Fun fact: In college and after graduation I worked as the Community Development Director for Emily Ley! It was such a fun season of life full of color, creative co-workers, and helping develop some truly amazing products! (ps. this guest post Emily wrote for Somethin’ Southern is a must-read!) Even before I joined the Emily Ley team I was a huge fan of the Simplified Planner concept! Before finding the SP I was that girl who bought a target planner each year, used it for a small amount of time and eventually ditched it out of overwhelm. Can anyone relate?! Turns out, learning to use a planner properly will change your life.

The Simplified Planner was different than others planner I had tried. It was designed intentionally to help busy gals balance it all. The pages inside are beautifully designed but simple enough not to overwhelm you. There’s white space for what matters. There’s room for what you need and nothing more. It’s planner perfection, y’all. I swear! A year after starting my new career and saying “see you soon” to my EL team, I’m still obsessed with my SP. I’d truly be a hot mess without it! #FanGirlForLife

Here’s how I use the pages in my SP to get the most our of my days! I’ve tried a few “methods” over the years and these are my tried and true practices for getting the most out of my planner.

A few things you should know before we get started,

– I use the Daily Planner which offers an entire page for each day of the year, instead of a weekly spread.

– I absolutely always write in pencil. Life changes!

– I take my planner with me to work every day. However, when I worked from home I left it open in the same spot in our kitchen 24/7. Now it’s on my desk at work during the week. If it’s not open and easily accessible, you won’t use it.

the monthly spread

The monthly spread is my starting point for all planning. It’s where I goal plan, create the Somethin’ Southern editorial calendar, record big events we have for work or family (vacations, time off, etc.) and plan big picture goals. I also use this page to do a bit of short-term financial planning.

First, I use the notes column on the monthly spread to record projects and goals for the month, for example “replace laptop battery, frame art for AG’s room, and weekend getaway with P!” Next, I use the notes column to pencil in any big blog posts that are going to require extra planning for photographs, etc. Lastly, (in the same column) I make a note of any out of the ordinary expenses I know I can expect for the month, such as “purchase patio furniture” or “renew tag at DMV” that way I know what I can expect and how I need to adjust the budget accordingly.

After the notes column is filled in with my “big picture planning” I move over to the calendar spread. I record any dates that need to be recorded. Things like date night, weddings/events, small group, vacations, time off, doctors appointments, etc. need to be recorded here first before making their way onto the daily spread. Having a visual of the entire month helps you pick what you can say yes and no to before committing. *If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the lack of white space – that’s probably a sign that you need to cancel a few things!*  Once I’ve made the final cut – I transfer important dates over to my daily spread and our giant family wall calendar. The giant wall calendar is basically an exact replica of what I have written in my SP and I try to update it as things change. This helps Pearce and I stay on the same page! Our family calendar also has a “notes” column where I fill in the big picture planning.

Once I’ve got the dates down, I move on to add bill due dates (because I can’t remember these for the life of me, thankfully many are on auto pay!) I also put my bill due dates on the daily spread with a “pay ___ bill” to-do the day before it’s due.

Lastly, I use my monthly spread for the SS editorial calendar. I’m not perfect when it comes to putting this plan into action but it helps me see what’s ahead. Once there’s a blog post on the editorial calendar, I add action step to-do’s to my daily spread so I can actually get it done. For example, if there’s a post going up on the 13th, I’ll make individual to-do’s the week before to take photographs, write content, and schedule the post. When I have a date assigned to a project task or sub task, it’s so much more likely to get done! Once blog posts are planned for I assign action step to-do’s for my big picture goals to my daily pages. So if there’s a project/goal like “weekend getaway with P” on the monthly spread, I’ll pick a date during the month to actually make that happen. I’ll make sure “book hotel room” and “pack bags” are to-do’s that will eventually get crossed off.

the to-do list

My number one rule for planner users is this, do not abuse your to-do list. What I mean by that is there’s probably not enough time in the day to do everything you want to do. Make sure you plan for what absolutely has to get done, and add one or two “would like to get that done” items. Trust me, if you’re to-do list is a mile long you’re only going to feel defeated at the end of the day when everything isn’t crossed of the list. That’s one of the reasons I like the daily spread – you can take a look at how much to-do space you have and then delegate different tasks to different days, depending on what’s priority.

*Working gals – it helps to start your work to do list from the bottom of the column, and your personal from the top. That way you can differentiate between the two, even if things get added!

the daily schedule

This section is pretty much self explanatory. I use this section to record appointment times, events, meetings, and to plan for time to get my to-do’s done. For example at 3pm on Sunday I have “Sunday prep” recorded. That’s when I plan to make that to-do a reality.

meal planning

I use this section in a very simple way. We use Hellofresh for weeknight dinners, so three nights a week I write Hellofresh as our dinner plan, the other day’s I write in an easy meal idea that I need to grocery shop for (using Instacart of course!) or if we’re planning on eating out. I know some people use this section to plan three meals a day, but right now I don’t find that necessary.

the front pocket

The front pocket is my favorite SP feature! It’s so durable which makes it the perfect place to store bills that need to be paid, amazon return slips, mail that needs to be sent, extra thank you notes, etc. I usually have some sort of running list on a sticky note on this page as well.

I hope this post helped other SP users out there! This system has definitely helped me balance #AllTheThings! The @Simplified instagram account is a great place to find tips & tricks that might be helpful to you, so be sure to follow along!

Save the date for the next SP launch, May 2 at 2pm! Shop my 2018 pick, here! 

love y’all, mckenzie