Planners Archives - Living Above the Noise

Fear Of Planning — It’s A Real Thing!

January 25, 2019 By livingabovethenoise

Guess what?! There really is such a thing as the fear of planning! You know that feeling — you want to fill out the next week in your planner but you’re gripped with panic from not knowing what to put on your to-do list. You feel the apprehension of putting something on a wrong day and risking it won’t get done. Then what?!

Teleophobia, also spelled “Telophobia,” is the unreasonable and irrational fear of making definite plans and may also extend to the fear of religious rituals, such as weddings, funerals, and Sunday services. It is seemingly related to a fear of losing control and is similar to the fear of confinement or of making commitments. The person feels restricted or tied down by other people’s agendas.

Oh my, do I know what this fear feels like! I’ve always been hesitant to move forward in my plans — I guess it’s my “hyper-responsible” tendency always wanting to do the “right” thing! But by committing to a year of planning, I’m actually overcoming my fear and finding it’s getting easier to go with the flow and just get things done!

My Start Of The Year — It Didn’t Go Off With A Bang!

We’re finally got Christmas “put away” in our house with January winding down! Yup…we took our time! ;) But time and circumstances (and still enjoying the twinkling lights!) slowed us w-a-y down as our family and extended family got the virus RSV. Not a good thing to get sick when all I wanted is do was run into the New Year!

But you know what? The longer I live, the more I understand the secret to being content — knowing I’m not in control. So I’m okay with this slowdown and plans not going my way. I’m learning to get the best out of each situation (it’s taken decades!). The mantras all around us say, “Be your own boss.” and “No matter what, you can make anything happen.” Yet, you and I know we aren’t really in control of it all. God is. We do have limitations. (Sorry to burst your bubble.)

Don’t Be Discouraged!

Every day we have way more control than I’m sure we actually like! But not total control.

We have control over what we add to our to-do list and onto our schedules.
We have control over how we handle the multitude of responsibilities in our sphere of influence.
And we have control over how we handle what doesn’t go our way.

So press on…

Be encouraged to get on with it.
Get excited to begin the year running.
Don’t be afraid to have lots of goals.
Just don’t expect it to go exactly the way you expected when you wrote in those little boxes in your planner! Really, it’s o-k-a-y!

Picture This!

Picture how discouraging it is when you have a great plan underway but then you get sick — or your cat gets hurt and that means a trip to the vet — or you get a flat tire — or the dishwasher backs up just as you were planning to get those thank-you notes written, or clean the closets, or create your business plan! Life happens.

But here’s the thing —

In order to know what to do every day we need a plan, and that starts with having goals.
To turn goals into reality, we have to list out the necessary tasks.
To get those tasks done, they need to go on a calendar, and preferably on a specific week or day!
Here’s the kicker — the reality is this — we will see things get bumped on our schedule. And often.

But you know what the really important thing is? How we deal with those bumps is what matters the most! My response to things not going my way gives me a hint of what’s really important to me. (Take time to answer these questions – it’s good for us to see what’s really behind our actions.)

When I’m frustrated with my messed up plan…

Is it that I really wanted a perfect schedule over a practical one?
Possibly I just want things to go my way and not anyone else’s?
Could it be that I want to be more like ______ than who I am right now? (You stick in whoever comes to mind that you value or even secretly idolize.)
Maybe I think life should look one way when God really wants me to evaluate what’s most important in life (and it might not be that perfectly Pinterest bedroom ;)

Go Ahead — Plan Anyway

Be flexible. Don’t stress. Plan anyway.

Think about all the explorers, scientists, and inventors who made headway one day only to have their plans disrupted the next. The key is — it didn’t stop them!

Envisioning a better day or life or relationship will move us forward. We’re like the explorers — we’re just exploring our own life and where we’re headed. It might not turn out exactly how we planned or perfectly on our timetable, but we are moving forward. So stay the course!

My Planning This Month

I got so busy last month that I missed posting my planner progress. Yes, I was not organized and let Christmas prep get the best of me! But I did have one goal — to enjoy the month celebrating with family and friends. We clocked in 6 parties in December, had 34 people in our home for New Year’s and each party and person was enjoyed to the fullest. So in the end, it was a win!

My encouragement for you:

Don’t let the Fear of Planning stop you. ~ Failure to meet your goals or “shoulds” is okay. ~ Use them to Fuel you! ~ Look for the Wins.

