Confession: I’m really great at making to-do lists.
Making the list isn’t the problem. It’s doing it that always seems to fall apart. Anyone else here or is it just me?
If you always seem to make your to-do list and then spend your entire day putting out fires and not getting anything done, then you’re in the right place. I am sharing my solution to never-ending lists with weekly planner sheets.
We’re going to dive into how you can get your most important priorities done and avoid overwhelm.
So, let’s jump in!
1. Get the big picture view with a weekly plan
For so many of us, the sheer amount of tasks we have to do each day is enough to send even the most organized mom running back to bed. And for the rest of us hot-mess-moms who always seem to run from one chaotic mess to the next, it can all start to feel insurmountable.
But when you sit down and map out your entire week on one page, you get a better visual of where you need to be and when. This big picture view is the only way I can avoid that feeling that I’m forgetting something or need to be somewhere.
I use weekly planner sheets that I print out each week to map out my time and get the big picture overall view. As a visual person, this helps me see where I may have overscheduled us so I can try to rearrange something or ask for help.
Doing this at the start of the week helps avoid that last-minute shuffle or missing out on an important event or deadline.
2. Your brain is for having ideas not holding them
This is one of my all-time favorite quotes. It’s from David Allen and his Getting Things Done system. Now, his system is overwhelming for me, but if you’re more of a type A who likes being uber-organized, then you will love his system.
However, despite the fact that I’ve never really seemed to grasp his methods, I absolutely love his ideas. And this is the one that I cling to the most. You can not keep everything in your head, and you shouldn’t even try.
That is a road that leads to certain disaster.
Instead, use your planner sheets to write down everything that you need to do this week. I write it all down, not just the fact that one of my boys needs to be at a birthday party on Friday, but also the day that I’m going to run to Target to get the gift and card. Otherwise, you know what’s going to happen. You’ll be running in right before the party and wrapping in the car. Ask me how I know.
So, use your planner to hold all your ideas so you can free up your brain for having all those amazing creative ideas.
3. Find your rhythm
When we run from activity to activity we can feel like we live in non-stop pandemonium. And when we are constantly having to stop and try to remember what we need to do next, it leaves us feeling scatterbrained.
But when you find your rhythm based on your routines, then you will start to feel like your life flows. It seems like you manage to get everything done effortlessly. And the truth is that none of it is effortless. But you’ve taken the time to create the right routines for your life and family. You’ve paid attention to your energy levels and created a rhythm that leans into that instead of forcing an arbitrary to-do list system.
Stop reading all the books and forcing systems from organized type-A people who don’t live your life. Even another disheveled, disorganized mom like myself will have a different rhythm than you.
Find your own and lean into it. Then you’ll start to feel like one of those organized moms who always seem to get everything done.
Weekly planner sheets are the secret to success
It can be hard to keep up in today’s busy society. Everyone seems to expect so much from us. And it can be so hard to keep up with all the other moms on Instagram and Pinterest who lead such picture-perfect lives.
But for the rest of us mere mortals, we just want to get to the end of the day not feeling like we forgot something. And to do that I use my secret weapon, my weekly planner. Check out this free printable and see how it can change your daily and weekly rhythm too.
