If Planning Isn’t for You, Try This

Artist's Resources

Nov 26

What do you feel when you think about planning?

Excitement? Anticipation? Boredom? Frustration? Or maybe chills of dread?

For the longest time, I used to be from the last group. For years I firmly believed that planning and I just don’t mix well.

Careful planning didn’t work for me. Writing down what I’ll do at 10 on Monday morning is the best way to prevent that from happening. Yes, you’ve read it right. If I put down on paper that on Monday at 10:00 sharp, I’m writing a new blog post, then when the time comes, I’ll be doing anything else but that.

Rigid planning makes me feel suffocated, and I get the urge to break free from it.

Over time and repeated failures, I discovered that the key to my planning is flexibility. I need to have a room for choice and desires. So instead of planning WHEN, I focus on WHAT and plan what I want to accomplish within one week. Then I simply take a task I feel like doing at that moment and work on it. At the end of the week, it all balances out. As long as I finish all my weekly tasks, does it really matter if I do something on Monday or Tuesday? Unless there’s an impending deadline, it’s all the same.

Even within the same project, there are different types of tasks, which I can juggle around. This way, I don’t have to force myself to do the work, but I go with the flow. Being able to choose right at the moment makes me feel in control and free at the same time. And having a plan behind the tasks gives me purpose and clarity.

My trusted companion with flexible planning is a weekly planner.

I couldn’t find the one that suits me perfectly, so I came up with my own.

To make sure the week goes smoothly, I start with the Focus of the week.

It’s the main goal I want to accomplish. If it’s done, I know the week was successful. For example, this week, I decided to publish my first Behance project. The last time I worked with this platform was around 6 years ago, so all my knowledge about it was outdated. I had to start from scratch.

So first, on a separate piece of paper, I make a list of all the tasks supporting my weekly focus. Then I spread them around the week. Sometimes I use sticky notes to move things around easily. Otherwise, I rearrange tasks by adding arrows to them.The rest of the tasks like writing an email or calling a friend I put right on the paper.

My Weekly Planner filled. Mock up by Freepik

I also have a particular area devoted to my ideas.

I frequently get new ones and tend to write them down everywhere, making it hard to find them afterward. Keeping them in one place throughout the week helps me store all raw bits and pieces together to combine and extend them later. Then I move them to their permanent home in a separate Idea book that I keep.

As I’m working on adding new habits to my life, a habit tracker comes in handy.

Instead of using yet another app, I prefer to color a segment of a color wheel each time I repeat a habit.

Habits tracker

To make your life a bit easier, I decided to share my planner with you.

I hope it’ll work for you as well as it does for me. If you’re already ColorTamers’ member, head to the Library to get the downloadable version, or become one to get access to this file.

I’ve prepared 3 versions of this planner for you:

one with ColorTamers styling
b/w version
colour yourself option

You can print out the last one on any paper and get creative. Use markers, colour pencils, stickers, or maybe stamps to add personality to your weekly planner. Have fun with it! It’s yours to change. Make every week different.

Would you like 3 versions of this weekly planner?

As ColorTamers' member, you can download it by clicking on the nearby image or from Library anytime. Check the latest email from us to get the password.

So why is a weekly planner helpful?

A weekly planner is a convenient way to get an overview of your week. It shows you what you spent it on. Besides, at the end of the week, you can look back at all the work you’ve done, feel satisfaction, and get a boost of confidence. It’s also easier this way to analyse how you spend your time.

How do you feel about planning?

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Keep creating!

Yours,

Tatiana