How to set up your planner to be productive

If you are just getting started with planning your business, home, or life altogether. You may be wondering how to set up your planner to be productive.

You see planning doesn’t come easy to some people and also getting a planner may seem like a tough job.

But when you are a stay at home who has to run a business, it becomes a must-have if you want to keep it all together.

Picture this, you are a stay-at-home mom who runs a home business but you have no plan for each day that you want to go through.

I don’t know what to say but to say it kindly, it will be a disaster because that business will suffer and not grow.

Your home front will not be any better.

When you are a home business owner, you are your own boss so you set the rules.

This means that if you are not able to plan well, you will find yourself not making any sales because you never can find time to actually sit down and do the work talk more about getting paid.

I am telling you all this because this was my life before I learned how to plan my work, home and business.

This was what helped me and I want it to help you too.

No, I am not that planner perfect mom business owner yet, I am still a work in progress, that is why I feel we can take this journey together.

Because planning and productivity is a journey.

So how do you move from being a planless mom and business owner to a well-planned one?

Let me take you on journey.

Steps to take to set up your planner.

How do you actually use a planner/ or set up your planner?

This is a question that most newbie to planning often asks

This is because before you ever got here, you may have seen others making use of planners you may wonder what exactly are they doing?

To help you get on, lets break it down step by step.

1.Get a Planner Sheet &Tools

A planner sheet is a document that has been designed to meet a specific need.

I have created different types of planners which I sell in my online store.

These planners were created to solve a particular need, so for example, thehomebusiness planner is my signature planner for anyone that wants to start a home business.

These planner sheets were created to guide the user who wants to start a home business to start from business idea to the point of execution.

Planners are designed to solve problems for those who are using them, so the first point is to ask why do you need a planner?

Depending on what your need is, you then find a planner that suits your needs

Once you have your planner sheets ready, it is time to create a planner notebook.

If your planner sheets are digital PDf files then you need to print it out before you can use it.

Before you go ahead to print, you need the following tools.

Tools for Creating a Planner Notebook

a.Ring Binder

A ring binder is what you use to hold the different pieces of your planner sheets. It is like a folder that helps you to keep all your planner sheets in place.

It comes in diffrent sizes from A4 to A6, they are ususally desugned according to paper sizes.

Before you print your planner sheets, ensure that you know the size of the ring binder that you want to use.

They can be made from different materials from PVC to leather or fabric.

I love the PVC transparent 6-ring binder that has alot of glitter and girly stuff in it.

It is quite eye-catchy and brings out the creative juices in me when planning.

.You can tap below to see it in the store.

b.Binding discs

Binding discs are also used for creating planners, some people prefer to use binding discs for their planners instead of a ring binder that is made from metal.

I love binding discs because it is colorful, those colors kind of increases energy and makes you actually use your planner to increase productivity.

If you find planning and implementation hard, why not add a burst of color to your planner set up ideas to make it worth it.

If you plan on using binding discs, consider creating a separate cover paper for your binder.

You can check out the variety of binding discs we have in store.

c.Stickers

Anyone here loves stickers? I thought I had outgrown stickers but nah, I still love them.

My kids do too, especially when you want them to finish the homework on time, a star sticker does the trick.

Stickers are great additions to starting your planners because they help

• To mark milestones you want to achieve
• Indicate your journey through the execution of your goals
• Reward yourself when you feel like your planning has yielded fruit.
• Some people also use stickers to help encourage themselves, especially when they are struggling with a project.

I always ensure that I create printable stickers as part of my planners for moms.

We have in our store, stickers that will wow you, if you want all manner of shades of stickers you are sure to get it from this one pack.

We can use stickers to also serve as tabs on your planner to separate sections.

d.Planner puncher

The only way to set up your planner with planner sheets is to punch them where you intend to use the rings whether they are discs or ring binders.

A good planner puncher is a planner accessory you can not do without. Your planner set up ideas is not complete without a good planner puncher.

