The "Done" Planner: Combating the Dark Side of the Traditional To Do List

Earlier this month, I did my annual post about what planners I’m choosing for the upcoming year. In that post, I mentioned that a new thing I’ve added to my system is a 90-Day “Done” planner, meaning a place where instead of marking down my To Do list (which I do in my main planner), I mark what I’ve done separated out by category.

Since I’ve done that post, I’ve had a number of people ask follow up questions about the details of this planner, so I’ve decided to do a post to explain how I’m using it.

The Concept: Overcoming the Dark Side of the Traditional To Do List

I got the inspiration for a 90-Day Goals planner from author Sarra Cannon. She has some great videos on her site explaining how she sets and keeps track of her 90-day goals. So when I was putting together my 90-Day planner, I grabbed a Happy Planner Teacher Planner because that’s what Sarra was using. But then when I put it all together, I realized that I didn’t need those pages to mark To Dos. I already have my Day Designer that houses that kind of list. So what could I use this shiny new layout for?

Well, the beauty of the teacher planner is that it’s divided into columns so that teachers can have separate lists for their different classes. But I realized it was the perfect set up to break down the different areas of my work and home life to visualize where I’m making progress. This made sense to me because the dark side of a traditional to do list is that you can check off a lot of things and wow look at all those check marks! But you may be checking off lots of inconsequential things that don’t really move the needle on your big goals. If I have a day where I’ve checked off ten things, but those things are like “mailed something”, “emailed someone”, “did laundry”, and I didn’t write any words on a book I’m drafting, have I really been very productive? No, I’ve probably been procrastinating the hard stuff.

So the idea behind the Done Planner is that not only can I see what I’m getting accomplished, I can see if I’m doing things that work toward those big 90-day goals. This has been a huge help. And on the flipside, it’s also given me a different view at the end of the week because sometimes you feel like you haven’t gotten anything done. But now I can look at my Done Planner and see ”Oh, hey, I wasn’t so great at social media this week, but that’s because I’ve really worked hard on these other two important goals.” It’s a clear picture of where I’ve spent my time, and that’s very rewarding. It gives me more a sense of peace at the end of the day or week (and gives me mental permission to take a break that evening or weekend.)

So are you interested? Let’s talk about setup and how I’m using it.

Setting Up the Planner

I’ve put everything in a Happy Planner hardcover discbound system. You can find this stuff at Michael’s and some Targets still have teacher planners on clearance. Amazon also still has a few left in stock. (29.99 is the standard price, so beware if you see any marked up.) The teacher planner does not come with this kind of cover. You can buy the hard cover separately, but it’s not necessary to have if you’re happy with the flexible cover the planner comes with.

Inside the teacher planner looks like this to start:

So here’s where your customization begins. See those blank spaces at the top of the columns? This is where you’re going to choose the buckets you want to focus on. You can simply write the title on top of each column (especially if you have better handwriting than I do), but I love the way the Avery stickers look colored with my mildliners (highlighters that aren’t so bright.) I use the Avery removable 3/4 inch circles (which are cheap on Amazon right now with their included coupon) and the Avery 5424 small removable rectangles. I usually color these all in one sitting while I’m watching TV or something and they last forever. I’ve had all these for probably a year now.

The Columns

Once you decide what you’re going to use to label your columns, now it’s time to decide what you want to name your columns. Really give this some thought because you don’t want to be tracking useless things. For my first three, I used my three main 90-day goal areas:

1. Writing - This is where I mark down word count and anything that has to do with moving my story forward. That means some days I may be marking down brainstorming/thinking time because I can’t write without thinking a lot. Thinking is work and counts as being productive as long as I’m actively focusing on the book. (Can you tell I had to do a mindshift to accept that a while back? lol)

2. Readers - This is where I mark down social media posts, blog posts, and newsletters. Anything that involves me interacting with readers goes here. So if I was going do a booksigning, it would fall under this category.

3. Business - This is the place where I mark down anything I’m doing that doesn’t fit under the two previous columns that is work-related and helping my business. If I’m taking a course. If I’m reading a book about marketing. If I researched something business-related.

The next four columns don’t directly deal with my 90-Day goals but are general life things and mental/physical wellness things that are very important to me.

