How to Plan Your Life: Enjoy Better Health, Be Organized, & Generally Have More Fun
Sometimes I find myself in the kitchen on a tired morning, trying to throw together breakfast for my kids.
Here is the scene: my eyes are half open, I’m still wearing pajamas, and I’m moving painfully slow while I look for the smoothie ingredients. Meanwhile, my toddler is throwing cheerios on the floor and dumping out her water bottle while her older brother is making demands for a smoothie over and over again even though he’s been reassured it is coming. As I numbly turn on the blender, my mind starts daydreaming about a morning in which I feel energized, and excited, have fun things to look forward to, and feel more like a cared-for human and less like a robotic caregiver.
Sound familiar, or is it just me?
But the truth is, it is possible for me to enjoy a life that is meaningful, joyful, fun, and filled with healthy behaviors. And guess what? It’s possible and actually very doable for you too!
I’m happy to say that the good life is becoming more the norm and those rocky mornings are becoming the exception rather than the rule.
This shift has come through consistent, intentional planning and I’m going to show you how to do it so that you can align your life with your values, infuse the day-to-day with energy, enjoy more, handle all the administrative tasks that come with running a household, and take really good care of yourself.
Are you ready to learn how to access the things you want most for your life? Keep reading!
Take some time to figure out what you want for your life
Stephen Covey said, “All things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint. If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.”
If we want to be the protagonist in our own lives, we have to figure out what that looks like and create the visual mentally before we can make it a reality.
There are a few ways to do this. You can grab a pen and pencil and brainstorm what the life you want looks like. What are your mornings like? Do you work? What is your financial situation? What do you do for fun? What does your health look like? What quality of relationships do you have? What are your values? Get really specific.
If you’re more visual, you could make a vision board collage on paper or on Pinterest. Find images you are drawn to. Are you attracted to pictures of travel, exercise, calm, and family? What pulls you in and why?
You could even go so far as to create a mission statement for your life. You can actually find a mission statement builder here - it’s free and a great exercise. The bottom line is, you gotta figure out what it is you want! It sounds super cliche, but give yourself permission to dream big. And know that what you want may change as you learn, grow, and experience life.
You’ll want to revisit this activity at least once a year.
Determine your priorities for a certain chunk of time (a month, quarter, or year)
You created the vision of what you want, which is so exciting! Now it is time to decide which of those things you will focus on right now and for the next month, quarter, or year. As the saying goes, “you can do anything but you can’t do everything.” Define what your priorities are going to be, and keep them to about 5 or less. For example, in this season of life my priorities are 1) my relationship with God 2) taking care of myself 3) my marriage 4) my relationship with my children & their development 5) my work as a fitness trainer and educator.
There are a lot of other people and things I love outside of those priorities, such as home improvement, playing the piano, practicing French, writing, painting, and reading. However, in this season I need to put my top five first and let the rest fill those gaps. As I do that, I find I have MORE time for friends and other things that matter to me because I’ve gotten the most important business in my life taken care of first.
Choose a planning tool that fits your vibe.
Now that you know what you want and have decided what your immediate priorities are, it’s time to break out a planner!
Are you a paper-and-pen kind of person? If so, get a physical planner and/or paper or whiteboard calendar. Do you prefer to keep track of your life using an app or online tool? If so, consider Google Calendar, Outlook, and/or a task management system like Asana or Todoist. Determine a system that fits your vibe, makes you a little excited and will be most easily integrated into your life.
Remember, planning is meant to help you, not make your life more complicated.
In the past, I have wholeheartedly been a paper planner kind of person, and I definitely enjoy having a physical one in my hands. There are a lot of great options, but my favorite planners are made by In the Leafy Treetops. They are pricey, but worth it if you’re going to use all the functions. Lately, I’ve also been using Google calendar and Asana. In Asana, you can add reoccurring tasks. I can create a task like, “Clean bed sheets,” and have it reoccur every Monday. When I mark it off, it will automatically reappear for next Monday. I can also add text, photos, emails, or documents to any task which is very helpful too. And it’s free!!! which is always glorious.
Brainstorm
Now, go back to the priorities you determined earlier. How do you want to further the relationships, projects, or goals related to those priorities?
In the example I gave, I would brainstorm ways I can take care of myself (specific kinds of exercise, eating more fruits & veggies, meditation, ways I can have more fun, etc.), ways I can strengthen my relationship with God (church attendance, scripture study, etc.), ways to strengthen my relationship with my husband (date nights, listening to the same audiobooks, family dinners), ways to enhance my relationship with my children (activities I can facilitate to help them learn, grow, and feel loved), and things I can do to help my clients progress and create value for the world.
