How to Buy and Use an Organizational Planner

Everyone has experienced a time in their life where they’ve been so wrapped up with school, work, or family obligations that they’ve forgotten about a doctor’s appointment or have scheduled two meetings to begin at the same time. This is why a daily, weekly or monthly organizational planner is a must for any busy person on the go to help manage their time.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Head to any store that sells office supplies and walk down the aisle that holds the organizational planners.

2. Decide how much you’re willing to spend, and start looking at the ones in your price range.

3. Think about your day-to-day life so you can choose the planner that’s right for you. A business executive who has a lot of daily meetings or appointments may want to invest in a daily planner, which includes time slots for every hour or half hour of every day of the year. Teenagers who need to remember their work schedules two weeks in advance might get the most use out of a weekly planner. And stay-at-home parents who need to remember their child’s soccer practice schedule for an entire season may find the monthly planners work best.

4. Flip through the planners that are available once you’ve decided on the right type to see the different features that they offer, which could include pages for addresses, notes or your favorite websites.

5. Choose the planner with the features that you feel you’d use the most.

6. Decide on the size of planner that would best fit with your lifestyle once you’ve chosen a style you like. Most come in sizes ranging from ones that could easily fit into a purse to ones as big as a notebook.

7. Purchase the planner and then write down any events that you already know about.

8. Refer to your planner before committing to anything to make sure your schedule is free.

Tips & Warnings

• Most planners run from either August through July for those still in school or from January through December for everyone else. Therefore, plan to buy a planner in either July or December so you have an opportunity to use the whole thing, and therefore get the best bang for your buck.
• Many planners combine two different time periods, meaning there are daily/monthly and weekly/monthly planners available.
• Carry your planner with you wherever you go so you can write down appointments, meetings and get-togethers in your planner the moment you set them so you won’t forget about them.