Even though I have yet to find the perfect planner (hah – surprise, surprise!) I do love the planning pages at the start of each month in Ruth Soukup’s *Living Well Planner. (see above pic) They encourage me to dream a bit, set time aside to look at reality and what I want to get done, plus I can review my past months to see how well I did! Highly recommended. (More posts on planners, here and here.)

So, here’s to the New Year, one that produces joy and success for each one of you, in your own way and your own timing!

The mind of man plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

*Zero pressure from us to purchase anything, but if you make a purchase through one of these links, you will help to support the work we do here at Living Above The Noise.

3 Steps To Stop The Chaos…Why You Need A Plan!

September 25, 2018 By livingabovethenoise

Are You Guilty Of Creating Chaos?

Did you know you can create chaos through lack of planning? Does a feeling of insanity ever come to mind? Then this post is for you—the eternally busy person with lots of to-do’s in their day, lots of people in their life, and lots of ideas in their mind. Somehow, some way, you need to make a plan. You need to get all the details of life organized so you can live above all the noise!

What’s the reward? Organization and order which bring calm, peace, and sanity.

You will gain sanity through planning.

Life’s busy for all of us, but the extent of that “busy” will depend on your season of life and your personality. If you have lots of ideas, goals, dreams, and projects you know what I mean when I talk of chaos and stress. And you need this post! If you enjoy a more simple lifestyle, you may not have big goals and lots of projects. For you, order comes more naturally. This post will help you stay sane when the busier seasons of life come.

I’m not a person who organically finds order in my day—but I crave it as I juggle all my responsibilities. Because I’m in the trenches like you, I’m seeking that balance between my always-saying-yes-to-great-opportunities personality and the reality that I need some structure and routine in my life! It’s given me plenty of opportunities to learn about planning, goal setting, brainstorming, planners, and more.

How about you? Do you want the peace of mind that comes from choosing to use your time well? But where do you start? Let me share some of what I’ve learned along the way!

Planning — Let’s Start With The “Why’s”

As you work through these steps and think hard about what it will take to accomplish your goals, you’ll discover activities or belongings that are just keeping you busy. They aren’t really helping you. You’ll see other things that stand out as really important. Sifting the time-wasters out of your life will help you turn down the noise in your own corner of the world!

#1 — First Things First – Why You Need A Plan

We all need a place to record our calendar items, the dates and times for events. Don’t just hope you’ll remember. Record them somewhere or you’ll forget one of them. Don’t ask how I know! :o)

When we know what’s next on our plate, it’s so much easier to enjoy the meal. Right?!

My Living Well Planner just arrived! I am so excited to have a new space to not only keep track of my events and to-do’s—but to plan and develop a system to reach my goals this year. (You’ll see what’s on my goals list below!)

Why am I so excited to get my planner? I love the motivation of starting fresh with a new perspective! My tendency is to write a to-do list or a brainstorm list (like everyone tells you to). Then, I get lazy. I use the list to choose what I feel like doing—then I record what I did in my day. Note the past tense verb! No planning. Just a list of to-do’s, then haphazard actions toward getting them done, and recording what I did in my planner. All with the hope they were the best things to get done. Argh. But there is a better way!

Here’s a little side story of how habits can stop serving us. My daughter-in-law happened to hear me talking about how this year I’m going to actually use my planner to plan, not just record what I did on a day. She outright laughed! She said, “You mean you write down what you did after you did it?!” That’s when I realized I’d been operating on pre-cell-phone-era habits. Back when the only way to remember life’s events was to write them down. With email, Instagram, and Facebook we don’t need to keep track anymore. We have a constant record of times and dates of events!

In what ways are you operating on old habits? Remember, a planner isn’t just a glorified calendar. It’s actually for planning all those activities ahead of time! Novel idea, huh?!

If you’re new to organizing and using a planner, this post will help you see even more benefits of planning. You can learn about all the different styles of planners here. My recent post, Time to Get Organized, has lots of helpful links and ideas to get you started thinking about the bigger picture of your life.

#2 — The Importance of Having Goals & Finding Accountability

Like the song from Sound of Music, “Let’s start at the very beginning.” A really good place to start is with what you want to accomplish…this year, in the next five years, or beyond. Your goal could be as simple as “clean out all my closets” or as complicated as “get my doctorate degree.” Based on the amount of time needed to do it, work your way backward using a calendar to see when you need to get started in order to make it happen! (The “How” steps in my next post will make this less overwhelming. I promise!)

