Couple months ago, around November 2019, one of parenting whatsapp group that I join in talked about it. Then one of the member popped the question,
"do a mom need a planner?"
For me personally I would say yes I do need it.
I have been using planner since 2009. It began when I was in college and most of my friends have their own. I was amazed how they decorate it, write their schedule on it. It was pretty beautiful eventhough it looks messy. Then, just like that, I decided to buy if for my self. On my very first year using the planner, mostly I only wrote my class timetable, essay deadlines, group discussions meeting, and everything else that was related to university life. Therefore I started to decorate it a little bit with color pen, stickers and later I knew, I was kind of addicted with planner and their decoration.
Since that moment, every new year or almost end of the year I always prepare my planner. There are several types of planner:
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Yearly
- Or mix in between
I tried almost all of it except yearly type, because I need more space to write everything in detail and yearly planner don't have that kind of space. I usually buy the planner at Eternal Stuff, or I sometimes when I have more time, I make my own planner. When I was in college I bought my planner at Loft Japan. And so far my best buy planner is a planner from Kikki K. It has everything that I need: a monthly view - which I can put the stickers on it and a weekly view - which I can write down my plan/schedule in detail.
However, for those who is asking how to do I make my own planner, I use blank note book to begin. A blank note book is easier to find. For this year, I use blank note book that I bought from Booshe Project. I made it - draw the line, make the weekly space, monthly space with the inspiration from pinterest. It is not as beautiful as we buy the planner but it is good enough to use.
For me as a mom, planner is more to write down what I have to do and what should I do in every single day. It might be just as simple to buy groceries or to buy milk powder for my kids. But it helps me somehow. Writing a planner helps to reduce the anxiety, stress, and overthinking (more benefits here). I usually write down at night before sleep. I am writing down what I am going to do, have to do for the next day. And I also checking what I have done before sleep. It is somehow making me proud for what I have done so far. It is not much but still, it makes me happy. Writing a planner also increases my creativity. If I can't reach my goal for a day or there is something undone, I evaluate my plan, and re-thinking the plan. The aim is not changing the goal but changing the plan. And changing the plan needs creativity.
It is been two wonderful years ride as a mom and a planner helps my journey to keep sane and I will keep write it down.