4. Yoga - This is where I mark down which video I watched and how long the routine was. I’m doing the videos from Yoga with Adriene. Love them.

5. Input - This term comes from the Gallup Strengthsfinders system, which is a personality framework. But if you’re not familiar with that, this is basically my “refill the well” column. As a writer (and a writer with my particular personality), I need vast amounts of input to refill the creative well. This means reading, TV shows, movies, podcasts, audiobooks. When I let this slide, this is when I get writer’s block. So I’ve made it a priority to make sure I’m refilling the well. I mark down what I’m reading that day, if I watched or listened to something, etc. This is a good example of stuff that wouldn’t be reflected in my traditional To Do list. I wouldn’t write down “watch tv show”. But this done planner let’s me see if I’ve neglected this during the week and worked too much.

6. Budget - Simply where I record anything I spent that day outside of ordinary expenses. (If it’s a lot, it’s often a sign I’ve been surfing the internet too much and avoiding working lol.) I may change this one in the future, but for now, I’m testing this one out.

7. Home - The catch-all category for anything I did for home: laundry, groceries, meal planning, stuff for kidlet. I also usually mark what I’m cooking for dinner there.

So those are my seven categories, but the beauty of this system is that you can choose whatever categories that work for you and your life. What are you working on that you want to pay attention to and track?

Tracking

Remember, this is not a planner to write down what you hope to do that week. It’s what you’ve done. So it’s probably going to be something you need to keep open on your desk or easily accessible because if you wait to record what you did later, you’re going to forget. Plus, it feels good when you’ve done something to go mark it down. And hey, if stickers are involved, even better in my opinion. ;-) I’m currently using tiny icon stickers from FayeCreates on Etsy, but you can use whatever works for you. It may just be a bullet point you make with your pen or a colorful little dot sticker. But this is what mine looks like after a week.

And here’s a close up of the icon stickers if you want to see the variety.

Because this is a 90-day plan, I’m only keeping three months at a time in the binder. I’ve found this helpful because it makes the planner less bulky and also keeps me focused on the plan. Like hey, there’s only one month left to go, where am I on these goals?

I’ve been using this system since August, and I can say that I’m loving it. I’ve felt much calmer at the end of the day because I can clearly see what I’ve accomplished. Or I can clearly see which areas have fallen through the cracks. And hey, sometimes that’s okay. Like the week pictured above, I sucked at doing yoga that week but I got A LOT done in many other areas, including starting a book, so I was okay with yoga taking a backseat.

And really, if you’re not a planner fanatic like I am and don’t want to maintain more than one planner, this could easily be modified to be both. You could hold-punch (or disc-punch) a sheet of paper with your To Dos for the week and insert it into this system. There are lots of options because this system is so flexible.

So that’s how I’m using it. I hope you found this helpful! Please let me know if you decide to give it a try!

---

Resource LIst

Here’s the round-up of supplies and resources if you don’t want to pick through the post to find them:

• Happy Planner Teacher Planner

• Big Happy Planner Hardcover

• Mildliner Highlighters

• Avery round stickers

• Avery rectangle stickers

• Colorful tiny dot stickers

• Icon stickers from FayeCreates

• Sarra Cannon’s 90-Day planning videos

See you next time!

My Favorite Podcasts & A Few Updates

It's been a busy week over here. I'm writing, writing, writing, which means I'm a little behind on everything else. :) But I wanted to pop up this afternoon to share a few things.

One, next Tuesday is release day for the Loving on the Edge novella boxed set! This is a set of all four Loving on the Edge novellas rolled into one. That's a lot of content, y'all, because I write long ass novellas. So I hope you'll grab a copy!

Next up, I've been reporting in on my choices each month from the Book of the Month club. So here's what I grabbed this month. In addition to the new release choices, they also offer some hand selected bonus choices of older books. So the first one I'm tackling, Ready Player One, is one of those. The premise grabbed me right away. It's the year 2044 and we're all living our lives through a video game (which frankly doesn't seem that far fetched with how we are with our phones now.) But the inventor of the video game dies and leaves behind a contest to win his billions. Players have to figure out a puzzle in the game to win, and the puzzle is all about 1980s references. So being a child of the 80s, I'm loving that.

