If you are a mom you will know that one of the hardest things in mom life is staying organized.
Being a mom involves coordinating multiple people’s schedules all at once and this isn’t always easy. We have a lot to think about, a lot to do, and a lot to remember, all of the time.
I have tried to keep myself organised in a range of ways over the years. Some have helped a little, some have made it worse entirely. The best thing I have ever tried and the one that I continue to use to this day is creating and using my own mom planner.
What is a mom planner?
I will tell you.
It is essentially a multi-purpose diary/journal that I use to keep myself organised. I put all of my appointments, tasks, to-do lists, and goals into one place so that I have a functional resource that helps me get through the week without forgetting anything.
I also use my own mom planner as a space to journal and write, to keep me relaxed and centred throughout my very busy weeks.
Having this all in one place means I can grab my planner and go, and all the information that I need to keep everything in flow is right there with me.
Does that sound good to you?
If you are as disorganized as I used to be, I’m sure it does.
So, let me tell you exactly how to sort out your own mom planner and use it to your full advantage. I am going to do so in 5 super easy steps.
Ready? Let’s go.
1. Pick a book, journal, or digital format
The reason that I like to make my own mom planner rather than buy one off the shelf is that I can organize it to specifically suit me and my own needs. There are a lot of great planners out there already but I do find that I end up spending time adding my own extra tools to them anyway and so I may as well start off with one entirely of my own.
I use a paper journal with blank pages for my own planner. I divide it into different sections including a calendar section, a journaling section, a to-do list section, a grocery-list section, an affirmations section, and so on. Yes, it takes me a little time to do so but I personally find it really rewarding and even relaxing. It can be a very creative process and we can talk a little more about that later in the blog.
When it comes to creating your own mom planner, your first step will be thinking about what format you want to create in. It could be paper or digital, that is entirely up to you. A lot of people find a lot of use in iPad journals and calendars, that just isn’t for me.
2. Choose what time frame works best for you: monthly, weekly, daily, or a mix
When it comes to choosing the calendar section of your mom planner because you will probably deal with that first, a good thing to decide early on is what format you want to use for that.
This will depend on how you like to organise things. I personally like to go for a weekly schedule but with a mini month outlook at the beginning of each month. You can go daily if you feel you need more space to detail things.
3. Make things attractive with your own style
As we said earlier, creating your own mom planner can be a very creative process. When it comes to creating your planner, why would you go for anything boring or uninviting?
If you want your planner to become part of your everyday routine, you need to make it personally attractive to you with your style and your tastes.
Add in colour, pictures, textures, diagrams, drawings, whatever on earth you fancy!
I find the more I personalise my planner, the more I engage with it. The more I engage with it, the more organised I am. And that is my goal.
Set aside some time to get creative and treat it as a self-care evening… Double win for you!
4. Work with priorities
As we know, being a mom comes with lots of responsibilities, tasks, and things to worry about. We need the mom planner in the first place because we need a space to organise all of these things we have to deal with.
But, if we put everything down that comes into our brains, in the exact order in which it comes into our brains, we might find our planners as overwhelming as our lives.
Something that really helps with this overwhelm is to work with priorities. When you are writing in your calendar, creating your lists, and setting out your tasks for the day, week, or month ahead, it can be great for you and everyone around you to work with priority lists.
Making it the Doctor for 2 pm? Priority. Making time to see your friend for coffee so they can rant about their husband for the second time this week? Not a priority.
Learn how to manage your time and use your planner to support you throughout that.
5. Make it a habit and track your consistency
Finally, for your mom planner to be a useful addition to your life, it needs to be something that you engage with regularly. The best thing that you can do for yourself is to make using your planner a habit, and track your consistency in engaging with that habit.
You can find lots of handy free templates for habit trackers online which can really help with this, and you can stick them into your planner or keep them somewhere you will see them regularly.
Habits are what make up our lives and the quality of our lives so if you want to be organized and thriving this year, try making a mom planner part of your regular routine. I guarantee you will see a big difference in a small space of time.
Before you go buy your fresh new book… have a read of some more of our mom blogs and handy how-tos, right here!