I’m a big believer in using different tools to create a planner that works. I have to admit that I’ve been struggling to figure out how to plan my work with my daily home routine. Lots of trial and failure, but after 4 months of searching, I finally found that printables planner works the best.
Why Do You Need a Blogging Planner?
If you are serious with blogging, you need to get it organized just like your other task. It’s no longer a hobby, but it should be a habit with consistent effort if you want to see serious results. First, you need to think and be clear on your goal, plan how you will achieve it, and layout the content.
There are plenty of apps that you can use online, but the old paper planner is a proven way to visualize your goals and priorities and organize your work to become a more focused and productive blogger.
How Do I Get Started?
Last year a friend recommended The Blog Success Planner from the Inspired Blogger’s University, and I immediately fell in love with Tabitha’s system. I can honestly say that I have not regretted that choice. The planner template is full of unique prints to cover blogging and modern lifestyle. However, I still found a missing piece, and I need to figure out soon. I’ve tried to use schedules and checklist, use full-size planner, switch daily to monthly, and try all the combinations above, but nothing suits my need. Until one day, after 4 months of search, I decided to set different planner for weekly goals and monthly goals and a separate template for business and personal life. It goes very well! It helps me focus on things I need to get done on working mode.
Below you’ll find the planning template that works for me for more than a year.
MONTHLY PLANNING SECTION
I use the monthly plan section as a broad but actionable idea that I want to achieve within that month. It doesn’t have specific dates, just columns according to the number of days in that month. I will put more details on the weekly plan, but I have to put my goals on the monthly template, so I don’t miss it. It includes room for the top 3 priorities of the month, the monthly goals (steps to achieve long-term goals), to-do list, ideas, and notes.
WEEKLY PLANNING SECTION
This section is the most time-consuming template, a lot of tweaks. Instead of using the old-fashioned style with day one on the first page, the next day on the second page, and so on, I decided to set 4 pages for each week.
The first page is the place to plan the entire week, including weekly goals, top 3 tasks for the week, reminders, notes, and habit trackers to help me find new habit work if needed. Then the remaining areas are for the weekdays with 3 sections for each day:
– To-Do List >> contains your top 3 daily task
– Social Media >> plan your social activities here to keep track of any updates you need to make on various platforms
– Daily Log >> A feedback note for whatever happened that day
The second page is for the remaining weekdays, so this continues the weekday’s layout on the first page. The third page covers the weekend with a weekly recap, notes on wins and losses about your weekly goals, and a place to record your top achievement on that week. The last page is mostly a note with an extended plan for the next week.
PRINTING: MAKE IT REAL
I’ve done all the hassle and prepare the printable version here. Feel free to download it, print, and share with your friends. You’ll never know who needs it.