Organizing your business

If you are a business owner like me, you have a million things to keep track of. I love using an organizer still. There is something about crossing things off and I love an organizer. And, even though we are in a digital world, I love that I can have my organizer even when I shut off my phone. This last year, I took my planner by a lake and spent about 3 hours just mapping out goals for the new year, making sure I added in all the renewals that were due and when and I even added in vacations. Now, every month, I flip my planner open and just look at what I had planned and focus on those goals.

Before using planners, I used to have a car that looked like this. I would jot down ideas, notes and goals on scraps of paper or sticky notes in my car. They would fall off sometimes or the Minnesota winter would gust in and blow them away. And, it is overwhelming to have so many ideas and then pile them up. Now, I can write them down and refer back to them when I have time.

Plus, I took "planner training" about 20 years ago - yep, it was a thing. What I learned that I still use today is that if you have something you want to do or an appointment, flip to that page or a page later in the month and write it down. Then, quickly get back to your day. That way, you don't lose the thought and you know you can circle back to it later.

I also add in my kids schedules and my husband's meetings on my planner so that I can try to work around those. And, at the beginning of each week, I try to plan out meals for the week so I don't have to answer the "what's for supper" question with a blank stare. Ha ha.

Check out these planners online: