Author Topic: Any serial planners on here?  (Read 3163 times)

Any serial planners on here?
« on: 08 January, 2019, 10:22:47 am »
New year, new plans right? Well this year I'm tackling my planning skills, not a resolution because of it was I'd have broken it by now. But I'm looking at better ways to plan work and private life.

Seen those planning diaries with week to view, to do list, 10/6 minute tasks, most important task, delegation and review sections on each page plus some with monthly, 3 monthly review pages. Goal setting and reviewing.

Does anyone actually use these products? Does anyone actually plan their life with goals, monitoring, etc.? I get to do lists. I use them but the rest is foreign to me (in a non - racist use of that word).

Should I take a punt on £19 version and try to follow it? What's your view?

It's for work and home use if I do. Is there anything really much better than a notebook / day book and cheap diary?

Then there's goal setting. Really? Do you set goals? Do you define them and work out steps to achieve them? I just decide I want to do something and do it when I can. No goal defining or step taking

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #1 on: 08 January, 2019, 11:25:09 am »
You must have had set goals and plans if you had major cycling events, surely? If not, then you have been genetically blessed.

I pick goals for sport, health and fitness. Then I work towards them. Week by week. I need a goal to motivate me.

Then there are work training schemes and targets. My biggest problem is managing the flood of data and plans; personal plans, sport/fitness, work (the last one being huge). Couldn't do it on paper, things change too fast.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
  • Overseaing the building of the death star
Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #2 on: 08 January, 2019, 01:10:55 pm »
Looking at the this thread with interest.


Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #3 on: 08 January, 2019, 01:47:05 pm »
Are you a planning maestro or a planning wannabe but seriously doubt will ever be like I am?

Two kind of developed planners I've seen are below. I saw an even better one. Selling point is the extra listing capability. Some types are based around a time spent each day filling it all in, 6 or 10 minute planners. Others leave spaces for tasks that must be done, that you are going to work through after the essential ones and a few "well if you have the chance to do". Those tasks that only take a few minutes (6 or 10 minutes for example) that you clear out to get an easy win on a hectic day.

Others give you a check list for reporting how your day went. A suggested list like physical exercise, healthy diet, enough water / sleep with circles for days of the week. Then spaces to write your own important daily goals.

Then there's some planners with monthly or quarterly review pages against your annual goals.

It seems there are paper planners available that are trying to n replicate exercise tracker devices and apps in paper format.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Action-Day-2019-Management-Thread-Bound/dp/B07F35CGB1/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1546954444&sr=1-12&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65

https://www.amazon.co.uk/INSPIRE-NOW-JOURNAL-Productivity-Motivation/dp/B076BVZ2JD?ref_=Oct_CABSellerC_201095031_0&pf_rd_p=13783aa3-71e0-52a7-b961-7cd348453fd6&pf_rd_s=mobile-hybrid-5&pf_rd_t=30901&pf_rd_i=201095031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=YAYBZ6G7ZP580GK2VM4P&pf_rd_r=YAYBZ6G7ZP580GK2VM4P&pf_rd_p=13783aa3-71e0-52a7-b961-7cd348453fd6

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #4 on: 08 January, 2019, 03:40:58 pm »
(click to show/hide)

TL;DR - be wary of goal setting, it can be unhealthy.

Clare

  • Is in NZ
Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #5 on: 08 January, 2019, 10:17:12 pm »
I tried a bullet journal last year but quickly realised that I was crap at keeping it and I would spend half a day trying to fill in previous days’ journals.

This year I have a diary that has a year planner at the front, each month has week to page, a half page ‘month calendar’ and one and a half pages of lined paper for notes, so far this is working OK (8 days and counting).

At work I have an A5 day-to-page diary which I use to write what I need to do on a particular day and Google calendar to record meetings and other shite.

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #6 on: 09 January, 2019, 02:03:02 pm »
I do planning and project management at work. At home, I write lists, then forget about them. I need somewhere to keep a list of where my lists are.

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #7 on: 20 January, 2019, 10:20:02 pm »
Well got an organiser (filofax) and a bullet journal. It's so I can see which suits me better.

Bullet journal planning style seems to be what I do but less organised. I daily to do list and use symbols in front, nest lists and so all that sort of thing but in a day book. Trouble is it's hard to track important information this way for me. There's no index or what a diary offers in this day book system. The other thing is I chop and change my symbols so forget what they mean (signifiers in the bullet journal system).