They come in two different types

Mushroom-hole puncher

6 Ring Round hole puncher

Round hole punchers work with ring binders, while mushroom hole punchers work with binding discs.

e.Markers

Once you are ready to start using your planner, you need a good marker to write or draw on your planner sheets.

A good marker should be fine, have a good tip, avoid bleeding and quickly dry off your planner sheets without seeping through them.

Want a good maker pen, tap the button below

f.Planner cutter

This is a paper cutting instrument that you can use to trim the excess edge off your printed planner sheets before you put it in teh folder.

g.Separators and Tabs

These are used to create sections in your binder planner to help you identify different parts.

2.How to create your planner notebook

1- Print your planner sheets according to your ring binder size or the size you are comfortable with.

If you have a printable planner that is designed to be bigger than your paper size, watch the video below to see how to resize it before you print.

2 Trim off excess paper with your planner cutter

3. Punch the holes for your planner. If you are using a 6 ring binder folder, then just use the 6 ring puncher to punch the holes for your planner on the planner sheets. If you are using a binding disc, simply punch with the mushroom hole puncher.

4- Put your planner sheets in the ring binder, if you are using binding discs, then assemble the planner sheets and begin to fix the binding discs until it is complete.

5- Make sections in your planner with separators or tabs

Once you are done with creating your planner notebook, it is time to start your planning activity.

3.How do you actually use a planner?

So a planner is actually a tool that is supposed to help you be more organized, that is why it is also called an organizer.

It is not only for organizing your thoughts or some random things, but for actually planning your business, life, or home.

❤A planner is a super productivity tool that helps you to set goals for your home and business, create timelines and also implement them.

❤You can use your planner on a daily basis if you want to set up daily planning.

❤You can also use it as a weekly planning tool for your business home, school, or anything that you want to keep track of.

❤A planner will help you to keep track of what needs to be done and help you to achieve more as a mom or business owner.

I started creating planners when I started a home business as a mom who had 3 kids under 4 years old.

I realized that my business was going nowhere as I had no plan each day on what to do.

Creating planners and using them to run my business and home helped to bring me to a place of more organization.

My planners have helped me and have helped so many others who have bought my planners too.

More importantly is that I have gone on to create a course that teaches others how to create a business out of making and selling Printables products, of which planners are a huge part.

I also wrote a post on how to start a Printables business,

This has helped thousands of people create an extra income for their business

Now that I have let you know what a planner is used for and how useful it is to you, what should put on your planner?

4.What should I put on my planner

Here is what you need to put in your planners

Goals

I always start any of my planners with goals, even my summer planner for those who want to create a beautiful summer with their kids have goals.

This is because a goal is an anchor that helps you to know where you are driving to.

Your goal is one of the best things that you should put on your planners

Dates and Timelines

This is where you get to put a timeline to that task, dream, project.

Without dates and timelines, you will never arrive at your goals

Tasks

This is where you get to put down the tasks that you need to get your goals to become a reality.

Tasks are to-do lists that you must accomplish per day or per week

That is how you create your daily planner or weekly planner

Events

Events that must happen for your goals to become a reality.

It can also be events that showed you have achieved your goal

Random ideas/ Inspiration

This is where you can put your random thoughts and ideas so that you can explore them later.

There are many other things you can put in your planner.

If you want to learn how to create planners that run as a system that helps others solve their problems.

I share my 6 step system of creating planners‘ printables in my Newbie Printables course.

Get my course if you want to make this a serious business.

5.How does a planner increase your productivity?

👍Helps you create goals and set tasks that enable you achieve them

👍Eliminates distractions

👍Ensures accomplishment and results

👍Provides you with a journey you can relate to as you move

👍Makes you do what you actually want to do

Want to have a productive life?

Start with a good planner, use my planner set up ideas to create a planner notebook. Start implementing it and see results

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