Being an author, a mom, and working full time needs a certain level of balance. Who am I kidding? Balance is an idea that we all chase. But, I’ve found a way to make things a little more manageable. Finding a planner that worked for me was probably the best thing ever. I may have even happy danced a little bit. Everything I need is held within this planner.
It’s massive, but I carry a huge tote with me so it’s not very awkard to always have with me. I write things down as I find out about them in the monthly view. The space on the left is for notes, but I put some washi tape over what is written there and wrote “Goals” across a sticky note to place on top of it. I list my main goals for the month in this section. It could be finishing a book, or hitting a word count by the end of the month. I even include my personal goals on there.
Every week I sit down and plan out what I’m going to be doing that week. I add to-do lists, school functions, where the kids need to be, deadlines, and anything else I can think of. The top section is for events that are going on with the kids, school, or jsut life in general. The middle section is where I write all of my to-do’s, like cleaning a specific area and other tasks I need to get done. The bottom section is for my author life. Places I need to post, word counts, release days, deadlines. It all goes in that section down there. I also use the left hand notes section to jot down ideas that come to me, or goals for that particular week. I’m very goal motivated if you couldn’t tell. 
I also like to keep track of my habits for the month. Those include water intake, working out, reading for fun, reading for work, writing, posting on social media, talking to my mentor. All the little things just so I can see where I’m spending my time. I also track my word count for the books I’m working on. Each box represents 1K words.
I’ve also added two sections to this planner. One for all my book stuff. It has my 90 day goals, a folder with my series information. The outline for the book I’m currently working on, and my release schedule for the next couple of years. Anything that relates to my writing goes in this space. The next section is for scouts. Being a leader, I have to keep notes of what we have going on and what we’re going to be doing for meetings. Having it with me means I’ll always know what we’re doing.
I’ve been through numerous planners, at least FIVE this year trying to find something that works for me. So far that’s been the Happy Planner because I can customize it to suit my needs. This is the layout that works for me right now. That may change in the future, but for now… “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It definitely makes my life less chaotic, and keeps everything in one place.
Do you have a planner system that you like? Or do you wing it? Let me know in the comments!
*This post is in no way endorsing Happy Planner. I just wanted to show you the versatility, and why it works for me.*