If you're interested in checking out the Book of the Month club, you can get 30% off with my link and a free tote bag. (That's an affiliate link but it gets you a discount and me extra books, so win-win.) :)  

Next, I know I'm behind the curve on this one, but I've recently discovered the joy of podcasts. I generally try to avoid talk radio, especially with this insane election season, but I love information and learning new things, so podcasts are a great option because there's no news and minimal commercials. Also, you can pick specifically what you want to hear about and listen on your own schedule. I find them soothing to listen to while I get ready for the day or do dishes. And like I said, I'm still new to this, but here are some of the ones I've been enjoying. (Be warned, I'm a junkie for productivity, self-improvement, books, and writing, so these choices will reflect that.)

1. Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Y'all already know I love her books and have gotten a lot out of them. Her podcast sticks to her topics of happiness and habits, but goes more in depth. She does the podcast with her sister and they're a good team. Fun to listen to and helpful.

2. 10% Happier with Dan Harris

Like I mentioned earlier this week, I recently read Dan's book on meditation for skeptics and it really clicked with me. His podcast brings in interesting people who speak on the topics of meditation and happiness. 

3. Beyond the To List

This is more productivity focused but covers a range of different aspects. I've only listened to a few so far but I've enjoyed them.

4. This is Your Life with Michael Hyatt

This is another productivity one, and though it focuses on leadership and business stuff, Hyatt comes from a publishing background, so I find a lot of the advice helpful even though I work from home in a creative profession and not in an office.

5. The Minimalists

Minimalism has fascinated me for a few years now. I wouldn't call myself a minimalist yet, but I take lessons from it and try to apply it to my life. two years ago I did a full gutting of my house because of minimalism, lol. And recently after watching their documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, I ended up with three large garbage bags of clothes to give to Goodwill (even though I'm not even a clothes person and should never had had that much!) So I find listening to them helps re-inspire me when I fall off the wagon a bit. This is especially good stuff to listen to as we go into the holiday season.

6. Smart Podcast, Trashy Books

If you're familiar with the book review site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, this one will be familiar to you. If you love the website, you'll love the broadcast. All about romance reading. :)

7. Magic Lessons by Elizabeth Gilbert

I read Big Magic at the beginning of this year and got a lot out of it. The book was about living a creative life without fear. This podcast is more about the things covered in the book with interviews and special guests.

So how about you, are you a podcast listener? Have any recommendations? 

Personality Types & To Do Lists

This week I sat down with my nicely organized and detailed planner and looked at my daily list. It wasn't anything unexpected or overly daunting (okay, writing new words is always daunting, but that's always on my list so I'm used to it.) However, I found myself digging in my heels about doing the smallest things on the list. Box up a book prize. Schedule a dentist appointment for my son. Set up flu shots. I looked at the list and just DID NOT WANT TO DO THE THINGS.

On Tuesday, I was supposed to schedule some appointments and maybe blog. Instead, I decided to completely clean out my closet. Something that I wouldn't have done if it had been on the To Do list. :-/

And I've found that it happens a lot for me. I LOVE my planner. I love setting it up each week and knowing what's coming. But for some reason, once a task is written down on a particular day, I resist. Now, usually, that means I'm still going to get it done, but not that day. For instance, this week, 80% of the nagging, non-writing tasks were done this morning (Friday). 

So it got me to thinking again about personality and habits. Why do I feel this resistance? And it reminded me of a book I'd read earlier in the year--Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin. It's a book about habits but within it, there's a framework describing how we approach things/tasks in our lives. Rubin refers to them as the Four Tendencies. She's writing a full book about just the tendencies that isn't out yet (and that I'm very excited about), but Better Than Before covers them in overview and her podcasts and blogs go into more detail. 

Basically, there are four types according to Gretchen Rubin:

Upholders - They meet both inner and outer expectations without having to fight too hard to do it. If they set a goal for themselves, they meet it. If their boss sets a goal for them, they meet it.

Obligers - They meet outer expectations but struggle to meet inner expectations. Basically, these are the "givers". They'll do anything for others to the point of wearing themselves out, but if they set goals for themselves, they let themselves down often. They need outer accountability to keep them on track.

