: “How do you do it all?  Not well!”)

Planners to the Rescue

So how does one manage it all?  The only way to be successful is to have a great way of organizing your work, personal life, and goals.  And for that, you need the best planner/to-do list available.

Apps can seem ideal for this type of task, especially since we all carry our phones around with us.  Yet it can be time-consuming to edit everything, or discover that the functions are limited to just simple to-do lists or calendars, or find that this format turns you into one of those people who checks their phone all the time at the table.

So, it was time to review the good old book format – i.e. the idea of writing it all down. And once reviewed, the planners that made the cut, described below, showed that they can do so much more than be a simple calendar – they can help to monitor your health, keep you on track, give you inspiration, and guide you not just to finish your to-do list, but to plan out your goals weekly, monthly, and yearly. With these handy tools, you will definitely achieve more.  You won’t just do what needs to be done, you will actually be guiding your year, through your own goals.

So get on that plan!  Map out your year, and make amazing things happen.  Make this coming year your best year yet!

Four Planners for a Fruitful Future

Bloom Planners – Map out each day with the three things you must accomplish today, other lower priority to-dos, important appointments, and other details (like tracking meals, how many glasses of water you’ve had, and workouts).  My teenage daughters loved my pad so much, they now each have their own.  Get the daily planner as a pad (tear one sheet per day) or get the calendar version at amazon.com.

Spark Planner – I learned about this awesome tool on Kickstarter.  In one place, you can mark calendar appointments, set goals, track to-do lists, and keep a journal.  Kate Matsudaira, the founder of Spark Planner, says, “You don’t need to be perfect or have superpowers to be successful. You just need the right tools. Anyone can be amazing. You can be amazing!  The most successful people in the world are always organized and put together. They rely on targeted goals, smart planning, and deep, focused work to accomplish amazing things.”  And I know you want to accomplish amazing things — so have a look at this great tool that will help you get there.

Passion Planner – This is another great way to think about your goals and get moving on making them a reality. “I wanted to make a tool that encouraged people not only to start thinking about their goals, but make taking action towards them a part of their daily lives. And that’s how Passion Planner was born,” notes Angelia Trinidad, its founder. The book contains short- and long-term goal-setting tools, inspirational quotes to keep you going, to-do lists, helpful questionnaires to find your focus areas, and even challenges to keep you on your toes.

InnerGuide Planner – Their tagline is “Other planners help you plan your day. We help you plan your life.” With this inspiring thought, I was immediately attracted to the InnerGuide Planner because it is so much more than a calendar: more than focusing on goal-setting, it seems to dive deeper into coaching and inspiration. Like having your own personal coach, the InnerGuide Planner “combines elements of life coaching, personal development workshops, positive psychology and time management to help you create new habits of success and a deeper connection to your authentic self.”  Read more on the website and buy at amazon.com.