BECSEA

Today we’ll focus on setting up our planners and managing our time.

Welcome back, besties! Can you believe we are already on episode 4 of Season 7 of Branding with Becks? It’s about that time to take a look at your January goals and evaluate what we have accomplished and what we still have left to do. Give yourself some grace when going through this list, it’s just the first month of 12 and we have plenty of time to tackle these goals. Be conscious of what worked and what did not in January as you set your goals for February.

Our motivational quote of the week:

You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.

It really ties into this week’s episode, especially on time management. We will elaborate more later.

As we about to head into a new month, let’s dive into planners and time management! Today, I am sharing all about one of my favorite topics…planning! I LOVE sitting down with my planner for a nice session. I take out all my stickers, highlights, good quality pens, and post it notes. We are breaking it down step by step with where to start on your planner journey, and then sharing some time management tips.

First and foremost, I am a pen to paper kinda girl! As I have said before, there is something about muscle memory and hand/eye coordination that makes pen to paper far more effective than the google calendar for me. Do what works for you!

If you are like me and want to get a planner and write it down the old fashion way, I recommend checking out Home Goods or Marshalls for a good quality and stylish planner. They have so many great ones to choose from at reasonable prices. I usually get in early, as soon as they hit the shelves… so around September or October of the year prior to snag the best ones. I am sure the 2024 ones are now on sale so hit the stores while ya can!

Once you have a planner, it is time to find a good quality pen. I like a good acroball pen or one of these ink pens that I found on amazon. It’s important to find a good writing utensil to keep your notes tidy and to encourage more writing. When you enjoy writing with them, you are more likely to write!

The last items on the shopping list are definitely optional, but I recommend skinny highlighters for super important dates and events as well as planner stickers to spice things up! I am currently loving the ZAMS! Planner stickers from amazon. It’s a huge and reasonably priced sticker file folder with cute stickers for all months of the year.

• Here are some things I log in my planner:
  Important events: birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, trips
  Hang outs with friends, scheduled get togethers, etc.
  Work Events: PTO, Holidays off, Important meetings or presentations
  Books I am reading each month
  Podcasts/IG Content/Blog posts for collaborations
  Additional content I plan to share
  When bills are due
• Ideas list:
  Birthday/Christmas gift ideas
  Trips I’d like to plan if possible
  Things I’d like to purchase if possible
  Podcast episodes/content/blog post ideas

• Goals: Monthly,  yearly, weekly
  Workout and reading trackers!
• And most importantly: What I am grateful for each week and what my biggest accomplishment of the week is

Next, let’s chat time management tips. Here are a few that have helped me:

First and foremost, logging your calendar and filling it with reasonable amounts of time for each event is incredibly helpful. If you plan to spend 1 hour working out each day, be sure to put that down. If you plan to read for 30 minute include that too! Be realistic with the time it takes you to get ready before an event or errands, these little time frames can make a huge difference in the available time on your calendar.

Next, be proactive and not reactive. Put your phone on airplane mode when you need to focus. This can be helpful especially while creating content! When recording videos or taking pictures, it can be very distracting to see a text message notification show up. When writing or focusing on a work project, slack messages and emails can be distracting. Focus on what you need to get done and be proactive. You can be reactive later on.

Lastly, keep your to do list at an achievable level. This may mean only 3 things a day and that is perfectly okay! Tackle the most important items on your to do list, and avoid multitasking!

What are some things you include in your planner? Let me know in the comments!