My New Planning Tool
Posted on: September 22, 2008
I recently posted about SimpleMom’s Daily Docket. I love the hour-by-hour feature and the box for writing daily MIT’s (most important things), but I decided to try and design my own version more suited to my particular needs.
I wanted the following features, all in one place:
- MITs for three categories: my job, household/personal and blogging
- my To Do list for the week (I think/plan that way and need to see my weekly list in one place)
- hour-by-hour plan (I sometimes go back and compare what I actually did – very interesting!)
- daily To Do list, which includes the tasks in my daily routines
Using SimpleMom’s Daily Docket as my inspiration, I sketched for a while and finally came up with a layout that works for me and fits on an 8-1/2″x11″ sheet of paper. Then I somehow figured out how to upload it so you could take a look . . . every day is a technological adventure for me so this is a great accomplishment!
The only potential drawback to my version is that you have to rewrite your weekly To Do list every day, but I actually see this as a benefit. I can cross off anything I did (great satisfaction!), be reminded of stuff I still need to do, and have room to add tasks as they come up during the week.
I’ve been using SimpleMom’s Daily Docket for a couple of weeks, but I’ve only used my customized version for one day so far – today! I have a nice fresh sheet printed out and ready for tomorrow and I’ll keep you posted about how it’s going.
In the meantime, head over to SimpleMom where she answers a clutter and organizing question posed by my alter-ego, Vintage Mommy!
11 Responses to "My New Planning Tool"
September 23, 2008 at 6:26 am
Okay, this got me thinking about keeping my tasks organized. I have come to the conclusion that I need to see them on paper. I have tried electronic calendars and this and that, and it never works. So, I put thought to my own Daily Docket and actually came up with 2 weekly forms. One for my blogging tasks for the week and one for my household tasks for the week. This just might work! Keep us posted on how your system works.
September 23, 2008 at 11:34 am
Nice idea! I just write everything down in my calendars, because I am far too lazy to have an extra piece of paper floating around!
September 23, 2008 at 11:55 am
@Vered: Simple Mom is technically competent and a good designer; I really admire what she’s doing on her site.
@Panther: I’m with you on electronic solutions. I love paper and pencil. I would love to see your solution for a Daily Docket sometime!
@Kelly: I’m happy to email the form to you; but you must need at LEAST 5 areas for MIT’s, busy person that you are! 🙂
September 23, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I’m trying to implement something similar to try and be organized, but to no avail. Maybe I should try changing it, just like you did, to best fit my needs.
I don’t have kids, but I have 2 freelance jobs and 1/2 a household to take care of.
September 24, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Hi Gracia & Welcome. I would suggest sitting down with pencil and paper and really thinking about what it is you need to keep track of. If there’s a tool out there you can buy, great! otherwise it’s worth the time to make your own so that you don’t keep jumping from system to system – as I’ve done for years. Good luck!
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September 29, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Hi Ann: I hadn’t seen this blog post of yours, I just linked to it from my “Three Awesome Productivity Tips” post. I’m very impressed with your template.
[…] past couple of weeks, I’ve been planning my day hour-by-hour, and writing my plan down on my daily planning tool. I’ve already posted that this was an idea I got from Simple Mom’s Daily Docket, but I […]
[…] For a while now I’ve been using a modified version of simplemom’s Daily Docket to help me manage my schedule. Working part-time from home while […]
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September 22, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I’m impressed! With you, and with Simple Mom. 🙂