Planning Will Change Your Life, Here's Why!
So many people struggle with finding a planner that works for them, and I totally get it. Planning is unique. Some prefer weekly planning while others prefer daily planning. The importance of planning is to find the time for every aspect of your life. You give yourself a visual outline of what to expect. Of course, planning ahead is never exact. Things up come. Unexpected events happen and that’s inevitable. But what is important is that you are able to get to all the things that you want to do to in order to give you a sense of satisfaction. Prior to having my children, you can pretty much say I lived life by the day. I got up went to work and took the day as it came. I did not worry about keeping track of anything or worrying about anyone. The only thing I used back then was a monthly view printout that I found online. With that sheet, I kept track of birthdays, pay day and when my bills were due. I had finished school, lived in my own apartment and work my one job. Yes, I had dreams and aspirations but I still had not figured any of that out.
Today, my life is completely different. I use my planner for EVERYTHING. I am literally lost without it. I have so many things I am juggling that I will totally lose my mind if it was not for my planner. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with the amount of responsibilities I have taken on. I have found myself stressing out because I have double booked myself, or I may have missed an important bill to pay. The list goes on and on.
Once I took planning seriously and organized my life, everything changed. I can finally breath! I take time each night after my girls are asleep to map out the following day. Most of my days are a routine at this point but planning has been a major part of life, especially in reference to my side hustle. Each day, I plan around a particular theme. Tuesdays and Thursdays you guys know are my gym days. So on those days I focus on that and not stress over blogging, posting, or writing content. I choose 1 day to batch a couple looks; 1 day to write content and maybe 1 day for cleaning. Each one of these activities require advanced planning.
I have to plan my looks in advance in case I need to make a quick run to the mall in order to complete it to perfection. When I do mommy and me looks, I have to plan to make sure Amelia looks great as well. I also plan for a location and a time that works for both Ariel and myself, since he is my photographer. On my photography days, I may also shoot my flat lays. I try to have the content topic for the week picked out, so I can know what flat lays I need to shoot.
Writing content is also a work in progress. I have to find the time to research and find creative ways to bring you great content and keep my audience intrigued. Once the content is written, I then have to create graphics for Instagram, Facebook and sometimes even Pinterest. I am trying to get better with Pinterest and I want to start doing YouTube videos.
Not only am I planning for my blog; I have to also plan and find time to clean my house. I try to do dishes and laundry everyday and then tackle one room at a time. Sometimes if my husband is around to help, we may just bang out the entire house in a couple hours on a Saturday. Since I am at work until about 4pm, I try to clean one room a day. Some nights, Amelia comes home with homework, so that is priority and cleaning is left for another day. But I do my best to clean one room per day.
The Serenity Planner came about because of this chaotic lifestyle. It is a priority for me to find the time to do everything. I want to spend time with my friends, just as much as I want to spend time with my family and side hustle. My 9-5 is simply that, a 9-5. I don't worry about that job once I clock out. I actually find myself blogging and researching during my work hours. That is how much I love this side hustle. But that 9-5 pay's the mortgage, so a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
In a nutshell, planning is also time consuming which may cause you to procrastinate on doing so. But once you have added it to your routine, it becomes second nature to you. You will see how much more productive your days will be and how much stuff you can accomplish with just a little organization. The Serenity Planner is perfect because it allows you to plan as wish. There aren't any dates, months or year. I know some of us lack consistency when incorporating new habits so you can pick up right where you left off once you realize how important planning is and much it can really help.
