Planner Tour ft. Day Designer + Time Management Tips

It’s not easy being a modern woman of the 21^st century. It’s awesome that in the present, women are encouraged to seek out careers, pursue higher education, and start families at the same time, but that's a lot! The modern woman needs to be organized, goal set, make a hair appoitment after she launches her online biz, schedule time with her girl tribe, oh and fit in a bubble bath at some point. So, today we are going to be talking all about how to keep the go-getter gal organized and thriving. 

I don't know about you, but I absolutely live for planners and list making so it's no surprise that I love binging planner reviews + how to plan posts. #TypeA #Nerd This is my second year using Day Designer and it definitely didn't disapoint. I have the Midyear 2017 Flagship Planner in Marble. Again if you know anything about me, then you know that me having a marble planner is NO surprise! I have finally come up with a system that works for me that is super simple. Major props to those Instagram worthy color coding + sticker obssesed planners, because I am definitely not one of them. :)
Day Designer is the ULTIMATE planner. Everything that pops into my head gets written in my planner, from blog posts, biz ideas, goals, to reminders of new episodes of Shark Tank.When choosing and organizing a planner it all comes down to personal preference and what works for your lifestyle and goals. You kow how athletes have sponsors, well I'd like to be sponsored by Day Desinger (& Starbucks). So, let's unpack this planner!

| Who Is Day Designer |
In case you've been living under a rock or are new to the planner world, Day Designer is a highly organized day planner that allows you to create goals and tasks that align with those goals. Whitney English created Day Designer because she was tired of feeling disorganized and dysfunctional, and she couldn’t find a planner anywhere to remedy the problem. She wanted a planner that kept her focused, but also allowed her to be grateful for her life. So she created a planner with an organized, clean layout so her life could reflect those values.

| Is It Worth The Price |
When talking about my love for this planner a common question is if it's worth the higher price end for a planner that you are most likely going to throw out after a year. The short and sweet answer is YES! I get it, sixty dollars is a lot and probably not the amount you were expecting when searching for a planner. But DD isn't your ordinary daily planner. It's a lifestyle organizer. You are paying for high quality materials. After the first year of using my DD, and toting it around from desk to purse and coffee shop to airplane, it was still holding up! Of course there were a few scratches on the cover from all the junk in my purse, but the spine wasn't busted and the pages weren't ripped! Five stars in my book! So, yes the price might by little up there, but you honestly get what you pay for and this little planner will become your new BFF.

| Why I love Day Designer |
1. The aesthetically pleasing yet simplistic design. Hello it's a MARBLE pattern!!!
2. It's perfect for college students, corporate world, bloggers, and entreprenuers. Basically anyone who want's an organized life. 
3. There's a page for each day of the week with a column for 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. schedule and a 17-item long to-do list next to it.
4. Space for you to write your top three tasks for the day. This is for the big things that help you stay focused on your goals and intentions and prioritize your activities for the day. 
5. Space for random notes and what you’re grateful for that day.
6. I never run out of space to write down appointments or things I need to do even the busiest days.
7. It's sturdy and still looks great after carrying it essentially everywhere. 
8. There's a front pocket to hold important pages or receipts. 
9. There is a whole section at the beginning of it just for goal setting.
10. It acts like a daily journal that you can look back on after a year of jotting daily tasks and achievements.

 
| How I Plan My Day Designer |
Monthly Pages: I use the monthly layout to add birthday's, anniversaries, trips, & any events that occur monthly. I also add my goals for the month on the column provided on the left hand page.
Weekly Pages: I first plan each day by writing my top three goals. Then I'll write hour by hour activites I have planned. My favorite part about planning my days is the to-do list column. This is where I will brain dump everything I need to get done. Once a task is accomplished I'll write a check mark with my yellow highlighter. If a task didn't get done I'll write an arrow towards the next day with my highlighter. If I end up canceling an event or task, I'll draw a line through it. Also, I write everything in my planner with a black ink pen. I like my planner to be clean and easy to read so I have found that using a black pen and yellow highlighter is the perfect combo for me organizng my days. 
Extras: I created labels to track my daily water intake. In the daily layout where there's a spot to write dinner plans, I cover that up with the water lables. The labels have four water drops that represent 20 ounces each. My daily goal is 80 ounces a day. I'll color in a drop with the yellow highlighter each time 20 ounces is consumed. 

| 3 Time Management Tips |

1. 168 Hours Exercise.
Everyone from Oprah to your college roommate have the same hours in the day. Have you ever sat down and thought out about how you spend your hours during the day? The 168 Hours Exercise will help you see how you really spend your time.
 

There are 24 hours in a day X 7 days a week = 168 hours

Step 1: Write down the amount of hours per week you spend on each activity:

• Sleeping (example: 7hours/night = 7 hrs x 7 nights = 49 hours/week)
• Eating (example: 3hours/day = 3 hrs x 7 days = 21 hours/week)
• Working
• Blogging
• Working Out
• Spend on Netflix, social media, surfing the internet
• Etc.

Step 2: Add up all of those hours example: Sleeping (49 hours) + Eating (21 hours) + Working (40 hours) +... = (Total Number of Hours)  

Step 3: Subtract the total from 168 hours. The number you’re left with is the amount of time/the capacity you have to either commit to new opportunities or spend relaxing. example: 168 hours - (Total Number of Hours) = (Hours you have left in a week)

  

Is there an activity or a new side hustle you’ve been wanting to do but didn’t think you had the time for? Seeing how many hours you spend vs. have left during the week can help you manage your workload and also help you determine if you can commit more time to new activities. 

2. Find your best time.
Not everyone can jump out of bed in the mornings and get to work. Not everyone can do his or her best work from 1 am-4 am. When are you the most focused? Morning, afternoon, or night?
Don't spend your BEST time watching television. Spend your best time focusing on what is the most important to you right now - launching your business, blog photo shoots and gaining clients. 

3. Carve out YOU time.
No matter how busy you are, remember to carve out time for yourself.  You know how much you can handle until you turn into a stress magnet. Whether it's taking a bubble bath or getting your nails done, take the time for yourself. Personally, my "me time" is early in the morning when I do my self-care morning routine. I also find me time when I run, walk and exercise. Sometime you need to schedule in times to rest, relax, and rejuvanate. The key to being able to accomplish more actually starts with taking care of yourself. 

What planner are you useing? Any time management tips you live by?