How to Plan Your Month (Like a Pro)

Written by Wil Malski, Customer Service Manager at Success by Design, Inc.

My wife is a planning pro! She’s the mother of our two young children, a part-time writer, brand ambassador, homemaker, and our family chef. Careful planning is essential for her! On the last day of every month she pulls out all of her planning devices and starts planning out the new month. The first thing she does is integrate her Google Calendar with her daily planner and monthly whiteboard. This may seem like overkill but the three different devices all serve their own purpose. Using the three devices keeps our family’s events in order and allows her to execute her daily and monthly goals like a pro!

Here’s how she does it:

Google Calendar: My wife uses Google Calendar on her iPhone for sharing events with me and for its convenient way to quickly add events while on the go. She may not always have her paper planner nearby and that’s where a digital calendar comes in handy!

Paper Planner: Since Success By Design only publishes student planners (not adult planners), my wife uses the Simplified Planner by Emily Ley. She loves the flexible layout and weekly format with large monthly views. This is her master planner. She uses this planner for everything including daily to-do lists, workout goals, and meal planning. All of the Google Calendar events go straight into this planner. Physically writing them down not only helps her remember them, but also gets everything in one place.

Monthly Wall Calendar: The dry erase monthly calendar hangs on our wall above our desk. It serves as a quick reference and a constant reminder of events. I especially appreciate this calendar because I can act like I know what’s going on in our family without having to flip through her daily planner! The whiteboard mostly displays bigger events and out of the normal routine activities. She also likes to doodle seasonal designs next to the month (notice the leaf and acorn for November). These whiteboards come in a variety of sizes and designs on Amazon.

Through all of this planning, my wife is able to keep a de-cluttered mind and she never double books herself nor does she miss appointments. Her key to success is making sure to stay on top of it. By making a habit of spending 30 minutes at the end of the month combining her planners, meal planning, and setting up the new month, she takes care of the bulk of the work. I must admit that I probably rely on this a little too much!

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