As a new school year begins, I’m preparing to purchase yet another planner with the hope of finally using it properly.
My planner usage has never been perfect. I need a successful planner plan.
Last year, I purchased a rather expensive planner that promised to help me stay organized, declutter, and be financially sound, while hopefully reducing my stress.
I wish I hadn’t spent the money, because I haven’t even had time to implement the things I need to (according to the planner) to be in a better place.
I can’t seem to find time in the day to open the silly thing, much less use it effectively. There are too many big things I need to get done just to survive. I recognize that if I truly wanted to…or tried to…or let go of something else I need to do…I could, in fact, open the planner.
I’m a little embarrassed to say, I actually have four planners…
- My book bag planner is the one I use most.
- My school planner is irrelevant because I run around so much that it is inevitably in the location I least need it at any given time.
- My purse planner is often missing in action and not in my purse.
- My home planner, AKA the expensive one, is overwhelming and just makes me feel like a failure.
I’m pretty sure that planner is silently judging me from the table. It knows it could be the answer to some of my disorganization issues. It probably thinks it has all the answers, and clearly, I need them.
It’s probably right. I need help.
What is it about that one planner that is so intimidating? And why in the world do I have so many? What is the reason that, despite all my efforts to be organized, I can’t actually get organized?
I ask those questions as if I don’t know the answers. I do.
One, I have too much going on in my life, and I’m constantly in triage mode.
And, two, I have too much stuff to organize. What I need is a dumpster, not another planner.
I say that knowing full well I will get another planner.
What will be different this time? I’m not exactly sure. As the new school year starts, maybe my planner plan will be to just use one planner, set more realistic goals, and put that judgmental planner in the trash. Let go of the guilt of spending a ridiculous amount of money on something that clearly didn’t match my style. I probably need to figure out my organizational style, too (if I actually have one)!
Ultimately, it isn’t really about the planners as much as it is about my attitude towards the day — and maybe my attitude towards the planner too.
I need to approach each day as a gift, an opportunity to use my time wisely and for the Lord.
Has anyone else been making this realization lately, too?
Regardless of my organizational style, if I’m open to God’s leading, my day will unfold in the direction He has determined, and it will end with me being blessed.
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