So I think bullet journal might be the organisation I need. I've also read that the creator of the system and a few prominent proponents have ADHD. Whilst I doubt I have it too my chaos is very similar at times. So I guess it could work for me too.

So anyone else getting organised in this first month of the year? The right month for it.

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #8 on: 23 January, 2019, 04:55:38 pm »
I've been looking at bullet journalling. Looks a good approach for someone who struggles with organising themselves.

Anyone use one?

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #9 on: 23 January, 2019, 08:48:12 pm »
I know people who do.  It seems to be a way to trade time spent on Arnold Rimmer style colouring-in for more effective prioritisation of tasks.  It seems utterly arsebackwards to me that you'd use a clunky paper journal in favour of a more functional program on your convenient lightweight pocket computer for managing tasks, but I don't have ADHD and the associated smartphone distractability problems.

ian

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #10 on: 23 January, 2019, 09:08:34 pm »
Now I have a proper grown-up job with The Management I have invested in an even bigger whiteboard than the one I used to have in order to enhance my organizational abilities and justify my elevation to the higher decks of the mothership (only two hundred more decks to climb and I'll be doing my captain's log in the executive bathroom). I plan on it being a continually mutating mindscape. I bought an impressively large set of coloured dry wipe pens too. It seemed like the sort of a thing a proper organized person who found themselves standing in Rymans would do. There are few problems in modern business that can't be solved through the correct application of stationery.

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #11 on: 23 January, 2019, 09:18:41 pm »
Wot, no continuously changing kitten Hitler mural?

ian

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #12 on: 23 January, 2019, 09:33:09 pm »
Oh, that's probably where it will end up.

I'm a bit disappointed with my purchase, in the picture on the website there was a nice lady writing what seemed to be important things on it. She wasn't even in the box. Apparently, she's not included.

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #13 on: 23 January, 2019, 10:16:19 pm »
Are your walls covered in unreadable Post-its?

IanN

  • Voon
Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #14 on: 23 January, 2019, 10:41:15 pm »
Oh dear. I googled bullet journalling. It's just a list, folks (of the internet). With dots.

But I'm an unapologetic fountain pen nerd, so it has promise.

I have a long and distinguished history of instigating new list-ignoring systems instead of doing something productive. Maybe better not, then.
Perhaps we'd get more done by uninventing the internet. And 'smart' phones. And biscuits, probably.

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #15 on: 23 January, 2019, 10:49:15 pm »
Oh dear. I googled bullet journalling. It's just a list, folks (of the internet). With dots.


I have carefully organised my life so that I don't have to do writing stuff down. I'm NOT signing up for voluntary paperwork!  :o
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #16 on: 24 January, 2019, 12:06:23 am »
As it's my 70th birthday this year, my plans are to ride 5,000 miles, do 70,000 metres of climbing and to walk 700 miles.

To motivate me and to keep me on track, my son has created an Excel spreadsheet.

Each Sunday evening I enter my cumulative figures for the year so far into the spreadsheet. It then tells me how far in front or behind I am towards attaining my goals by years end. If I'm in front the figures are in green and if I'm behind the figures are in red. Currently everything is in the green.

I'm also intending to ride 70 miles on my birthday, but that shouldn't be a problem.
I don't want to grow old gracefully. I want to grow old disgracefully.

ian

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #17 on: 24 January, 2019, 07:51:46 am »
Are your walls covered in unreadable Post-its?

I did go through a phase of liberally decorating my desk with post-its but it wasn't very effective plus the cat comes and sits on the important ones. Fortunately, I have the awfully neat handwriting of a girl (whoever says that has not attempted to decipher a note from my wife).

To be honest, I keep most things in my head, I find people spend more time on technology to sort and priortize heir tasks than on the tasks themselves.

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
  • Overseaing the building of the death star
Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #18 on: 25 January, 2019, 12:55:16 am »
Are you a planning maestro or a planning wannabe but seriously doubt will ever be like I am?



I was a prince2 using project manager for a few projects.  But that is different.

Looking to improve my lack of concentration and get important things done.

Re: Any serial planners on here?
« Reply #19 on: 25 January, 2019, 06:10:06 am »
I'm planning bircher muesli today.