The past few months, I have struggled with how to use the pages before and after the monthly view of my planner. They seemed too pretty to "ruin" with random notes.  But that's what it's for, right? To be written in?

I see so many pictures of perfectly decorated planners and sometimes feel like I'm on an island because mine is purely functional. I love seeing Instagram photos of layouts from people who enjoy decorating, as well as pictures from those who give me ideas about how to make my planner work better for me. But oh, how the blank page is intimidating! What if I write or do something wrong? 

That voice in my head says I should try this like this person. I should do this, I should do that, should should should. The internal suggestions constantly pop up and try to undermine my progress. I've learned that for me, living in the world of "should" is a dangerous place.

I'm the kind of gal that hoards nice bath soaps or candles. I have notebooks and journals of all kinds. They wind up gathering dust and eventually are thrown out in a manic purge to restore some order to a closet or drawer. So many times I've forgotten I even had something I was saving. Lately I've really tried to enjoy things that are meant to be enjoyed and not wait for another day. Too often, that day never comes. Life is too short to miss the simple pleasures, and though it's been a hard personal challenge, it's also been rewarding.

There's still the nagging "should" though. Every time I get a new _______ I vow I'll write in it every day. Every time I try a new workout plan, diet, anything really, I mean to stick to it. And I try. But it doesn't always work out that way. I have all of these grand plans I dream up after one too many cups of coffee and then wind up never executing on them. And then I feel awful about myself. I think sometimes I hoard the nice stuff because in my head I somehow don't deserve it if I'm not perfect with it. What's the point of a fancy bath scrub if I'm using it hurriedly one weekday morning, a stolen moment in the shower while the kids claw at the curtain or fight over an action figure? I should wait for a calm weekend with a glass of wine, Enya playing, and a sparkling clean tub, right?

I have to tell myself there are no rules. Ok, there are some basic ones, but for stuff like this, who cares? If you don't like something, switch it up. If you "mess up" a notebook, rip the pages out and start over. If you want to use the bath scrub, you can always get more!

So, back to the pages before each month. I was tired of them being blank. With the "use it and enjoy it" frame of mind, I decided to do a step challenge with my Fitbit for October and also write down one thing I was thankful for each day.

I wasn't challenging myself to my step goal (though that was a nice bonus) but rather the point was consistency. I wanted to enjoy the buttery paper and also feel like I'd accomplished something, however small. Some days were incredibly difficult to come up with something - I think once I was thankful for math because it meant I could check my homework and knew I'd get 100% on it. Other days I was thankful for a nice dinner or specific members of my family. But really, no thing is ever too small to be thankful.

It was a nice foray into the holiday season mindset of being grateful. A big motivator and bonus was when I won a workweek hustle challenge with friends. I walked the trail behind my office every day to do it, and it was refreshing to take some time to myself. It was a much needed mental recharge and it felt good to use that part of my planner for something that I could tell was making a difference.

My next challenge is to find a purpose for the blank mini notebooks I have been carrying around in my purse.

So, what do you think? Let's cross out the shoulds and enjoy.

This guest blog post was written by Amanda Cahill, mom, friend, and Limelife Planners supporter. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

Once that “Confirm Your Order” button is pressed, the waiting game begins. You are constantly checking the tracking information. You are “stalking” your postal worker once the package has been shipped. The excitement is often overwhelming because your new planner is on its way. Once that package is in your hands, the unboxing process begins. You admire the cover and the pages. The planner becomes the star of the show on your social media feed.  

But now what? You’re not really sure what to use it for. Here are some things you might want to consider when trying to set up your new planner. Or if you know what you want to use your planner for, here are also some ideas for how to organize your planner so that you can use it as efficiently as possible.   

 

Designate A Purpose 

Not sure what you want to use your new planner for? Consider broad arenas in your life. Such areas can include Academics, Health and Fitness, and Household. If you are a student, you might want to track your classes, assignments and important school-related dates. Maybe you are trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. You might want to dedicate a planner to recording your meals, workouts and your overall progress. If you are a mom, you can dedicate the planner to keeping track of your kids’ activities and homework, and/or appointments. If you manage a business, you might consider dedicating a planner for it.  

Whatever you decide, designate a specific use for your planner. This will help you to compartmentalize the tasks related to that arena in one place. It will also prevent you from tracking various different things in one planner, which might leave you overwhelmed.

