A Peek Into My Process-How I Set Up My Planner for the Month, Week, & Day

We are into the second quarter of the year. How are you doing with your time management system? Are you still using the system you set up at the beginning of the year? Or are you struggling to get started on using some kind of time management system?

Back in January, I shared with you how I set up my planner for the year. You can click here if you want to read more about that.

So far this year, I’ve managed to use my planner quite a bit more than I have in years past. While some weeks have gotten away from me because of unexpected life circumstances, I have been able to better manage my time. This year has definitely been more productive for me so far.

I thought it might be beneficial to some of you to see how I set up my planner each month, week, and day so you can get some tips and ideas that may help you as you manage your time.

This video was made in early March but I am just now getting around to posting it so you can see it.

Here are a few takeaways from the video:

Monthly Planning Steps

1. I check my calendar on my phone and fill out the monthly calendar. I only fill out the month that is coming up. I do not fill out future monthly calendars.
2. I fill out the monthly goal section in my planner.
3. I update the list of tasks I want to complete that month.

Weekly Planning Steps

1. I check the monthly calendar on my phone and update the monthly calendar in my planner. I do this monthly and weekly because events and appointments get added to my calendar throughout the month.
2. Next I fill in the appointments I have for the week on the weekly pages.
3. I write out my to-do list categories across the top of the weekly pages.
4. I move over tasks from previous weeks if necessary.
5. I fill out the routine daily tasks on the days I plan to do them.
6. I use Power Sheets to help me set up my goals. I consult them to see if there are any tasks related to my goals that I could do that week.
7. I add in any other tasks I want to accomplish that week.

Daily Planning Steps

1. I only fill out my daily tasks the night before or the morning of the day I’m going to do them.
2. I look at my schedule for the day and see what I have time to do.
3. Undone tasks remain where they are on the list unchecked. I continually look back at my week so I can see what tasks are left undone. This helps me from having to move them over each day. Usually all the tasks get done by the end of the week.