A planner is all about how you use it. You will only get out of it what you put in. Balance is about looking at your planner – electronic or paper – and getting everything into the planner you deem necessary. When I say everything – I mean everything! Meals, work hours, meetings, appointments, habits you want to track, exercise, kids activities, spouses’ work and activities, cleaning schedule, date nights, adventures, vacations, holidays, no school days, self-care, pet care, chores, etc. Literally everything you can think of to run your life smoothly. If its something you want to accomplish, and really means something to you – WRITE IT DOWN IN YOUR PLANNER! Or type, that’s fine too. To each their own.

I used to have several planners – one for work, one for home, one for school, one for meals & exercising, and one for the kids/ spouse. Even for an organized, neurotic person like myself- that was way too much. I went overboard, and needed to bring balance back to my planning. I started small, combining work, school and home into one planner. Using the Erin Condren hourly planner really helped, and I truly enjoyed it. But I needed more room to finish combining everything into one – and not overstretch myself. By mistake I ordered a vertical planner, thinking it was another hourly one. I was so excited, thinking about how I was going to lay everything out, and incorporate everything else I needed to add. Then it came – and it was the wrong layout. I was so mad, I left the box and planner on a shelf for days. I hate returning things- especially if it was my fault. And it was – my fault I mean.

Finally one day, I knew I needed to get my act together and get organized for the next year. I ended up loving the vertical planner, and will never go back. Everything fit, I was able to get everything in, and still have time for myself, and even had more room to use stickers and colored pens. This one mistake turned out to be amazing. What’s a mistake you have made that ended up being exactly what you needed?