Questioners - They'll meet inner expectations but will only meet outer expectations if they makes sense to them. This is my husband. He wants to know, "Why?" Why am I doing this? Why is this rule this way? Why is this procedure done this way? If he doesn't buy into the answer, he won't do it.

Rebels - Resists inner and outer expectations. One of the podcasts had a listener who summed up the rebel motto as "You can't make me, and neither can I." Lol. Rebels only do things they WANT to do, that they find enjoyable, or that someone matches up with their identity.

To find out your type if you're unsure, you can go here and take Gretchen's free quiz.

When I first read the book, I thought I was an Upholder because, in general, I've always considered myself a rule follower. I was a straight A student. I did well at jobs. If the sign says, Don't Walk, I don't. My husband, on the other hand, will walk if there are no cars coming.

However, after looking at it more deeply and listening to her podcasts for better understanding, I looked back on this year and things through my life and realized--I'm a rebel. A quiet one. In my head, I imagined rebels to be more out there, easily identified. But I'm an introvert. I like to fly under the radar (hence the rule following in public.) But I rebel quietly. I've never enjoyed having a boss, so I followed my passion and became a writer. And not just a writer, but a writer of erotic romance, which is a rebellion in and of itself. I wasn't a straight A student to please anyone. I liked school. I liked being called smart. That was part of my identity, which apparently is a key for rebels--to make something part of how you define yourself. And through my life, I've consistently done my own thing. I don't work hard to fit in. If I do, great. If I don't, *shrug*. But if you met me, you'd never think--ooh, super rebellious. 

But how does this play into To Do lists and productivity?

For me, I'm learning that the easiest way to get me not to do something is to tell me to do it. I might have wanted to do it, but once I'm told I must, I'm out. It's not a conscious thing but it's consistent.

So, for instance, obligatory reading. Y'all know I love reading more than anything and always have. But, the books we were assigned in school? I read Cliff's notes. I could never really pinpoint why except that I knew I didn't want to read that ASSIGNED book, no matter what it was. And the same thing has happened when my agent or an editor has asked me to read another author's book for a potential endorsement. As soon as I agree, I suddenly don't want to read the book even if it's a book I would've picked up on my own to read. I already hate it. Now it is an obligation. So I've learned to stop saying yes to those and instead, if I read a book that I loved and the author may benefit from an endorsement, I will write one and send it to the author or their agent in case they want to use it. Because then it's on my terms. No one asked me to do it. (This is also why I don't accept book review requests on this blog.) Weird, I know. Frustrating to me to, but it seems to be how I'm wired.

Now in that same scenario, if you are an Upholder, you would read the book on time and get the endorsement there with no problem. If you are an Obliger, you'd read the whole book on time even if you hated it, and then you'd feel guilty if you didn't like it and would probably still give an endorsement so you don't hurt anyone's feelings. If you're a questioner, you'd read the book if you thought it was something you might enjoy, and you'd only finish and endorse it if you loved it.

So what I'm learning for To Do lists is that maybe me writing them down is setting off my big NOPE gene. "You're not going to tell me what to do, planner." And as a rebel, it's odd that I have a planner at all, but one of the keys to getting a rebel to do something is to make it fun or make it something that is part of their identity. I've made planners a hobby. It's decorative. It's fun. If I just had some plain planner, I wouldn't use it. But anyway, someone in one of the podcasts suggested Rebels could make a "Could Do" list, not tying things to a day. "These are the things I could do today..." I may try that next week. Make one big list in my Inkwell Press (pictured above) and do the tasks that I'm in the mood for each day and record that in my Day Designer as I go. I need to trick myself, which is sad, but it is what it is. And each tendency has to trick themselves in some way. 

But if you're an Upholder, To Do lists will be your jam. You want all the gold stars. Obligers might dread the To Do lists because you know once you write it down, you will be COMPELLED to do it and will feel bad until you do. Questioners will use To Do lists if it makes sense to them (my hubs is not big on them.)

So this is only one aspect I'm applying the tendencies toward, but it's food for thought. I love thinking about this stuff and trying to come up with more effective ways to do things. So I highly recommend the Better Than Before book and the Happier podcasts if you want to learn more.

Has anyone else read the book? Or if you take the quiz, what tendency are you? Are you surprised? Do you know without taking the quiz?

