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This Blog Post talks about resources for planning like command centre and stationery such as daily notepad, to-do list and daily planner pads. This is explained in 2 parts - First, the command centre and the second part - resources to plan your day better.
Have there been times when you completely forgot someone’s birthday ? Or your kids Parent-teacher-meet ? Or did you double schedule your work meeting with a family function ? Or on a bigger plane, Do you feel Overwhelmed with daily tasks and are going around in circles, not getting anything done in time?
If you are nodding and saying a resounding YES to these questions, then I have something useful for you.
A planner,to-do list or notepad can suffice and I have explained how to use them in the later part of this post. However, being a planner and diary enthusiast, I can guarantee, you will never find those 5 minutes to go and check your schedule in it often. Especially, if your planner is on your desk in your study or bedroom, and you are mostly stuck in the Kitchen or living room most part of your day.
Planning Central or Command Centre :
A planning central or command centre is a concept not very popular yet, however serves a good purpose especially if you have a family with younger kids or family of four or more busy members.
Although, my command center is the most Basic example you will come across, i encourage you to take a pinterest search for Family Command Centre and you will be surprised at how many people rely on this type of Organisation System.
Its a genius of a technique, which is taken from a military term, Command Centre , used in military bases where all maps and schedules are pasted on a wall and updated everyday..everyone passing through the camp can just go and read their schedule or others schedule to know how the day or week will be.Its an information central area for everyone.
Coming back to apply this to your home, not to have military precision,but to ensure everyone in the family knows about each other’s schedules . Especially beneficial for busy moms to have this one space where all information about task timelines and scheduled appointments is available.
The pictures above, show my family command centre and it comprises of :
A monthly dated planner sheet
A pocket to hold important bills and documents till they find a home
A enlarged quote of the month
A notepad with a pen pocket
Planning Central is a set of above or more resources put together in a part of your home where there is heavy traffic or easily spottable by all family members.
1.Monthly Dated Planner Sheet:
As seen in the picture above , this can be prepped every last day of the previous month.Just update all that you know will be happening in the present month. Mark off in colour codes or use stickers to brighten it up visually.
In my sheet, I have kept one colour for each member of the family and any appointment for that individual or anything related to him/her is written in that color.
Benefit : Its easier for me to see my month laid out and allows me to guage how much time I have for other activities or plan around each others schedule.Also, you or your husband will never forget a Birthday or Anniversary as its updated here quite strikingly.
2. A Pocket to Hold bills & Papers:
We have a lot of Paper lying around, bills, receipts and doctors prescription which dont find a home as quickly as we bring these in. Hence,its great to just toss these in the pocket at the command centre and do a weekly check to empty this pocket and file papers as needed.
Benefit: If any week, we are busy and have no time to file these papers atleast we know where to find them, instead of them lying and flying off tables.
3. Quote of the Month display :
As in the main picture above.
This is optional.I personally feel that affirmations matter. To say good things to yourself and also read quotes or words which motivate you. A vision board of a collection of quotes works best however in my command centre I have a quote for each moth displayed just above the calendar.
Benefit: Everytime I see it, it motivates me and adds a daily dose of inspiration in me.
4. Notepad with a pen pocket :
For quick notes, and messages...To write those PINs and codes on call, or to simply write a “Love you note” my notepad and pen set , just beside the calendar, is as handy as it gets.
Benefit: I took forever to find a pen, to sign on receipts for deliveries or letters, and sometimes just to write a note, I would have to tear newspapers or notebooks lying around.Howeve, this system works well for me when I need any of the above.
That’s my system, thats my Planning central at home or Command Centre. You can replicate one too in any area of your home where everyone has access to it ,so that they can read schedules and update it too. Planning Central or Command Center serves one BIG purpose and that is CONTROL. Control of your Time and helping you organize better, and in turn Freeing up Time to do the things you love.
Let's PLAN it :
"The point of Writing it Down is to be more productive and less overwhelmed"
Study proves that Putting pen to paper and writing your reminders is said to be more effective than typing it in the phone or laptop notes. You tend to focus and remember better . Following are a few resources to use when planning :
A Planner ( which suits your Style and Life )
Investing in a Good Planner is equivalent to gifting and promising yourself a Productive and Content lifestyle. No one can argue what benefits Efficient Time Management can do for you and the first step to doing it is getting yourself a PLANNER.
There are many planners out there, but do some research before buying one. Especially the daily weekly pages should make you want to write in it and also help you break down and identifyyour daily weekly priorities better , than just writing away without intention.
I would say a Planner should get your INTENTION right. And once you have a planner which does this for you, you are good to go.
A To-do List or Notepad:
I write down my top 5 to-dos every morning in a mini notepad. I review it and check them off every night and move the pending ones to the next days page. This helps busy mommies in a big way as you can carry this notepad in your purse or on-the-go
To start, get any A6 or B6 size notepad and start jotting in the mornings.. It helps put your tasks from your mind to paper and certainly gives you a better picture which task to deal for today.
A Journal for BrainDump
You can buy any journal or make a notebook your journal to brain dump - as in write your heart out in it.This beautiful planner is my braindump journal. I also use it for general event planning notes, A-HA ideas & Gratitude notes .It's a great practice because I can write down what I feel without having restrictions of columns in it. On days I'm feeling low, I just go back to it and read it.
P. S : The A-HA notes are those ideas which make you go A-HA, like that's what I can do
So that is my wisdom on Planning Central & Lets Plan it ! And there's no better New Year's resolution than “ Being more and Doing more of what you love in 2018” so free up time by managing it better in the coming year.
If you’d like to experience these benefits for yourself, here is a Monthly View Calender Printable! These printables were designed for the We Are Real MomsChallenge in December 2017 – Reflect, Reset, Recharge.
Click below to download the high resolution, watermark-free printables. These can be printed on
A4 sized paper.
If you found this helpful, you may want to read And How Do you Do’s Tips on Mealplanning. There’s a free printable there as well .Click here https://andhowdoyoudo.com/2017/12/07/the-whys-and-hows-of-meal-planning-plus-a-free-printable/ to visit her blog.
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