You’ll quickly discover you need a place to map out your course. Plus, it’s easy to miss the important step of how to stay on track with those goals. A planner is the perfect tool for self-accountability…

…but we often miss another driving factor—outside accountability. Share your plans and goals with a like-minded friend, your spouse, or kids! It will motivate you to stay on track. The pressure of commitment helps you remember you were actually headed somewhere. Plus, you’ll gain a new perspective.

Let that special “someone” in on your plan to get organized, reach for a dream, or hit the bullseye on a goal. When you talk through your ideas, you’ll actually hear what you’re saying out loud, which helps hone your thoughts. Plus, that person wants to help you stay on track especially if they have something you can help them accomplish. Find your “someone” and let them in on your dreams!

Here are my goals for 2018-2019:

Really use my planner to bring order out of the chaos of having too many things to do and not enough time to do them.
Gain order in my home after 16 months of moving in and remodeling.
Update and revise this blog — hone my message; reach more readers with encouragement and ideas, develop great tools to help them live above the noise.
Write a book! This is one scary goal to share! Over the years, friends encouraged me to write a book using my experiences and ideas. My book is for parents—to help them realize their potential in teaching their kids to think, love learning, be responsible, along with discovering their child’s individual “why.” I also love to encourage the entrepreneur in people, so we’ll see where I fit that in!
Develop discipline to stay on course with my responsibilities, goals, and my plan.

Okay, so are you ready to get accountable for your goals? Share them! Write them on your Facebook page or post in the comments below. Accountability is good for us—it encourages us to know other people are hiking over the same rough terrain we are. We root for them while they cheer us on! Let’s get going on our goals together!

#3 — The Importance of Having A Planner — And Using It!

You know the old adage, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” It’s a no-brainer. The busier life gets the more we need to plan. A plan keeps things from slipping through the cracks. Remember, all the stuff accumulating on our list along with those last-minute fire drills keep us from working on our bigger goals. We get sidetracked and forget what’s important! Planning actually helps you weed out the unimportant and it quiets your to-do list!

So…the solution? Get that planner! Take it from an over-analyzer. Just decide. I’ve used lots of planners over the years, but I’ve never found the perfect one. I’d procrastinate for months on end, trying to find the one planner suited just for me and my season. I’ve tried to save money by designing my own. But doing so much research always puts me behind. I’m finally realizing something. It doesn’t have to be perfect! And I don’t have to do all the work! Ahhh. (You’ll find free ready-made planner templates at Canva or you can choose from a variety of pre-made planners.)

In the 2nd picture in this post, I’m using Ruth Soukup’s weekly and daily planning pages (you can find them in her planner and on her website. I don’t have the routine down yet, but because PROGRESS is my word this year I’m committed to working on self-discipline and gaining order in my day! Messing up isn’t going to stop me. Don’t let it stop you, either!

Don’t forget this!

When we think it should be easy, we set ourselves up for disappointment when the going gets tough.

The solution? Expect reshaping habits to be painful. Don’t let the pain stop you from reaching for your goals.

Remember, the reward is sweet!

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

No pressure to purchase anything, but if you make a purchase through one of these links, you will help to support the work I do here at Living Above The Noise. Thanks!

School’s Starting! – You Need To Plan For the Perfect Day

August 19, 2018 By livingabovethenoise

It’s that time of year again! Where did summer go?! No more vacay — it’s time to get organized!

This time last year I decided to start REALLY using my planner — not just for recording lists and what I did for the day. But to REALLY plan my life, my year, my days!

I turned my journey into a Year-Long-Planner Challenge and encouraged my readers to share it with me. The accountability of going public pushed me (and you) to succeed! If you’re up for a challenge this year — to get your life in order and stop procrastinating on dreams, goals, and responsibilities — please join me again this year!

Resources To Help You Get Organized

I’ve tried lots of planners over the years and I finally narrowed them down to what actually works for me. Read this post to find out the benefits of using a planner — and this post to see several different planner styles and how they might fit your needs and personality.

The key? — Find the planner style to work for your personality!

The sky’s the limit online — hundreds of creative ideas for organizing your dreams and goals. If you subscribe to my posts and newsletters, you’ll get tips and tricks from experts in goal setting and planning, plus a lot of encouragement!