The Monthly Layout 

A majority of planners come with monthly calendars spread across two pages. Often these pages are ignored or not used efficiently. Consider the monthly calendar your best friend. It is more productive to start at the macro level and work your way down. Think of it this way. Having an overview of your month will help you to organize your weeks, which in turn will help structure your days.  

For academia, you can keep track of exam dates, due date for assignments, and holidays. This way, your weeks will be better organized. If you have an exam the second week of December, you know that during the first week, you will have to schedule your study sessions.  

If you are using your planner for health and fitness, you can use the calendar, to schedule weigh-ins and dates for measurements. You can schedule specific workout programs for specific days and weeks, preventing your workouts from becoming predicable. You can schedule “Treat Days,” so that you can look forward a break and/or a reward.  

If your planner is designated for Household use, you might want to track important dates relating to your kids, like due dates for projects or test dates. You can track due dates for bills and birthdays.  

If you are using it for your business, you can keep track of important dates like scheduled sales, shipment dates or meetings. 

Using the calendar to keep track of important dates will help you to plan better when you are working on your weekly or daily layouts. 

The Weekly Layout   

A blank weekly spread can seem overwhelming. You’re not sure how to label each of the boxes or split up the days. Before you permanently mark the pages, use page flags or stickies to help you out. Try splitting the day into morning/afternoon/night or home/school/personal with your stickies. Then visualize your day organized in that manner. Does it work for you? If it doesn’t, change the labels.   

If you are a student and you are using the Limelife Planners Layout C (or any other planner that has more than three categorical boxes per day), consider designating each box for a specific class. You can divide up your readings and assignments for that class throughout the week and that way, you are not cramming the night before.   

For Health and Fitness trackers, consider tracking your health and fitness separately. You can further split fitness into workout specific categories. You can designate one box for tracking your meals and another for any supplements you are taking.  

This is an example of how I decided to organize my planner that I designated for tracking Health and Fitness.  

If you are using your planner for Household management, the top row can be a list of To-Dos with each subsequent row dedicated to each of your kids. If you are using your planner for business purposes, consider categories like “shipments,” “orders,” “website,” and “social media.” 

Whatever you decide, make sure the categories work for you. Make use of those page flags and stickies that you’re hoarding. Plan in pencil first before going in with your favorite pens.  

Planners are meant to be used. Don’t forget about them and let them collect dust on your beautiful shelves and/or bookcases. Remember how hurt those toys were in Toy Story when Andy forgot about them? Don’t make your planners sad by neglecting them.  

This blog post was written by Sadia Chowdhury for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Sadia visit her on Instagram @sadias_ruminations. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

“I’m not creative at all.”

“I want to make art (music, poetry, jewelry, etc.), but I’m just not creative enough.”

“I could never create anything like that.”

If you’re plagued by this type of creative self-doubt, first start telling yourself that you ARE creative (even if you don’t believe it yet). Once you begin to act on your creativity, it will flow in ways you’ve never imagined. Here are five steps you can take to begin to release your creativity.

Validate your feelings. It’s okay to worry that it won’t turn out the way you want it, or that no one else will appreciate it. The truth is, creativity can be intimidating, even scary. Results are uncertain and there are no clear-cut right answers. Feel it. Embrace it. Sit with it and understand that those feelings may never completely go away. You’re apprehensive, but it’s time to go for it anyway.

Do it now. Stop waiting for that magical day when the skies part and a dove feather drops onto your lap with a golden note telling you now is the time. You will never read enough how-to books. There will never be enough YouTube videos. Start right now.

Ease into it. Create the smallest amount for the shortest period of time you can. Celebrate your efforts. Little triumphs can boost your confidence in major ways. One doodle. One sentence. One simple handmade necklace. Then do it again, and again. Over time your anxieties will ease and your comfort level will rise.

Start with low stakes supplies. Buy the five dollar paint set. Write the first paragraph on the back of an envelope, with the pen you “borrowed” from the doctor’s office. Use the scrapbooking supplies from the clearance aisle. A low initial investment will keep the pressure at bay.

Enjoy the process. Play, explore, experiment. Reject the notion that it has to be right, that you have to produce a masterpiece. That kind of pressure will have you cowering away in your safe little dungeon until the end of time. Practice makes better—not perfect. The end product is not the most important thing. It really is all about the journey.

Following these steps will get you on your way to overcoming creative self-doubt. Allow yourself time and support to push through your fears. Keep at it. You’ll surprise yourself with your true artistic depths.

*This is the first piece in a series of posts on breaking past your fears and living for your passion.

