AN APPLE A DAY - DAY 121 OF 365 DAYS TO LIVING A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

GETTING ORGANIZED BY USING THE RIGHT CALENDARS/PLANNERS

Last week we spoke about how getting and keeping ourselves organized is one secret first step to staying healthy and stress-free.  

By completing one baby step at a time we can make this organizing process work in the favor of our good health all through the up-coming year.  If you follow the simple steps I'm gong to offer over the next six weeks in the Friday sessions of AN APPLE A DAY you will soon find yourself enjoying a very organized life!

You will be surprised at the burst of energy you will suddenly receive from using just these few and simple suggestions for getting organized.  Doctors around the world have now accepted the health benefits of leading an organized life as a medical fact.   WebMD addresses the problems of people who are feeling tired and unfocused in their work environment.  One simple solution is recommended. They suggest that the person stop whatever task they are presently working on and clean up and organize their desk.  This one task brings a burst of unexpected energy, and it is surprising how much easier it is for these people now to go back to focusing on their routine tasks.

  

We are simply taking this suggestion for organizing the desk one step further and applying it to our personal life as well as our work life.  Eventually, all of these baby steps for organizing will gel into good life-long habits that will help to make us all happier.

So; the baby step for this week is to begin to develop a daily habit of using a good calendar and a good personal planner as efficient tools for life organization.  The key word here is "use" not "buy."  If you buy them but do not use them you are simply wasting your time and money.    

Purchasing a good calendar may sound like a silly suggestion at first, because I know you probably have at least five to ten calendars just laying around your house right now, and you probably even check some of them from time to time.  That last part of my last statement is the key point!  Checking your calendar DAILY and USING it as a tool for staying organized is very important. 

Are you REALLY in the habit of checking your calendar for appointments, tasks and to-do lists every morning?  This is a must for an organized life.  

Do you REALLY write down those things that you need to remember during the day as they pop into your head; or are you trying to remember about two million random facts a day and forgetting to write them down on your calendar?  This will eventually cause you to be overwhelmed and stressed. You will eventually burn out.

There is a word used in Japan called "Karoshi"  which is literally translated to mean "death from overwork."  

Don't put your brain on Karoshi!  

The major medical problems caused by karoshi are heart attack and stroke due to stress.  By properly using the calendar and personal planner suggestions here you will be eliminating the constant stress of having to remember every little detail of every little thing you need to know for a healthy, happy, productive life every day of the year.  

In this one organizational step we eliminate a whole year's worth of constant stress.  We are not going to let that karoshi monster take over our lives!  Let's move on to getting our calendars and personal planners together! 

Once you develop the routine habit of USING these two tools (an actual physical personal planner that contains your daily calendar on paper and an on-line personal planner that keeps and organizes your more formal personal calendar) you will never want to go back to living without them!   

There is something wonderful about having everything all laid out, well planned, and scheduled in advance in an easy-to-use and orderly calendar.  There is a huge amount of satisfaction that comes from having one place that lists appointment times, contains your sorted to-do lists, and schedules your chores and daily tasks as well as your leisure time in the available time frame of the hours of your daily life in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.  

Suddenly your day becomes so much easier to manage!  

Who would know more about this subject of managing our "time" than the One who created all time?  

You might be surprised to learn how much the holy scriptures have to say about time-management.  It was Moses who said; "Teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom."  (Psalm 90:12)  Also the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30 illustrates the tragedy of wasted time and opportunity. So let's do something worthwhile that pleases The LORD and boosts our health at the same time.  Let's get those planners and get started.

By developing this one little routine-habit of keeping the planner current and updating it daily; life becomes so much easier and daily stress just begins to melt away.  Now all we need to worry about is the actual process of finding a good personal planner that works best for your own particular life-style

That sounds great you say; but where do you begin?  

How do you pick out the perfect planner? 

Start looking either on-line or in your favorite office supply store and it becomes pretty obvious that picking the right calendar and personal organizer can become a bit confusing.  There are so many different kinds and so many styles to choose from these days.   A lot depends on your specific daily needs and routines and your own personality.

You can find personal planners geared to fit almost any type of career, hobby or lifestyle.  You definitely need something that is flexible enough to fit every occasion of your day-to-day busy life.  

Is there one certain outstanding element in your daily life that you need to conform your time around?  

Perhaps it could be golf, family, church, gardening, school, job, travel, etc?  Try goggling a search specifically for your area of interest.  