I did a ton of planner research a few years ago, and here’s a few more favs:

The Big Happy Planner

A favorite with my daughters and me is the Big Happy Planner*. I especially prefer the long columns to plan out the day, along with sections for to-do lists, meal planning, etc. It has a monthly page for birthdays, goals, important dates, and a fun area to jot down activities you’re currently spending time on. The feature that makes it stand out from the rest — it’s disc binding which gives you the ability to move pages around or even add your own!

The Living Well Planner

I considered Ruth Soukup’s Living Well Planner for a few years but hesitated due to the cost. Good news! She has a great sales a few times a year plus a new design that includes bonus planning sheets. I’m a sucker for a good deal — plus I love taking charge of my days. I like this planner so much, I’m willing to help promote it (thus my affiliate clause at the end of this post) because I know it will encourage busy women to get organized!

Another reason I love Ruth’s planner* is the multitude of detailed videos and guides she offers to learn how to use a planner well.

You’ll learn how to:

Brainstorm your responsibilities and to-do’s
Choose Big Goals
Develop an Action Plan by breaking those big goals into bite-sized steps
Plan each week and day to get MORE accomplished with less time WASTED

You can find Ruth’s planning posts here and detailed pics of each planner page here. I can’t recommend these posts enough for motivating you to take action!

Are you ready to take back your days?
Get that to-do list checked off?
Start your planner challenge?

Accountability is KEY! Let’s do this — together!

*** If you’re serious, leave a comment, message me on Facebook, or jot me an email. ***

Start Here To Reach Your Goals

Planner Challenge To-Do List:

Research and decide which planner style you prefer. You can find my planner research in these posts: Goals of A Planner – A Necessary Part of Success here and Choosing A Planner – So Many Options here.
Listen to Ruth Soukup’s podcast on “How To Break Down Your Big Goals into a Plan That Works” here.
Read Ruth’s Goal Planning and The Magic of Thinking Big posts. They’re really helpful and I highly recommend them if you want to gain order in your life!

Let’s learn and grow together!

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8

*This asteric indicates that I may earn some compensation for these items IF you purchase through my website. I only share products I love and use personally! Thanks!

Choosing A Planner….So Many Options!

February 3, 2015 By livingabovethenoise

I know it’s February, but….it takes me a bit of time to get over the holidays and realize that the year is upon me! And then I have to research…. :)

It’s funny how we seek after some “thing” hoping it will “do the job.” I’ve wasted years searching for that “holy grail” and have finally come to understand something. It’s not the idea or product that gets the job done, but the person using it! That’s a duh! (Okay, I’m a bit slow.)

Now extend this reality to our topic of goal setting and planners.

When it come to goal setting and being organized, it’s not the planner, but the “D” word! DISCIPLINE. We user requires discipline to carry out any plan well.

A commenter on my post, Goals…and A Planner, A Necessary Part of Success, called it “determined to be disciplined.” I really like that!

First, we need to stop striving for the end-all—perfection—and instead, exert our efforts to being determined to live out our goals. It’s all about ATTITUDE.
Next, understand the process of getting things out of our heads and onto paper really helps ease our overwhelm.
Then it’s the actual doing that reaps the rewards of goals met. The process is what really gets us to the productive stage.

It’s simply the work of life. We can do this!

We just need a plan and a place to plan.

Planners Beaucoup! – (hint: /bōˈko͞o/)

Okay, so I promised I’d share what I discovered in my quest to find a planner or goal-setting product that would inspire me to get going this year. (Caveat: even as I’ve researched and launched into my new planner, I’m still learning just how easy it is to get carried away with details instead of just doing the work! Argh.)

I’ve listed some of my results below, both in options and favorites:

Pre-Decorated Planner (My Favorite!) – Mom’s On The Go Planner –

It’s all the trend to embellish planners with stickers, markers, and washi tape. This was new to me but looked like a lot of work. This planner has all the design work done for me, in a colorful, tactful display! You’ll find these planners at – In The Leafy Treetops. As you can see above, it’s a pretty planner (we girls like that!) complete with lots of creative pages to set goals (and these goals focus on much more than home management, like relationships with family, friends, and God. How great is that?!)

I’m really impressed and think it will help me love my planning time, and remind me of the importance God places on my responsibilities as a wife, mother, and friend. (The creator of this planner designed it for Mormon moms but offers one for non-Mormon moms. I got the Mormon mom one and will alter the pages designed for the LDS family for my homeschool/Bible study planning for our family.) I love this planner!

