How a paper planner is helping me make time.

Right now, in blogs and social media feeds across the world, women are marie kondo-ing their whole lives in an attempt to find that tricky little rascal - balance. For me, balance has never been achievable. If one area of my life is together and thriving, another is a complete disaster.

I think back to a previous job where I was horrible under-utilized, so my personal life was flawless. My house was clean, my finances were in order, and I was actively involved in preparing for every holiday, school event, and special outing. Flash forward to my current job where I’m go-go-go from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm (including that dreaded one-hour commute each way), and my home life is less than ideal. I find myself forgetting appointments, noticing birthdays when it’s too late to send a gift, and going months on end without a vacation or even a date night. I need a system that’s going to keep me organized and motivated to stay that way.

So I bought a planner. I shopped around quite a bit because the options are quite staggering. There’s the Happy Planners, which are nice, but rather bulky with those big, ole plastic rings. Custom ones like Golden Coil. Simple, beautiful ones in rose gold on display in the Target stationary aisle. So many options I almost couldn’t choose. Once I finally settled on one, I had to do a lot of work upfront to ensure I’d be set up for success the rest of the year. I had to transfer over all the major dates from last year. Look forward to my work / travel calendar so I know where the open spaces are. Factor in Nash’s baseball schedule, Nova’s well visits, and try to predict when the weather and prices would best support a family or adults-only getaway. It’s not perfect, by any means, but I truly enjoy writing things down, scribbling in the margins, and being able to visually see any white space that could be filled with more things that make me happy.