In my article, Master Time for Artist: Tools and Techniques for Artists to Boost Productivity, we cover several options to help you be more productive in planning your day to maximize your productivity.

One of those options was a Traditional Planner.

This is my go-to method for planning out everything I have to get done during each week. I custom-designed my planner in 2014 and have been tweaking it every time I print out a new quarter making me more organized and productive.

When looking for a planner think about what your needs are. Will an academic planner work for your purposes with seven daily sections on a two-page spread with lined boxes? Do you need each day to have a separate sheet? Are you going to need more of a specialty planner that has a section where you can write out your big three or five for each day? Do you want the dates already written in for you or do you want to start at any time?

Each of these options has good flexibility, but they may not have everything you need.

A weekly planner with boxes for each day is good if you only have one or two things planned for each day.

A single-day spread has more space and some have an appointment section for you to put in your appointments along with your to-do list.

A more specialty planner with a daily spread for your top three or five things you have to get done for the day is great. I’ve used many of these planners and highly recommend trying one out if you’ve never used one before.

Two planners that I have enjoyed using with this design are Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner and the Panda Planner. I first started with the Panda Planner and moved to the Focus Planner. I found a lot of value in the work-up pages in the Focus Planner and the review pages. Both of these planners are a great size for a backpack or purse to take with you and have your tasks at your fingertips.

A couple of things I find very valuable in a planner are the ability to write down all my tasks, and appointments, and a place for notes.

Being able to get everything you need to do for the week out on paper is how you make sure you get it all done.

Once you’ve found the right planner for you, this may take some time. Don’t feel bad if you get a planner and realize it doesn’t fit your needs. There are a billion and one planners on the market because one size does NOT fit all. Go through the planner. Read all the intro pages if they have them. Write in the dates you are going to use the planner if undated. Get out your colored pens and start color coding if that is your thing. Try it out.

Next, write in all the appointments you have at this point. Write in all the birthdays, holidays, special events, and any other scheduled thing you know of so you can plan accordingly when it comes time to put in your tasks.

When I start planning out a new week I review my last week. I have one sheet of to-dos for my home life and one for my business. I go through each day and see what I got done and what tasks had to be pushed to the new week.

After I’ve recorded any tasks that are from the week prior I look at the new things I have to get done for the coming week. I add any new appointments that have come up and see the amount of time I have each day to get my tasks done.

Some of my tasks reaccure each week. I have to pick out meals and grocery shop each week. I have my normal days of doing this, but if an appointment interferes or if my husband has the day off or something else comes up I have to put it on a new day. This is always on my list of tasks, but the day I complete it fluctuates. You may have to-dos that would fall in this category as well and that is okay.

Taking into consideration the amount of time I have each day and the tasks I have to complete I start arranging my to-dos into my planner. If there is something extremely important I have to get done, I try doing that task on Monday, no later than Tuesday so I don’t push the tasks and it never gets done.

When my planning session is all done all my tasks have been assigned a day and I know what I will be working on each morning before I even get started.

These simple planning sessions save me a lot of time trying to figure out what I’m going to do each day. It also helps me know that everything I need to get done in a week has an assigned day. Thus preventing me from worrying about if everything is going to get done.

Now it is your turn. Drop by your local stationary store and pick up a planner, buy a Full Focus or Panda Planner, or stop by one of the big box stores and buy a planner today.

Once in hand, get your dates and appointments written in and start data-dumping all the tasks you have to get done.

Here is to a happy week of planned tasks and lots of productivity.

To find out when I drop the next post discussing each of the planning methods, stated in the article, Master Time for Artist: Tools and Techniques for Artists to Boost Productivity, please sign up for my newsletter. I won’t bug you and I never share your information. I will send you a quick weekly email letting you know of things happening on the blog, the artwork I am working on, and new items available in my store.

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