For instance I’ve noticed there are many calendars and personal planners out there for athletes who are training in certain areas; such as marathon running.  Google "calendars for marathon runners" and you will get some real specific types of planners that not only list your dates, times and appointments but also give you charts for recording your speeds and scheduling your exercises to prepare for the next race.  This is pretty cool!  

Try searching in your own area of life interests or hobbies.  You might come up with just the perfect solution for managing your own specific goals.  Since I am a blogger; I keep a blogger's calendar.  I don't know how I ever functioned before I started doing this.  It is a wonderful tool that is very helpful to me.  I use it every day.  

When picking a general calendar or personal planner, you need to consider whether you want a day at a glance, a week at a glance, a month or year at a glance, or all four combinations in one place. 

Many people are finding that they function best by using both an on-line planner as well as a paper planner bound in a way that they can carry around and flip through whenever it is convenient.   

For your portable personal planner that you will carry with you, something that is easily accessible and convenient is good.  It should not be too bulky; but it should not be so small and simple that it doesn’t meet your need for spaces to make notes.  Consider the size you need and pick a color that makes you feel happy.  Get a sturdy and workable jacket on the planner that you will be carrying around, and make sure it will hold a pencil.  There is nothing more frustrating than thinking of something to write down in your calendar and having to hunt for a pencil to write with.  Use a pencil that has an eraser.  Erasers are very important.  They make your life flexible.  This is yet another stress buster.  None of us are perfect; we all make mistakes and need to make changes from time to time.  Erasers were invented for that purpose; so let's use them.

I happen to think having my contact information close when I’m working with my calendar is handy and useful.  If I am going to call John on Saturday; I can easily look up John’s number and jot it down right beside my reminder.   A planner that holds your cell phone with your contact information inside it would work just great in this situation.  It would also remind you to take your planner along every time you reach for your phone to go somewhere.  You probably have most of the contact information you need in your cell phone; but if you lost your cell you would have a back up right there in your personal planner.  This is a wise plan.

Think about your own specific needs and make a list of the things that would be the most helpful to you for planning your days. 

Here are a few things to consider as you look for the perfect planner:

Do you make a lot of appointments? 

Do you need constant lists and reminders to get through the day? 

Do you need a handy address book?

 Are you constantly looking up phone numbers? 

Do you want to combine financial management into your organizer? 
Would it be handy to use a planner that has a built in calculator?  

Are you having trouble keeping or following through with your life goals? 

Do you need daily motivation and reminders? 

Do you want constant inspiration?

Would it help you to list the things you are most grateful for at the end of each day? 
Do you like to keep a prayer list handy?

Do you have trouble remembering event times and places?

Are there tasks that you just simply will not get done unless you schedule them? 
Do you like keeping a bucket list as you go?

Do you like to journal? 

Do you enjoy things that are color coded and/or tabbed?

Is there a big event you will be making plans for all during the year; a wedding; an anniversary, a move, etc.?

Do you need some help in coordinating with your family members each day? 
Do you keep a scrapbook that follows your family's timeline?

Are you a visual thinker?
Do you need budget reminders?  

Are you scheduling for your home life, your career life, your family and household errands only, or do you want something that incorporates all of the above into one simple streamlined location?
Would it be easier for you to separate these into different planners each; or would it be more convenient for you to keep all of these categories of life together in one place?

There are many good tools out there to help you with each and any of these special categories.  I’m going to make some suggestions and tell you what I have found to be most useful in my own life.

I would suggest using both an on-line and a hand-held personal organizer.  I like to record EVERYTHING together in one place; but you may prefer to separate; it is simply a matter of whatever works best for you.  I like to keep my portable/physical hand-held planner with me at all times, either in my car or in my purse.  Men might prefer something that is pocket sized to carry with them during the day.   

I use the physical planner whenever I need to jot down something new.  I like to keep my planner, my phone, my keys, a sharpened pencil or a lead pencil with an eraser and my wallet all together all in one handy and sturdy cover/container that works like a three ringed binder with compartments for storage.  Finding a pretty cover that does all of this is like putting icing on a cake; go for it!  Some purses are also special-made to store these types of planners.  

Let the hand-held personal planner be the beginning of all planning.  Use a PENCIL, not a pen.  Feel free to erase and change as you go.  Before you go to bed at night – lay your hand-held planner down on your desk beside your lap-top computer.