Also, brainstorm all the things that are nagging you. Are there doctor appointments you need to schedule? Do you need to create a will? Do you have an emergency preparedness plan? Bills you need to pay? Get them out of the cobwebbed corners of your mind and into a physical list.
5. Putting it all together into an actual plan
Now for the main event! Figure out how far out in advance you want to plan. Some people like to plan for the year, quarter, month, week, and day. Others keep it to weekly and daily planning. As for me, I stick to planning for the quarter, month, week, and day.
Planning for the year
Pull out your planning tool and brainstorm list. Look over the year and put in birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Next, add in all appointments, vacations, and dates that are already planned. If you’re feeling really ambitious you can get more detailed and start making plans for your summer vacay, or add specific items you want to accomplish for your work throughout the year. For me, however, I prefer to take it a quarter at a time.
Planning for the quarter
Planning for the quarter can be a blast! That far out in advance, there are so many possibilities before you! You have ample time to plan fun and meaningful activities.
The last week before the next quarter, I look high level at the next three months. I’ll see what birthdays, holidays, and appointments are coming up. Then I will look over my priorities and brainstorming list. I will schedule some activities that coincide with those priorities.
These are activities that take a solid amount of planning- like a vacation with my family, or a birthday party for my son. I’ll also add deadlines for work, or other projects throughout the quarter.
Planning for the month
Next, I look at the month ahead. I first plan my meals for the entire month so I can get that out of the way.
Then, I’ll again reference my brainstormed list, and priorities, and look over the deadlines I created when I planned for the quarter. I break these down into actionable items that aren’t super nitty gritty, but that will require more planning time than a week in advance.
Here are some real-life examples:
Each Tuesday, I publish a blog post, so that deadline is reflected on my calendar each month along with each topic I will be covering.
A thriving & fun marriage is one of my highest priorities. Thus, I try to schedule a monthly more-extravagant-than-usual date for me and my husband. Examples include a weekend getaway mountain biking trip, an amusement park date, or anything that’s out of the norm, totally fun, and sans kids. Planning a month (or even a quarter in advance) is great because it gives ample time to plan childcare, budget, etc.
I block out time for outings with the kids.
Since taking care of myself is a high priority, I might also schedule a hair appointment, massage, girls’ night, or any self-care items that need more prep time than a week.
Planning for the week
Weekly planning is where your ambitions become REAL! If you are overwhelmed by the prospect of planning a year, quarter, or month in advance, just stick with a week. This practice alone is so impactful and worth your while, I promise!
Choose a day when you will weekly plan each week. For me, it’s Sunday. Once again, reflect on your highest priorities and make sure they are represented on your calendar.
Get into the nitty gritty and further break down your tasks and goals into “next steps” for the week.
For example, this week I need to find a new doctor for my kids, so that could be broken into the following steps:
Figure out how to log in to our insurance portal
Research in-network doctors and read reviews
Call the doctor’s office to see if they are accepting new patients and set an appointment
I could schedule myself 10 minutes on Monday to play around with the insurance portal and find 3 possible in-network doctors. Tuesday, I could give myself time to call the offices and see if they are accepting new patients and get an appointment on the calendar.
Here’s another example: let’s say that during my monthly planning, I decided to go on a date with my husband. If it’s not too elaborate, I schedule a time to choose an activity and find a sitter.
Planning for the day
Each evening or morning, fill in any of the finer details for the day ahead that didn’t make sense to add during weekly planning.
For me, I usually will plan workouts, determine when I will take time for studying my scriptures, choose little activities with the kids, and the more granular to-dos.
To be clear, I definitely don’t plan every moment, I really value unstructured time. I do make a list of to-dos however and the general time frame in which I will do them. This helps me move closer to my biggest priorities on a granular level as well as keep my household running and kids alive.
Because I have two littles, I find that despite my best planning I have to be quite flexible. Planning is a living, breathing, activity. Adaptability and re-evaluating are crucial.
At the end of the day, evaluate what you were able to do or not do. Do NOT use this as a time to shame yourself if you didn’t get as many things done as you wanted, but instead to learn.
Did you get everything done but feel exhausted? That could indicate you overscheduled yourself. Do you feel like you hit the right balance? Did you get nothing done? If so, why? Check in, learn, and adapt tomorrow’s plan accordingly.
There you are, friends! My best tips for planning a life filled with healthy habits, order, fun, and joy.
As Gandalf said, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." Planning has absolutely BLESSED my life, and I hope it will bless yours too!
For extra reading on this topic, check out Atomic Habits, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Girl Stop Apologizing, 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, The 5 Choices: The Path to Extraordinary Productivity, Getting Things Done, and Time to Parent: Organizing Your Life to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and You.