7 Reasons Why I Use a Paper Planner

I post about planners a lot. I know many of you probably think I'm ridiculous. And I am--unapologetically. But even though decorating my planner has become my hobby (some people scrapbook, I buy washi and planner stickers), I don't do this for the relaxing hobby. That's just a side benefit. The real reason I use one is because it's vital to my day. I'm running a business, writing, and being a wife and mom. It's a lot to keep track of.

But why a paper planner?

1. I have the memory the size of a garden pea.

I blame pregnancy. After I had my son, I think he took my memory with him because he can remember EVERYTHING (like to a freakish degree.) And I can't remember last week. But if I don't write something down, it's gone. The planner keeps me from forgetting the important stuff.

2. Electronic calendars don't work for everyone.

Yes, they have all kinds of fancy calendar and productivity apps and programs. That's what I tried to use before this. I learned quickly that once it's typed in, it's dead to me. I'm extremely visual so if it's not in my face, it doesn't exist. And when I set reminders, I'd just close them and then forget again. However, once I write something in my planner, even if it's not in front of me, I remember things better. Research has shown that writing things down helps us remember them and process them better, so there's some science to that. 

3. I can't hide from it. 

Yes, technically I can close my planner, but I don't. It sits open in front of me all day. There is no ignoring it. I can see clearly what I should be doing and that "mess around on twitter" is not on the To Do list.

4. Checking things off is highly satisfying.

It just is. I do something. Check mark! Maybe this comes from being a please-the-teacher student as a kid. I want the A. I want that checkmark. I don't want to look down at the end of the day and be left with a bunch of empty boxes and pending items.

5. Planning out each week makes me more intentional with my time.

Instead of sitting down and thinking, What should I do today? I already have my plan in front of me. On Sunday every week, I sit down with my planner and map out the week. Yes, there are surprises that will come up, but I have an outline of what I want to get done that week. How many words I need to write. Who I need to email. What promo I need to do. When I need to blog. What I'm cooking for dinner. What's going on with the family. With all those decisions out of the way, it clears my mind to do what I need to do and to be creative.

6. It keeps a visual record.

When did I turn in that thing? When did we go on that trip? I told you about my memory. So it's very helpful to have a physical record of what I've done. I can look back and see how many words I wrote in a month, what derailed me, where my time went, etc. And flipping through pages is way easier than scanning through an electronic calendar looking for that stuff.

7. Pretty things motivate me.

This may not be important to everyone, but for me, having something lovely that holds my plan makes me more likely to use it and stick with it. I look forward to decorating it and making it fun. It makes me smile when I see it. 

Those are my main reasons, but there are so many more. The key is finding what works best for YOU. My husband is a die hard electronic calendar guy and it totally works for him. (He also has a great memory, so that helps.). Other people rather a simple list on a steno pad. Whatever works.

But if you want to give the pretty planner a try, it's launch season for 2017 planners. Here are a few that launched this week and some others. (IWP and Day Designer are affiliate links but I don't rec anything I haven't bought for myself and loved. And I haven't been asked to feature them.)

New 2017 Planners

1. Inkwell Press (Get 10 dollars off with my link)

This is my planner of choice right now and is the one I've stuck with the longest. I just ordered my 2017 one and I couldn't be more excited. Gorgeous design. Thick paper. And the layout totally works for me. I use the three boxes each day for Blog post, Dinner, and Word Count (see the pic at top of post), but you can use them for whatever you want, which is the beauty. And I divide each day down down the middle to separate appointments or events (on the left) and my to do list (on the right.) 

2. Day Designer

I used Day Designer for a while and it's a beautiful planner and is perfect for someone who needs a daily layout instead of a weekly. So if you have a lot of daily appointments or you like to write out your full schedule along with your to do list, this is a great option. It's also nice to track your time after the fact to see where your day went.

3. Happy Planner

You can get these at Michael's and Hobby Lobby, often with a 40% off coupon. They are colorful with great paper and designs. It's also a disc bound system so you can move pages around. I used a Happy Planner for a while and really liked it, but eventually figured out that a horizontal layout worked better for me than vertical. They've since come out with a horizontal but I like the Inkwell Press layout better still. This is a great option though and is cheaper than many of the others.