If you are struggling along without a laptop computer on your home desk; quit doing that.  Find a way to have one.  Ask for it for Christmas or your next birthday, or save up your pocket change until you can at least purchase an inexpensive model that will do what you need. Notepads are temporary solutions to this problem; but in the end you still need a laptop. They are a necessity as far as I am concerned.  Phones are just too tiny and portable planners cannot carry everything you will need for the long-term.  Any life these days, even if you are retired and living on a desert island, requires easy access to the web and the ability to research from a computer.  The one at the office simply would not be a good place to put your personal information.  Make sure your laptop is secure and has protective software to stop hackers, phishers and viruses.  

Once a day, first thing each morning if possible, sit down at your desk with your laptop and look at your on-line planner for a few minutes.  Update it from your hand-held planner’s notes, and then remember to put your hand-held planner back in your pocket, your purse, or your automobile.   

After those on-line updates are done; browse through your on-line calendar and look at today’s date.  What do you have scheduled?  Note any appointments and to-do lists that you will need to remember today.  Check all reminders and follow through on them later.

While you are on-line, remember to check any other reminders, such as your daily goals and note any progress that you have made.  Cross off what you have accomplished and enter any new goals that you have not yet entered.

You might also want to write a word or two in your on-line journal, and/or post a photo that will work similar to a personal diary to help you remember the events of your daily life as you look back over the last year of your life later.  A lot of people find this more helpful than using facebook or goggle photo albums for remembering the timeline of their personal photos. It is definitely more personal and less distracting.  I call this little daily routine “Five Minutes with the Past, Present and Future.”  

The photos are totally unnecessary; but a lot of fun!  I find them very helpful because I am a very visual thinker, and I like to keep a scrapbook of our family life for each year and give it as a Christmas gift to the whole family. Day-to-day life is so easily forgotten without photos.  I want to cherish all the moments of my life.  Looking back over these daily photos I’ve posted in my personal journal helps me to organize the annual family scrapbook whenever I have the time to actually sit down and enjoy this hobby.  My journal also helps me to remember important and significant family events that have transpired.  Some days my journal entries are only one liners; or other days they are even just one word.  Some days I want to share the memories with other close family and friends; some day I just want the journal to work like my own personal diary that no one ever sees but me.  I have all of those options on the software that I have chosen to use.  Most days though, I try to keep things as simple and brief as possible here.  I have other things to do with my time besides sitting at a desk all day.  That is part of the reason we are doing this!

So how will you decide on which on-line planner and which hand-held planner to use?

Have you ever met Cozi?  I think it is my favorite on-line personal organizer.  

Cozi is a great tool for totally organizing your day.  I found it years ago while following The Fly Lady’s website.  Have you met The Fly Lady?  She is known for being one of the first great on-line organizational coaches.  She had all of these ideas before they even became popular with the general population.  The amusing part about that is it all sprang from the fact that  her own life was a total mess and she needed to create a way out.  As she helped herself; she helped the rest of the world.  Life often works like that.   These blog articles might also fall into the same category.  Anyway; you might enjoy looking The Fly Lady up on-line.  It will be a delightful and educational experience to say the least. She is quite amazing and helpful and she recommends using Cozi.  Just google "The Fly Lady."  She can become your own personal on-line coach for just about anything.

You can find Cozi by going to the Cozi website at:  www.cozi.com.  One of the neat features about Cozi is that it can be shared by other family members too, or anyone else that you chose to share it with.  If your husband is wondering where you are at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, all he has to do is check your appointments on Tuesday from Cozi.  If you are wondering what class Johnny is sitting in at 3 p.m. each afternoon at school; just check his class schedule that you recorded in your Cozi at the beginning of the school year.   You can share a portion of your Cozi, or all of it, but you can also let it be all private.    

Moms with school kids find Cozi especially helpful for organizing sports calendars and keeping up with all their kids many homework assignments and after-school activities.  Every kid can have a separate calendar if you wish for that to happen.  

There is a place for organizing your grocery shopping; and a really helpful place for stashing your recipes that will feed over to your grocery list, which can also be shared to your mobile phone for convenience.   No printer to print your list?  Just send it to your cell phone and look it up as you enter the store.  

There is a handy section for making and keeping specific “to-do lists,” which can have items that are dated and put on your daily calendar as reminders.  

There is a place for keeping your daily appointments on a calendar and a place for organizing your contacts.  This really comes in handy for Christmas cards.  Cozi will mail your cards out if you ask it to do so.  You simply have to order the service.  

The calendar will send you e-mail reminders if you tell it too.  It is helpful for remembering to buy birthday cards and helpful for remembering all the dates and details for traditional holidays and holy days. 

Cozi will arrange everything at a glance for you on your home page, but you can navigate to specific individual functions too.   