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This blog post was written by Meka Allen for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Meka visit her on Instagram @yespleaseplanning. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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Being a military family, we’re used to moving. This time, we made the choice to move to another home in our area—which means new decorating, fresh start, clean slate, and my favorite thing of all? Being able to put my planner to some seriously good use; using it to lay out the next few weeks ahead of us, to make our move go as smooth as humanly possible.

For those planner addicts like myself, you know the deal. A lot of us decorate our planners in hopes to leave it open throughout the day. The decor makes us motivated to do exactly what’s been planned out for that week/month. Day by day, I look at my planner and find that motivation, somehow. Especially now with having to move in three short weeks. Instead of packing our entire three bedroom home in one week, I plan to do it over the next couple of weeks. This way, we’re only left with the absolute essentials a week prior to us packing up the U-Haul truck and making the transition much easier and more importantly, less stressful!

I’ll be going room by room, and have already started with my office, which is completely packed up with the exception of the ‘big furniture’ such as my desk and bookcase. That way, when we move, each box will go in the room it needs to be in—and each box is carefully labeled with exactly what’s inside. I’m trying my hardest to make this move as painless as possible. 

I’ve also set a goal for myself, to have four to six boxes packed per week over the course of the next couple of weeks. I’m making it a point to label each box with every single item that’s in the box, that way it’s easier on both my husband and myself when it comes time to unpack. We’ve decided to put all of our boxes in one room (my office) so that we can deep clean each room as it’s emptied out. 

With military housing, you have 48 hours to empty your home, clean it to their specifications, and have your final inspection. With my husband gone during the week with his command, the process of putting the boxes all in one room makes life a little less stressful for me.

Until then, our living room will stay intact in order to keep my sanity! Be sure to share your tips for packing and staying organized during a move in the comments below.

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This blog post was written by Terri Fuller for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Terri visit her on Instagram @theterrifuller. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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A long to-do list can become a daunting undertaking. Factor in a procrastinating nature and that to-do list from Monday remains uncompleted, heading into the weekend. Every day may not go according to plan, but each day can be more productive if you follow these 5 easy steps.

Step 1: Master To-Do List

On Sunday nights write out a list of all the things you need to accomplish in the upcoming week. Think of this as a “brain dump.” Make sure to include upcoming appointments, chores, shopping trips, etc. If certain items are time sensitive, include the time next to the task on this list.

Step 2: Weekly Layout

Next, it’s time to work on the weekly spread in your planner. You can use any planner of your choosing. For each day, make a section labeled To-Do (this can easily be accomplished with the LimeLife Planners’ Layout C). Then, use the master to-do list as a guide when filling in the to-do section for each day.

You can designate certain groupings for specific days if you wish. For example, Monday can be “Household Chores Day,’ which would include things like laundry, vacuuming, mopping, etc. If you don’t want to spend one whole day stuck indoors, you can split a task like laundry into more manageable “mini” tasks and do three small loads throughout the week.

Step 3: The Night Before

Unless you can see into the future, planning a week ahead may not be practical. The night before each day, take a look at your to-do list for the day. Schedule when, during the following day, you would like to do each of the tasks. You can jot down this basic timeline on a sticky-note or check out the FREE section on the Limelife Planners website, where you can download this Hourly Paper Pad file.

Try to use benchmarks, like breakfast, lunch and dinner, when scheduling when you want to do certain chores. Think about what you would like to do before breakfast or after lunch. Include time sensitive tasks like medication, appointments, prayers, etc. accordingly. Don’t forget to carve out some “Me Time!”

Step 4: The Morning Of

Sometimes when you are caught up in a specific task, you forget what time it is. Have you ever forgotten to eat breakfast before heading out or forgotten to start preparing dinner on time?

We are all more or less glued to our phones, so why not use that to our advantage? In the morning, use the timeline from the night before to set little alarms or reminders for yourself. For example, I use the Reminder app that is available on the iPhone. You can download similar apps suitable for your phone from the appropriate stores.

Using the app, set up reminders for tasks that are time sensitive, or are tasks you would like to start at a specific time. Now when you’re engaged in returning emails, a little notification from your phone will remind you, it is time to start preparing dinner.

Step 5: At Night

Before going to bed, take some time to evaluate the day. Were you able to finish everything on that day’s to-do list? If not, you can move it over to the next day. Work it into the plans when you are working on Step 3 that night.