4. Erin Condren

I haven't personally used an Erin Condren, but I've looked at them at Staples and they are lovely. They are also the first brand that launched the decorative planner thing.

5. Plum Paper Planner

This is another one I haven't used but have heard great things about. You can customize with a number of different layout options and I've heard the paper is very high quality.

Hope that helps! Anyone getting a new planner for 2017? Do you use a planner? An electronic calendar? How do you keep your life straight? 

The Joy (and Lesson) of Finally Tackling a "Someday" To Do Item

There are To Do Items and then there are the "Someday I'd like to..." items. Many times those someday items are big, lofty things like, "I'd like to travel through Europe" or "I'd like to write a book series about (insert thing that is not what I'm currently writing)" or "I'd like to live in a cabin in the mountains (with full internet and amenities, of course.)" Those things are great to have. Lofty things can be accomplished. Once upon a time, I said, "I'd like to be a full-time writer." So those someday items are vital. Stretch goals. Dreams. Brass rings. All that.

But there's also this other kind of someday item--the annoying type that you really would like to have done but don't actually look forward to doing them. You want the result, not the stress/work/process of getting there. Painting my office was one of those items for me.

I've been having the same color on the walls of my office for almost ten years. And it wasn't the color I would've picked in the first place because my office was originally in a different room (which eventually got turned into my son's room when he was born.) But I was DREADING the process of painting the room. Because not only would all the furniture need to be moved, but there are three bookcases and about 600 books in here, AND the high, oddly angled ceiling would have to be painted, too. Fun times.

But after doing all this goal-setting and planner buying and digital detoxing for the new year, I realized--now is the time. I needed to break down the overwhelming job into a list of doable tasks (pick out a paint color, get supplies, clear out the office, etc.)  and then rip off the bandaid. I could do this. This is a fresh start to the year and my office should be refreshed, too. I spend at least 40 hours a week in this room. I should like it.

So on Sunday morning I woke up and told hubs, "I think I'm going to paint my office today. Do you think I could do it by myself?"

Hubs, being the gentleman that he is (and probably fearing for my safety and his sanity), said, "Maybe. But why don't we tackle it together?" So we did. Finally. Here's the two-day journey in snapshot form.

The Before: 

Tan walls. Dark curtains. I think I was creating a literal writer's cave because with only one window, I definitely wasn't doing anything to help spread light around.

Unloading 600 books is super fun. My hallways looked like a used bookstore warehouse. This is about 25% of what I unloaded off the shelves.

After an hour of working on the ceiling, I was beginning to question why I'd taken this on. 

Why did I bring this upon myself again? And why did the builder think it was fun to do angles and rounded edges on these ceilings?

Eight hours later. We were exhausted and thought we were done. (Little did we know that when we woke up Monday morning, the bright daylight would bring us a gift--the ceiling needed a second coat.)

This was our celebratory, "We're done!" pic Sunday night. But Monday we ended up having another 4 hours of work ahead of us, lol.

BUT when we finished, this is what I ended up with. :)

The After:

My Day Designer looks like it was born to be there. :)

The pic makes the wall look a little green here but it's a pale grayish blue.

The color is called Sleepy Blue (by Sherwin Williams). Hopefully, that doesn't mean I'll be sleeping in my office. :) But it's very calming and it makes the whole room bigger and brighter. So in the end, the 12 hours of work was SO worth it. And now I'm kicking myself for waiting this long. What's 12 hours in the grand scheme of things? Plus, hubs and I got to hang out and laugh at each other as the two of us tried to figure out the best way to do all this. (Neither of us are handy in any way. We're the people who fall off ladders and step in paint trays.)

So though it was a minor thing of changing a wall color, it was a lesson for me. GET THE SOMEDAY STUFF OFF THE TO DO LIST. Break the thing down into tasks that seem manageable and start checking off the tasks. Often the dread of the entire thing keeps us from even attempting, but usually it's not as bad as we've built it up to be. And even if it is a pain, it all has a finish line. It'll be over and done soon enough, and then you'll get to enjoy the results for much, much longer. I just had to ask myself--is the end product going to be worth the work to get there? If the answer is yes, I need to go for it instead of procrastinating it so long it ends up on the Never list.

Do you have things on your Someday To Do list that you dread doing? What's keeping you from tackling it?