As we enter the autumn months, with the kids back at school and the New Year right around the corner, many of us want to become better organized. Living in a digital age means we rely more than ever on our smartphones and computers to keep us on schedule and track important appointments.
You may be wondering: what is the purpose of planners when we have so many devices to keep us on track?
As it turns out, researchers have found that writing things down activates a different region of the brain important to memory retrieval. Neuroscientists now know that analog writing is different from digital writing. “Optimal memory encoding,” which is a fancy pants way of saying “not forgetting stuff,” is easier when you write out your tasks by hand.
There are many options when it comes to planners that help us become more organized, but we’re not sure you really believe us when we tell you that writing things in a day planner will help you stay on top of them. So let’s look at some of the benefits of using a planner.
Planners Help You Manage Your Time More Effectively
If you’re anything like us, life comes at you fast and keeps coming. Your boss at work needs those TPS reports yesterday, your first child has a cold, and Aunt Margaret is coming into town for the weekend. No wonder you forgot that your other child’s school recital is tonight!
Poor little Lisa has been practicing Hot Cross Buns on her recorder for months and you’re going to miss her concert? Heartbreaking.
Sometimes it feels like you can’t catch a break. Leaping from one thing to another is not an efficient time management practice. The purpose of planners is to keep us on track with what needs to be done and when. Our recommendation: find a good day planner that helps you schedule appointments and events and allows you to list your To-Do’s for the day, week, and month.
Filling out a calendar for the week allows you to effectively budget time for work, family, and friends. It’s the ultimate personalized time management tool.
Writing Things Down in A Planner Improves Memory
We mentioned this above, but one of the main benefits of using a planner is that helps you remember what you need to do every day and week. Forgetting important events and work tasks does professional and personal harm.
It’s so easy to forget you and your spouse’s anniversary when you have so much to do each day. With a planner, you can write down important yearly events, such as birthdays, so you won’t forget them. Remember: writing down an important task or event makes us less likely to forget it even when we don’t have our planner on hand.
Planners Allow Us to Do More Self-Care
With work obligations and making time for family and friends, it’s easy to lose sight of taking care of your own needs. But self-care is critically important. It’s essential that you not only remember to schedule and keep doctor’s appointments, which your planner helps you remember, but that you also carve out time for things like exercise and outdoor activities.
Many planners will allow you to block off time in 30-minute increments, which enables you to schedule things like walks, trips to the gym, etc. We don’t often think about improved health as a benefit of using a planner, but (used correctly), planners can definitely have a positive impact on your mental and physical well-being.
Planners Give You a Place to Store Important Records
When was the last time you took your dog to the vet for their annual checkup? If you don’t remember, it’s probably been too long. With your planner handy, you can easily reference things that you’ve long forgotten.
Your planner offers you a written record for scheduling important appointments, vaccinations, etc. It allows you to plan and prepare for what’s coming down the road when it comes to caring for you and your family members — those with two legs and those with four.
You Become More Productive With a Planner
Many people think of productivity as it relates to their job. Workplace productivity is certainly important: your productivity will help your managers recommend you for pay raises and promotions.
But what about productivity at home? Have you been putting off cleaning out your closet for years now? Do you really want to organize those drawers in the kitchen, but always find something more important that requires your attention?
Put it down in your planner. Many planners are designed to fit in your pocket, so you can have them on you at all times. Research shows that when you write down your professional and personal tasks and goals, you’re much more likely to complete them.
Reduce Your Stress with a Planner
Stress is often caused by the illusion that you can’t do what needs to be done. This is not to say you’re not busy. We’re all busy, which is why we need a planner in the first place. But even the busiest of schedules shouldn’t stress us out unnecessarily.
When we write down our daily, weekly, and monthly tasks and goals, we make them manageable. It’s much easier to move from one task to the next than it is to think about everything we need to do at once.
Without a planner to assist in the scheduling of tasks, we can feel overwhelmed. When we block out our time it is much easier to see how much we have actually accomplished. The purpose of planners is to reduce the stress that comes with thinking that we can’t possibly accomplish everything we need to do in a given day.
Using a Planner Frees Up Time for Creative Endeavors
We’ve noticed something incredible with those who proactively use planners: they have more time to focus on their hobbies and creative endeavors. When you outline what you need to do on a given day, you give yourself the freedom to do what you want to do.
Whether you want to write a novel, play a musical instrument, or craft, planners offer you the freedom to do so without feeling as though you’re not doing something more important.
You can even use your planner to express your creativity. With stickers for Moms, you can manage the family budget, plan holiday activities, stay ahead of work, and have fun while you’re doing it.
Planners Give You a Sense of Satisfaction in Completion
When you’re stuck in the daily grind of work, school, or family, it often feels that we’re not accomplishing much. Uber-productive people often feel that there aren’t enough hours in the day for them to get everything done. Then, when the day concludes they lie awake at night berating themselves for not accomplishing more.
One of the benefits of using a planner is that they give you a clear sense of how much you’re actually accomplishing. You’ll enjoy your free time and time off more when you see how much you’ve accomplished on any given day.
GOS Time Management Tools
At GOS, we sell thousands of planners, calendars, and other time management tools that help you become more productive, relieve you of your stress, and set you on the road to success.