Remember to cut yourself some slack. Things may happen that are out of your control. Structuring your day doesn’t have to mean that you cannot be flexible. If the next day might be unpredictable, build in a few hours where nothing is scheduled, into your timeline. Use those few hours to catch up on urgent matters.

At the end of it all, remember to enjoy the small moments from each day. Just a reminder: The brain tends to remember moments more than a specific day and the details of that day. 

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This blog post was written by Sadia Chowdhury for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Sadia visit her on Instagram @sadia.t.chowdhury. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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Chunky boots paired with leggings, dark nail polish, shorter days, and the ever so subtle smell of pumpkin spice is in the air. Yes, summer is a fading memory and fall is here! I am sure that many of you share my affinity for all things autumn, but it is also a special time of year for me on a personal level. Both of my babies were born in the fall (September 26th and October 18th), my husband asked me to marry him at our favorite apple orchard in the fall and we were wed a year later, also in the fall. I grew up next to the town of Sleepy Hallow, where, as I am sure you can imagine, Halloween is quite the ordeal. Quite frankly, I just love pumpkin everything, fall fashion and makeup, and crock pot cooking!

In fact, fall is such a busy time of year for us that we often forget to sit back and enjoy the season for what it is because we are too busy worrying about packing in all things fall all at once. Living in upstate New York, the weather is perfect in autumn and the leaves are OMG. Apple picking is a huge deal around here and there is some type of fall-related festival every weekend through Thanksgiving. Instead of frantically trying to fit every fall activity we can think of into one weekend, I decided that this year, I would make a fall bucket list, and what better way to commemorate the season than with some adorable planner stickers? I can’t think of one. 

I like to not only use my planner as a means by which I can plan my days and to do’s, but also as a sort of memory or scrap book. I am going to take pictures of my kids with my instant camera while we do the activities on my bucket list and stick them right into my planner. That way, at the end of the year and for many years to come, I can look back and remember all of the fun we had!

The Autumn Bucket List has been a huge seller in my shop, Three Little Birds Studio (I am pretty sure it is our biggest seller, to date!). I would love to share my excitement for all things fall with you amazing planner girls, so I am going to be giving away a set to one lucky Limelifer!

To enter, head on over to Instagram and follow Three Little Birds Studio (@3LBstudioEtsy)  and Limelife Planners (@limelifeplanners), like the giveaway picture on Limelife Planners’ account, and tag three friends in the comments! Good luck! 

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This blog post was written by Emily Taaffe for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Emily visit her on Instagram @3lbstudioetsy. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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Ever have days where you don’t know what to pack the kids for lunch? Sound like every day? One of my biggest struggles is making sure my son has at least a few of the food groups in his lunchbox for lunch. Another struggle is making sure I have what he wants in my fridge! The real struggle is that if I don’t have this planned out I’m a hot frantic mess the night before school or the morning of.  Do you want to know how to eliminate this issue?

Lunchbox Menu Printable! Yes! There is a lunchbox god and he has blessed me with this lovely idea to see the week's menu and help my son now also read and pack his own lunch. I wanted something to reuse to make it simple, so I printed this and then laminated it. This way I can use the dry erase markers and wipe and reuse. You can purchase laminate at any supply store or craft store.

Download Lunchbox Menu Printable

Now for the hard part, what to pack? I try to include a few food groups into each lunch and snack. We usually do one hot lunch a week so that leaves me with four days.

Here’s a few ideas of what you could put in a lunchbox so that your child will get a handful of things from the food pyramid.

MAIN COURSE:

• Sandwich
• Meat Rolls
• Tuna Salad and Crackers
• Chicken Salad and Crackers
• Pita & Hummus
• Ham Slices and cheese stick
• Turkey Slices and Cheese Stick
• Chicken Slices and Cheese Stick

A FRUIT OR A VEGGIE:

• Apple Slices
• Grapes
• Banana
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Pear Slices
• Watermelon
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Celery Sticks
• Carrots Sticks
• Cucumber Slices
• Oranges
• Pineapple Chunks
• Cantaloupe Chunks
• Zucchini Sticks

A SNACK:

• Pretzels
• Cheese Sticks
• Popcorn
• Raisins
• Rice Cakes
• Crackers
• Trail Mix
• Chex Mix
• Yogurt
• Applesauce
• Veggie Sticks
• Crackers and Cheese
• Mini Muffins
• Annie’s Bunny’s
• Dried Fruit

A SWEET TREAT:

• Fruit Snacks
• Cookie
• Pudding

A DRINK:

• Water
• Juice
• Milk

So, now that I set you up with the printable and this list that I started, your mornings will be more full of coffee and talking, rather than frantically running around looking for what to pack in your child’s lunch! Happy Lunchbox Packing!

