Tips & Tools Tuesday
Two Planners for Organization???
Prayer First
Father, as writers, we investigate and imagine, pushing back boundaries and looking for new connections.
We throw ourselves into new worlds and create new characters.
You have broadened our understanding.
Thank you for imagination’s dew.
Copyright © 2014 Prayers for Writers, All rights reserved
Amen
Yes, Folks – Two Planners
Teaching Career Agendas & Planning
I remember how every August brought a sense of renewal and new “This Year” resolutions. As in, “This year would be better than the last.” I always felt the excitement about some new educational paradigm or classroom technology gained at summer conventions burbling inside me. Making Lesson Plans and planning Technology Workshops during August Faculty In-services felt exciting and rewarding. The new School Agendas, Discipline Plans and Lesson Plan Books every new school year held great promise for well, laid out plans and schedules. Until…
Personal Planners & Agendas
I have always used the Planner/Notebook system for my home organization. That was usually jotting some things down in a calendar that got lost and shuffled from purse to purse and a notebook full of grocery lists, story ideas, and incomplete things I intended to do, and usually forgot.
Organization and planning are better for me under the direction of my husband who uses calendars for goals, and lists. Managing our life has evolved my Planner/Notebook system into something workable as long as I am a stay-at-home-wife, and nothing more.
The notebooks are used for daily calls, paperwork, and things to do; lists my husband and I compile together. Agendas are for keeping financial and household documents current. Managing our household is full-time work activity in itself. Adding new work and more goals have put my old system to the test these past few years and I find myself seeking direction for time management again.
Opportunity Creates Change
New writing opportunities come with “get organized” fever. An old binder for a rival Time Management company engaged an online search for printable fillers or a filler specific to my needs that I can purchase.
Instead, I found Quo Vadis, the Quo Vadis Blog, and Plannerisms Blog. Ms. Doherty stated in the post that she was planning some updating on the Quo Vadis sites and needed product reviews. She asked that anyone who has written a product review in their blog or website, email questions and the link to their page or blog site for an opportunity to write a review. Writers would receive credit for their review that links directly to the reviewer’s blog from the Quo Vadis web site.
Full Disclosure:
Although I am reviewing two planners, I only purchased the Text Agenda. I received the Scholar planner for free in exchange for writing this review.
Two Planners?
New Things to Organize:
- Puppy vet visits, shots, and training
- Emails submitting my resume and writing sample for freelance work.
- A Short Story Submissions & Writing Schedules.
- Writing a WordPress Blog.
Text Agenda
I have never accomplished organization at this level before. Text Agenda opens like a diary, devoting a whole page to each day of the year. Each page is ruled for neat recording of notes, lists, and details of daily activities.
The Agenda opens to a facing title page, and personal information page.
A July, 2015 –June 2016 yearly planner faces the personal info page.
Two Full weeks of Time Schedule Planner pages follow.
The two week plan can help college students manage 5 day/week classes
MWF Classes
Tu/Th Classes
The 2015-2016 Anno-Planning pages give a complete view of the year’s plan.
Daily pages
Elastic Book Mark
Top is Scheduled from 8 AM – 7 PM
Allows for prioritizing of appointments, chores, and lists
Plenty of room for notes and details – no notebook needed
Personal Note:
Buying a calendar in August usually leaves a few blank calendar days at the beginning to allow for transition from one Academic year to the next. I write notes and information needed throughout the rest of the year, and may not fit under any given agenda topic, ie. Frequent websites and passwords.
Bottom Line:
Text Agenda is an awesome planning tool for anyone from Student, to Home maker, including Business people. It is ideal for people who live for daily activities without needing a schedule organized for planned activities that occur on a weekly basis. Any woman who is managing her household should consider purchasing this Calendar, Journal, and Scheduling tool.
Scholar
Adding a second job to Home Management created the need for a second schedule. Women who work outside the home or participate in activities that require following a schedule through several days or weeks need the extra organization a weekly agenda would supply.
Scholar opens to a facing title page, personal information page.
Followed by an 8 AM-9 PM Time Schedule Planner for the week.
The 2015-2016 Anno-Planning pages give a complete view of the year ahead.
Weeks open in 2 page, viewing the full week from left to right that shows Monday as the first day of the week.
Days are in large block form and ruled for neat writing
Room for extra notes are at the bottom of the left side page.
See the personal note above for ideas for using extra calendar days at the beginning of
a new agenda.
Bottom Line:
Scholar feels like exactly the time management tool I need for organization of time AND information. With this agenda I have moved my blog from struggling for days to research, write, and publish my message to a weekly schedule of daily posts on specific topics. Writing those posts is easier with scheduling that leads from general topics to precise outlines that vary according to the subject matter of each post.
Comparison
A side by side comparison shows two agendas, each more than suitable for its purpose, but when combined, they create a dynamic organizing and time management system that keeps even me on track.The Bound in Address Book found in Text Agenda should be added to the scholar and the Elastic Band Closure found on the Scholar Agenda should be added to Text Agenda.
Final Verdict:
Together, these planners are unbeatable time management tools.
The Writing Wife's Life 