I know this is an odd title but really it’s very true. You wouldn’t think that a paper good could act as a wingman, after all a wingman is someone who comes along with you and keeps you company at a bar or wherever so that you can score a date. I know it’s a strange thing to bring up but I promise you that the point to my story is real and could be very helpful!!

I have share before that the planner is more than a place for me to write down appointments. It’s a place for me to get creative, write down to do’s, organize my life and most importantly allow me to write out the life that I want. I have always used my planner in this fashion. Since I was a kid I would sit with my planner open at my desk and write down quick notes of things that I wanted to do not only in school but things I wanted to do at home as well. Things I wanted to look up at the library or books that I wanted to read because the teacher mentioned or kids talked about at school. It’s a place that acts like a part two to my brain. It handles all the little details so that I don’t have to stress about forgetting them.

Planners really helped me all throughout high school as well. As a rebellious teen ( no not really) I decided to get my cartilage pierced on my ear against my parents wishes and by doing so it became very infected. I needed to go to the emergency room to have it drained and cleaned as well as placed on IV antibiotics for several days. Being that I wasn’t really ill and could walk around with my IV pole I remember very clearly sitting in the hall way of the hospital and looking at the nurses station. I sat there watching these men and women walk back and forth always looking so busy. When my dad came later to visit I shared with him that I wanted to be a nurse. I quickly turned to my planner and began to figure out how to make this happen. Back at school I met with my counselor and took the next steps to apply to colleges and make visits to make decisions on where I should go. Every little detail was poured over the pages of my planner. I could not imagine not having a planner. I have had a planner every single day of my life since I was 8.

Once I got into nursing school I began scripting out what kind of nurse I wanted to be. I began working at the hospital as a nurses aid at the age of 18 and observed each of the units. I took copious notes of things that I learned and where my days were spent. Believe it or not it helped me decide that I wanted to work as a surgical nurse. I loved the idea of people coming in with something broken and usually watching them recover fully. It felt very gratifying to work with people who had a great chance of a full recovery. I even documented patients that had passed on my shift. I would write down questions that came up so that I could google them later when I went home. My planner is and was an extension of me. Again, I could not imagine life without it!!

Even now as a mom I use my planner all the time. I use it  to track my babies sleep and any patterns I notice. Any time there is a behavior I don’t care for I write everything down to see if there are patterns or things that need to be changed or things that act as triggers.

So you see, a planner is so much more than just a place to notify you of events, it’s a place to open your mind up in. It’s a place to help you write the life that you want. It’s a place for you to write all the details out to make things happen. Only YOU can make things happen and if you don’t write down the action steps to do them, then chances are they will just always remain a dream!

Grab your planner and get to know it! It’s your best friend, your wingman, there to really help you live the life that you want. Look at tomorrow in your planner and write down what you want to happen. Do you want a raise at work, what do you need to do to make that happen? Do you want a different job, what needs to happen? Do you want to be a better parent tomorrow, what can you do to make that happen? Use your planner each and every day and all day, you will quickly grow very attached to it and realize that it makes your life so much better. It’s a place to help you be a better you. It will never judge you or steer you in the wrong direction. Believe me my planner has always been by my side and I could not imagine a better life. I’m so grateful each and everyday to have had this amazing tool with me all my life. It’s been through the ups and downs the good the bad and ugly but it’s always been there!!

Now, do you see your planner in a different way?

This thought recently came to me because I was at a wedding and someone asks ‘ so what are you up to these days? ‘ ‘ do you miss working as a nurse?’. When I try to share my excitement about how I have a youtube channel that focuses on paper planners people get this glazed over look. They suddenly lose interest in what I have to say. Many say ‘ that’s so 90’s’  or my favorite ‘ why bother writing it down, put it in your phone’.  If people are genuinely interested I will share with them how paper planning has scripted my life, how it has completely changed my life for the better.

From the time I was 8 years old I have had a paper planner. The obsession honestly started with Chandlers planners. I remember having one each and every year and just changing out the colors. This was such an essential tool for me in school. It was on my desk or on my stack of books, always went home with me and each of my classes was color coordinated with an ink joy pen. This helped me to never miss assignments. Always be prepared when tests and quizzes might happen, what text books I would need to take home with me. I could not imagine life with out one. How in the world do you function without one?  The images featured below are not my images because all of my Chandlers were unfortunately destroyed but this is to give some eye candy of just how great these planners were. 

When I really thought about how planners changed my life one of my first memories was trying to lose weight. I was a chubby kid and new I wanted to change that. The journey was a long one and it took me a long time to figure out how my body works. I had to write down in my planner each and every day what I was eating and tracking physical activity. I needed to make sure that I wasn’t depriving myself of anything and enjoying life but also enjoying and feeling comfortable in my own body. Tracking all this in my planner ultimately turned me into an adult that was fit and heathy.  Don’t believe  that story? Well, luckily I have several more. When I was 15 I went ahead against my parents’ wishes and got the cartilidge of my ear pierced. I knew that it was infected but I still went about a week without telling my parents that it really hurt me. I finally approached my mom and well ended up having to have it drained and cleaned and put on antibiotics for several days. While I was on the unit I remember clearly seeing the nurses station. I watched them all day long and when my dad came to see me after work I told him I wanted to be a nurse. I went back into my room and wrote down questions for my counselor. Back at school I set up and appointment with my counselor and he pointed me to the career center. I spoke with the helpful ladies in there and wrote down all the information I needed to get into nursing school . I set up appointments in my planner for all the different universities and all their options. I then went through my acceptances what I could afford and made a decision based on that. Without my planner I’m not sure how that would have panned out. My planner is my right hand man, it is always close by. It holds all of my secrets, notes, thoughts, basically my brain. I feel as though my brain would not be able to process as many new things if I did not have my planner.

In college my planner was ESSENTIAL!!   I had almost 18 credit hours ( the equivalent to a full load, all day classes ) for my four years in college. I had many social activities as well as taking part in as much as I could with the school of nursing organization. We had a dance and fundraisers as well as open houses. I had clinicals that I needed to schedule. Each and every minute I could spare needed to be dedicated to studying. I think I went through a pack of highlighters and notecards a week. The planner was essential and the bigger the planner the better! Studying for boards, the planner helped me to schedule study times and give me a count down until it was time to take them.

The planner has been essential to me each and every day. It is not just a place to write down appointments it’s a place to script your life. It’s a way of living. It’s a way to make your life happen. Make things happen. Make your wants into something attainable.

I could not imagine life without one!