To find more ideas of lunch boxes for kids, check out https://www.pinterest.com/easylunchboxes/easy-lunch-box-lunches/

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This guest blog post was written by Jamie Lee, mother, entrepreneur and photographer at Reveal Photography. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness site to access resources and learn more.

I mentioned in my previous post that my youngest was born in October. I was so excited when I realized my 12 week maternity leave would mean I was off work through the holidays. I pictured the dozens of Christmas cookies I’d bake, and cozy, quiet afternoons with ample reading time while I snuggled a squishy baby on the couch. My oldest was born in February and was an easy baby overall, but I was so afraid to take him anywhere or do anything. What if I have to nurse him? What if he cries? I didn’t trust myself so I didn’t do much of anything. This time will be better, I told myself. This time, I know what I’m doing.

How naïve I was.

From the moment he was born, my life transformed into a series of whirlwind events. The highs got higher and the lows got lower. We arrived at the hospital and my water broke immediately off the elevator. I was barely into a room before he was born—less than two minutes from the time we yelled for help until he was here. They didn’t even know my name and had to guess at the arrival time because no one had looked at the clock. I had that “birther’s high” and felt like superwoman. I danced around the room and took a shower.  My first labor was two days of torture but this one was a little bit fun and oh so spontaneous. He latched on, ate well, gained weight, and we were all healthy.

My joy didn’t last long. At three days old, we spent a night in the Children’s ER for a suspected bacterial infection. My baby, who still seemed like a stranger, needed an IV. It took three teams of people two hours and six tries to get one in. The only vein big enough was in his skull. We were eventually sent home and told everything was fine, but I couldn’t believe any of it had happened. He cried all the time. I couldn’t comfort him because it didn’t seem to matter what I did. None of the tricks I figured out with my older son worked. I felt lost, and like a failure.

I had always been a list maker, so I started making lists. Lists of things I wanted to clean, lists of things I wanted to do, lists of people to call, email, or visit. Lists of things to buy off Amazon. Pretty soon the lists felt overwhelming because nothing could be crossed off.

At five weeks old, he had a 104 degree fever, and we wound up in the hospital for two days, admitted this time on an infectious disease floor. He had another IV, catheter, and a spinal tap. I cut out dairy because I realized it broke his skin out in a rash and made him scream from gas pains. All those Christmas cookies I planned on baking? I couldn’t have any of them. No butter on a Thanksgiving roll, no ice cream or Friday night pizza. We were prescribed Zantac for reflux and told he would eventually grow out of the crying-for-no-reason that the medical community lumps together and labels colic.

It was one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record, and I was trapped inside, feeling increasingly helpless. I loved the weekends because there was help available, but the crying baby eventually made his way back to me since he cried least in my arms. He still cried, just not as much. I felt trapped and incredibly guilty, because I was supposed to be happy.

I went back to work and had more lists. Work task lists, daycare supply lists, grocery lists, it never seemed to end. My first two weeks of work, he refused a bottle, so I had lists of websites and resources to scour for ideas.

Life still happened, but it was getting easier, albeit slowly. There were a few ear infections mixed in, and some other maladies, but we seemed to be doing better than just surviving.

I was getting worse, however. I heard babies crying in my head when I was alone, or in the shower. I became convinced my husband didn’t love me any longer and was going to leave me. I couldn’t sleep and instead paced the house like a caged animal while all of my terrible thoughts took over. I would sit down at the computer to write someone a letter but I couldn’t sit still, so my words became as fragmented and chaotic as my thought processes and attention span. I required constant reassurance. Not many knew the severity of my situation, so the small circle of those offering support felt heavy themselves. Everything was because of me, and my fault. For months, every time I drove, I thought of jerking the wheel into the direction of the concrete barrier on the highway.

I eventually found professional help and tried to turn my list making into something positive. The recovery has been long and slow going, but instead of being overwhelmed by things I couldn’t do, I began writing down all of my fears. I made a conscious effort to write things down and leave them there, which was incredibly difficult to do. Just close the notebook and walk away. My brain felt so clogged with frenetic energy, it had to go somewhere. One night, I filled two entire pages with everything from the seemingly ridiculous “I’m afraid my children will be taken away because I’m an unfit mother” to “I’m afraid one of them will die.”