PS – I even bought washi tape and stickers to highlight some of my most important events. Pretty fun stuff!
PPS – Since using this planner for a few weeks, I can see that having one in a spiral (even though it’s beautiful, strong, and metal) is, for my OCD brain, a bit limiting….yikes…it’s excruciating! But I may take it out of the spiral, punch holes, and put it in my personal, adjustable, comfortable, binder! Ahhh…..smile.) You see, planners are only as good as they fit your personal style! Yes!

Popular Undecorated Planner – Erin Condren Planners –

These planners are extremely popular but expensive! They’re similar in content to the Mom’s On The Go planner, but they are not decorated at all. Just a simple page layout you can decorate if you want a pretty planner. Above is an example of a simple page decorated with washi tape, multi-colored pens, and stickers. Although you can use these planners simply, women have taken scrapbooking to a whole new level with these planners! You’ve got to check out some of these planners here! I guess the scrapbooking crowd just had to have a place to create!

Printable Planner Pages – The Polka Dot Posie

This Etsy shop has some attractive, printable planner pages already designed for you. They’re colorful and simple in design and include: monthly & weekly layouts, plus daily planning pages, notes, lists and journal pages, just the options I like in a planner. These work well if you have a personal, multi-ring planner and you want to arrange your planner to fit your needs. Just print what you need, punch holes to fit your planner, and you’re ready to get organized!

I recently started using Canva for my photo creations for my blog, Pinterest, and Facebook. But they have a nice variety of free planner templates to download. Check them out here!

(My penny pinching brain has a hard time wrapping around the copier ink needed to print these, or the cost of going to an office supply store to have them printed. I’ll have to work on that for next year because I still love being able to add a page here or take out one there!)

Basic Planner – The Homemakers Friend

There are many basic planners out there at reasonable prices, like these at Walmart and Target. I prefer to support the entrepreneur so The Homemaker’s Friend is a simple yet cute option and includes Scripture on many pages. It includes general task lists, monthly and weekly calendars, projects/events pages, shopping lists. I really like having a task list on the same page as the weekly calendar. I choose items from my general To-Do list to add to a specific week’s to-do list, planning out what tasks are best for what week. Plus, I really need to have an easy place to jot down those last minute to-do’s that come to mind! Here’s a post where Sue describes seven planner perks. Always nice to hear other’s perspective!

A Few Less Traditional Planning Methods

I may try these on for size in the coming years. They come from creative minds that are less concerned about tradition and seeking to pull from different styles of learning (think right vs. left brain).

Hand Drafted Planner – Bullet Journal

Bullet Journaling is the minimalist method of planning. Call it “freestyle” planning. You call the shots on what your planner looks like, how it’s laid out, what goes on what page and let it grow as the mood or need fits. You’ll find ways to keep your goals, tasks, and planning in easily used pages with: bullets, tasks, notes, events, monthly and daily calendar pages, and pages for collections of information, page numbers and indexing so you can find your all your info easily. Try it, you might just like it!

Brain Dump Style Planner – Planner Pads

Planner Pads has a practical and unique style of planning. I really like it. Just list out your project Warehouse (Brain dump of to-do’s) and funnel them down into the next row – your daily to-do’s. Below that, list our your daily appointments. Simple and easy way to prioritize, organize, and plan life activities.

Life Coach Style Planner – Passion Planner

Passion Planner is a great place to brainstorm and define life goals. It helps you create an action plan to start moving toward them. It offers plenty of space to get focused, declutter your mind, journal, manage your time, and challenge yourself to positively live your dreams.

It’s easy to find a multitude of ideas for planner types and styles. Just Google what type of planner page you’re looking for (weekly, monthly, daily) and wah-lah! Click “images” and you’ll have hundreds of pictures of planner ideas, then click on the image page to find how to use it, where to buy it, or copy for free or a small fee.

Pinterest has tons of ideas for planners, along with many sites you can click on to find ideas and videos to learn the best tips from those who use them well.

To Sum Up

Well, there you have it! I hope my research helped you discover some options for organizing your life. It’s so important to find a planner that fits your personality and needs. Remember….

It’s not about perfect or perfectly organized, it’s about viewing your work in a more productive way. When we gain fresh perspective about the necessity of what we do each day and throughout my week, it helps motivate and give confidence to do even better.

Let’s determine to make this the best and most productive year yet!