You can post in a journal daily or weekly or monthly if you just wish and make notes about your day-to-day activities and family events; and you can even add photos to your journal. 

You can also go to Cozi’s website and/or blog from within the program to find helpful articles about daily living and life hacking tips.  You can find very helpful menus and recipes there too.  Need some help shopping; Cozi can probably pull up the dirt on the item you are longing for.  The articles help you stay up to date on daily life.   There are articles on organization, and other such subjects that are very handy according to whatever season of the year we are currently living through.  If you have time you can read their posts which read pretty much like most typical woman’s magazines.  Just look for the Cozi app; and I do recommend going gold.  It isn’t very expensive.

Cozi is an awesome and very inexpensive way to keep up with everything you could possibly want to do in the realm of organization in your daily life.  Everything is right where you want it wherever you are and whenever you need it. 

Cozi happens to be my favorite on-line planner; but there are many others out there to chose from.  Some of them would include:  Evernote, Google Calendar, Zoho Calendar, 30 Boxes and Which Time.  Of course if you use microsoft word it has a calendar that will keep appointments and events and send you reminders.  That felt too much like a regular work task to me; so I opted for something different at home.  It will do though; if you want to use it.  Your home computer may have come with its own version of personal organizer.  Check there first!  Google all of these or simply google "daily planner software" and pick the specific on-line planner that best meets your needs.

Even with the wonderful use of an on-line organizer; I still need something that I can look at off-line.  It needs to be something tangible; something that I can hold in my hand and carry with me everywhere I go so that I don’t have to be constantly checking my computer or phone.  I need something that organizes things and makes me think through life every day.  I need to be able to glance at my daily schedule from one piece of paper, make pencil notes and check off items by hand.  I need something that will remind me often of my goals for the year.  I’ve found an awesome solution.  It is called The Living Well Planner. 

I first noticed The Living Well Planner by touring Ruth Soukup’s website.  I've began to think of her as an "Up-dated Modern-Day Fly Lady."  I hope neither of my heroines find that title offensive.  I intended it as praise for both parties.  Both of these women are amazing and unique in their own way.  They are on all the same subjects; but often approach them in different ways.  The Fly Lady can show you the basics and teach you the very practical stuff; but Ruth puts her own special twist on things.    You can find and enjoy all of her posts at The Living Well Spending Less website (livingwellspendingless.com.)  Ruth Soukup has more organizing tips than you could ever manage to read in one lifetime!  I was amazed.  She too is a great organizational coach.  There are several great books authored by her on her website that can truly help people to get their lives organized.  One of her most popular books is called “Unstuffed,” and it is a great read if you are feeling overwhelmed with the clutter and “stuff” in your life. 

In my own personal opinion, The Living Well Planner tops all the other planners for overall completeness and usefulness.  Ruth will walk you through the instructions on how to use this planner and make sure you do your planning correctly in order to get the full results of the benefits of using this planner she designed.  If you like, she will even send you a whole downloadable course on how to use your planner.  She does all of this on-line and is a wonderful instructor.    I bought the stickers that you can purchase as accessories for the planner and found them very useful too.  They are optional and cost a little extra, but really do come in handy.  I find them very functional and helpful.

The price of this personal organizer is currently around $55.  It may seem a little high at first, but not when you consider all that if offers.  It is worth the price I promise.  If you are going to splurge on anything; I recommend it be this.    

This Living Well Planner's calendar incorporates all the needs for setting appointments, making daily schedules for tasks and organizing to-do lists, There are personalized sections on budgeting, menu planning and goal setting for every area of your life.  These are great tools!  They really make you think and keep you focused and goal oriented. 

There are many other good personal organizers and calendars out there.  I'm sure one of them is just tailor made specifically for you; so go ahead!  Just start your search and select one.  Google "personal planners," look around on-line, and take your pick and/or visit and browse your local office supply store.

Well, I’ve given you several good recommendations for getting your calendar and planner started.  These tools are so valuable toward organizing your daily life that no one should ever be without them.  I have also dropped a few good names of organizing coaches that you might find interesting and enjoyable to research in your spare time.  

Don't you just love those little words ..."spare time?"  You will certainly have a little more of that now that you are in the process of getting organized.  Enjoy!  

I hope some of this information gets your new year off to a very good start!  

Our next baby step in organization will be all about how to eliminate the things that are stealing our time (time-clutter!).

 

Keep looking for next Friday's AN APPLE A DAY BLOG if you desire to stay focused and want to be organized for healthier living in 2017!