No one could convince me my thoughts were not true. In fact, every time someone tried to point out how unlikely something was to actually happen, I became angry and frustrated that no one took me seriously. That no one was listening. I spiraled down further.

For someone used to solving problems and being organized, postpartum depression hit me like a brick wall. It’s been a learning experience, and a journey of self-discovery—cheesy as that sounds—and I’m still working on it. 

I raised $850 for the climb out of darkness walk on June 20 of this year to raise awareness of maternal mental health. 

Thankfully now my lists are (mostly) back to ones of fun things I want to do with my boys, or books to read.  But every now and again I have to go back and clear out the bad.  And now I can cross speaking out about my PPD experience off my list, so thank you for reading.

Need help?  There are resources available!  One of the first places I found was Postpartum Progress.  Check out http://www.postpartumprogress.com/about . You aren’t alone.

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This guest blog post was written by Amanda Cahill, mom, friend, and Limelife Planners supporter. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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A good friend once told me “Two kids is no joke.” I’m sure that could be extrapolated to two or more, but boy did I feel like I had to learn that the hard way. My husband and I have two boys, one is four and one is almost a year old. I’m definitely a better mom when I’m career-focused, which was initially a hard realization to come to. My role as a mom encompasses providing for and giving to my children, and I feel that I have more to give them when I’m working. I feel so much more balanced overall, which benefits my entire family. 

At work, I live and die by my Outlook calendar for meetings, reminders, and follow-up tasks. At home, we have a google calendar of events where we track parties and other fun things. My husband’s teaching calendar integrates as well. The boys’ school sends pictures via an app and emails a monthly menu and school events calendar. We’re about as busy and reliant on technology as anyone. We work hard to keep track of everything in one place so we don’t forget. 

So why do I need a paper planner? I’m dating myself here, but in my undergraduate days, before there was so much technology, I relied heavily on a paper planner to keep track of assignments and due dates. My phone, never more than 3 feet from me, has all important notes available electronically. I convinced myself it was unnecessary—one more thing to lug around in my already enormous mom purse dubbed “the suitcase.”

I was fine until one day I dropped off my four year old in his preschool classroom and realized it was share day. I had forgotten. My heart sank. Will had nothing to show off to his classmates and his disappointment showed. His best friend ran up to us to ask what he had brought. He looked at his hands and then at me with huge, sad, puppy eyes. The mom guilt I felt was enormous. It felt even heavier when I got home that night and learned over dinner that his teacher had let him help her share her childhood stuffed bunny. He was so great with showing it off that everyone thought it was his. He was the only one not to have something. Twenty-eight kids. The. Only. One. It seemed like such a small thing, but so enormous at the same time.

After that I vowed I wouldn’t forget another important event. I began putting all school events on my outlook and google calendar. I had to remember at work to create things so they didn’t show I was unavailable for meetings, but then my work calendar was clogged up with items like “Preschool Mail Day” and “High School Ice Cream Social.” I made the events private, but my coworkers began asking why I had a 15 minute private appointment every day at 7am.  They would make jokes about how I was so busy with a preschooler and baby while desperate to be organized, I had to schedule the bathroom. My phone dinged with reminders constantly, ones I had to constantly dismiss. Once I unlocked it to send a text or make a call, the reminder was gone.

It wasn’t working.

So, I ordered a Limelife Planner. It took me a bit to get into the groove of using paper again, but now I love it and wonder how I lived so long without it. I keep track of big items each day using Layout F, and then write myself to-do notes. My brain thinks better with a horizontal layout, and I like the large space each box provides since I have a variety of things going on at any given time. Each night I sit down and check in for 10-15 minutes and go through the action items. I don’t focus on the minutia of scheduling my every moment, but it’s so much better to see the big stuff in writing. At work, I open up the weekly layout to keep on my desk for quick glances. After a few weeks, I figured out a color coded system for writing reminders. 

Light blue for my husband’s events or school, green for my oldest (it’s his favorite color), orange for my youngest (he was born in October), red for work (our company logo is red), pink for me, purple for my MBA assignments (a school color), dark blue for family fun, and black for to-lists or miscellaneous. My four year old has started sitting down and having journal time with me. We both love it, and I feel like I’ve finally found a system that works. I think some mom guilt will always linger, but it has lessened.

Share day, I’m ready for you.

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This guest blog post was written by Amanda Cahill, super mom, friend, and Limelife Planners supporter. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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