I am on a mission to learn how to get more accomplished in a day, using a performance planner.

I’m a busy mom, grandma and work from home business owner.  I am constantly struggling with how to get more done in less time, how to stay on task, and stay focused on my schedule. It seems as though I am running and busy from the time I wake up at 5:00 AM until the time my head hits the pillow at around 10:00 PM.

I don’t think I’m alone in this or that for some reason, I have more to do than any other mom (I KNOW that’s not true).  I DO feel like I have poor management of my time.

I wake up in the morning with great plans to get things done, and then all I seem to be doing is running from one “fire” to the next trying to put them out. By the end of the day, I have been running and super busy, but it’s not often that I  feel like I have accomplished much to move the needle to where I want it to be.

I get deflated and angry at myself all the time.  So much so, that I’ve really started to doubt myself and my abilities, and I feel like I just want to throw my hand in the air and give up.

The struggle is REAL!  And it’s really frustrating!

It’s kind of like I’m running on a treadmill.  I keep running, but I’m going nowhere!

Does that happen to you as well?

How to Get More Accomplished in a Day

Being the beginning of a New Year, I want to sit down and figure out what I need to change in order for me to get more accomplished in a day.  A prime example is that I wanted to write this blog post and publish it last week, and here it is 10 days after when I intended for it to be done.

I’ve been paying attention to all the new calendars and daily planners that are out for the new year, and I decided to go with Brendon Burchard’s High Performance Planner.  Let me tell you why.

How I Use My Daily Planner (Years gone by)

For years and years I used the old daily/weekly desk planner.  I was stubborn.  I did not WANT to change.

I would buy a very basic planner that I could see the week at a glance.  Then I would just scramble to write down all of my appointments, commitments and deadlines in that.

There are a three really big problems with this method.

1. I didn’t always have the planner with me when I needed to make an appointment, or when I needed to check my plans for the days ahead.  If fact, unless I was sitting at my desk, it was pretty useless.
2. I needed to keep up to date with other peoples schedules, work schedules, and so on as they do mine.
3. I didn’t know who needed to be where, when.  More importantly I didn’t know where I needed to be.

This method was highly disorganized, especially when dealing with coordinating several people and schedules all together.  I was missing appointments, I often had scheduling conflicts, people would book me for something not realizing I was already busy.

I Finally Went to a Digital Calendar Planner

About a year ago, I finally took the plunge and adapted to using a combination of the Apple calendar and Google calendar (they sync pretty decently together).

1. I love that this method is mobile and I have it with me ALL the time, on my phone.
2. I love that I can book appointments for business partner, staff, family etc.
3. I love that other can book appointments for me when necessary, and see when I am available.
4. I can see everything, and manage it much more efficiently.

I have SEVERAL (9) color coordinated calendars all working together.  I’ve set it up this way because it makes life easier for everyone, and I can see at a glance to manage my business, family etc.  Each of these calendars affects a different area of my life, and each calendar is shared with the people that they concern.

For example – I have a calendar for my Senior Services business (it’s yellow) and it is shared with my business partner and my staff.  I have another that is for my home and kids and it is shared with the group that needs to know that information. etc.

So far, this mobile calendar system seems to be adequate for my needs and the needs of my businesses.  We seem to be coordinated enough and getting to our clients when we’re suppose to (definite bonus).

The scheduled activities for me are being managed alright, but I still feel like I am running on that treadmill.  What I need is something that will help me more with my mindset, and how I start each day.

Personal Productivity and Performance Planning.

This is exactly what has drawn me to choose The High Performance Planner.  Brendon explains in this video exactly how he has used this planner over the last 3 years.

7 Benefits of Using the High Performance Planner

As I mentioned in the introduction to this post, I feel like I am constantly fighting fires and spinning my wheels.  This planner looks like it has some real key benefits that I want to enjoy.

• I want to be able to spend a few minutes in the morning to prepare myself for the day.  I’ve always tried to do this, but with the planner it will be much more organized and effective.
• I want to be able to have a way to set my day off with the proper mindset and preparedness to go through my days with excellence, rather than feeling like I am just muddling my way through.
• I want to have a way to be accountable to myself, and to be able to look back and track my progress over the weeks and months.
• I like that this performance planner journal is thought provoking.
• I like that instead of just letting the day run me, I’ll have actually taken time to plan it out and think about the outcomes I want to achieve for each day.
• I LOVE that the journal part of this planner helps to remind me why I am doing what I am doing, and to do it with excellence.
• The evening journal makes you stop and take a look back at the day.  It allows time for appreciation about the day and appreciation ME as a mom and business owner.  Finding things to appreciate about me daily is not something that I ever take time to do (even though I can see the importance of it.)

I am really hoping that using this High Performance Planner is what I’ve been needing to help me approach each day with a mindset of excellence, and with a mindset of getting more accomplished in a day that will “move the needle” in the direction of my goals.

Planning the day effectively, and then following through with the plan is something that I really struggle with.  I am excited to give this planner journal and honest try and see just how much it can improve my performance and productivity.

If becoming more productive this year is something that interests you, take a minute to check it out on Amazon (that’s my affiliate link).

I’m going to start this in the morning, I’ll give it a couple weeks and then come back and give you an update 🙂

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Talk soon,

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