It’s no surprise that when it comes to planning anything, a pen and a paper just work the best.

I’ve been a planner girl for as long as I can remember. From as far back as I can remember, I’ve been hoarding notebooks to use as planners and I can never say no to a new notebook, even if I currently don’t have use for it. I gotta have it!

I don’t like using digital planners though, it’s just not the same as inking a page, guys!

I have a whiteboard at home which has details of important dates and events, so that HB can also see what’s going on where and when, but I still keep a planner that helps me keep track of other lists and important details that I would otherwise completely forget.

When I say planner, it doesn’t need to be a blank or dotted journal. You can easily get away with a diary which already has dates set up. On and off, I’ve used diaries as well to keep track of all the details and it works out just as great.

In the most recent years, I’ve switched to using a bullet journal. It does take a bit of time to set up as you need to do everything in it from scratch. At some point, I was ready to quit using it as it was becoming time-consuming, and I was considering switching back to a lined page journal.

However, the lightbulb moment came to me when I realised that I don’t need to go all out with my journal. Sure, all the colours and doodles make the pages look pretty but it doesn’t make them the main focus of why I’m using the planner.

Instead now, I keep my journal very minimalistic and neat so that I can jot down everything I need to, without first needing to create a layout that sometimes took me a couple of hours.

So why do stay at home mamas need to keep a planner?

I forget things very easily. Between everything that I need to get done, and see to Kid3, and then some more, I often lose track of important tasks. It was even more troubling when all three kids were still at home and it was just a chaotic mess.

Now with the boys at school, I need to keep track of way more things that I had to in the past.

I need to :

• keep track of extra murals after school, with the times being different on different days.
• keep track of club sports and activities the kids do during the week and over weekends.
• keep track of projects and materials that need to be sent to school
• keep track of school events and sports days

The list goes on. If I don’t write it down, it’s as good as forgotten. This is on top of everything that I need to remember that has nothing to do with school.

Keeping a planner makes it easier for you to space out your tasks, prioritise them and gives you peace of mind to keep on top of things.

Here are four reasons why you should keep a planner as a stay at home mama.

All information in one place

Any important information you can easily add to your planner so you have everything in one place. You can add your meal plans, grocery lists, errands you need to run, cleaning schedules, etc to your planner.

So when you need to get to something; everything is in one place and you don’t need to go on the hunt for that one torn out page that you wrote on two weeks ago and then put in a safe place and now can’t find.

Track appointments

Missing appointments, especially the ones you need to wait on a waiting list for, can be frustrating. You can dedicate an entire page in your planner just to keep track of different appointments and events so you’re not caught off guard and can plan accordingly for them.

I created year view pages, with each month separately, and use it to write down all the important dates for each month – including appointments, important school dates, birthdays, public holidays.

Schedules

Scheduling is great to stay organised and by creating schedules for specific tasks and events, it’s easier to keep track of what you’re doing and when you’re planning on doing it. Same goes for school schedules. With two kids in school, I need to keep track of sport and cultural extra murals, extra murals outside of school and important dates concerning projects and deadlines. I even have a page dedicated to Kid1’s reading list for the year to keep track of what he is reading, has read and if he’s keeping to the right pace to not fall behind.

Portability

This is what I love about having a planner that I can just slip into my bag and take along with me everywhere I go.

Which is… everywhere.

As I keep my grocery lists in my planner, it goes with me when I go the shops. I take it with me to appointments so I can immediately write down any future appointments dates. It also helps planning around appointments dates and when they would be best suited because I can ‘consult‘ my planner right on the spot and see if they could be any conflicting dates or events. Plus, I’m constantly losing appointment cards so writing it directly into my planner is a surefire way to know that I won’t forget the dates.

I take my planner along when I do school runs as well, where I have some time to check off any details, add anything new and do some scheduling.

4 reasons why you should keep a planner as a stay at home mama #planner #stayathomemom

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If you’re not using a planner yet, I’d definitely recommend investing in one and using it to structure your life into a more balanced state. Goodness knows, us mamas need it.

Remember, it doesn’t need to be anything fancy and you don’t need to spend a fortune on it, just find out that will meet your needs to stay organised and bring you peace of mind.

You might also like: Mamas, here’s why you should keep a journal

Happy planning!