Planning is an essential piece to achieving success. I constantly repeat the importance of this. You need to know where you are going and how you are going to get there so you can take meaningful action and spend your time working on the tasks that will take you to your goals.
Yeah now you have a plan, but there is another necessity. Your plan will be meaningless if you can’t track your results and adjust your plans as you go. Life never goes perfectly to plan. You have to be able to identify when things change and adapt your plan accordingly.
This is where a planner comes into play. Your planner will help you see how much time you have and how much time each of your tasks takes. Using a planner actually teaches you what works for you timewise and then you can use this information to improve your time management. Planning ahead also prevents multitasking since you can choose what to focus on and when. Being able to see your next steps makes your day run smoother and easier.
You can plan and manage your time using the gazillion software and apps that are available. There are some amazing tools that I think are super important, but (you knew there was a “but” coming) in this post I will explain why I seriously cannot live without a physical planner and why you shouldn’t either!
1 – Your brain likes it better
You can SEE how much time you have and SEE how much time each task takes. Parkinson’s law says “work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion”. Being able to see your time blocked off for each task makes it easier for you to actually complete the tasks properly rather than a scattered to-do list.
Your planner becomes a registry of your progress making it easier to understand the steps you’ve been taking and the results you get from them. You can flip through the pages you are already familiar with (because you were the one who wrote them) and travel back in time to see what you’ve been doing, and then plan accordingly for the future.
Our brains don’t like multitasking. When you focus on one task at a time and choose to work on tasks that are high-impact you become way more productive and less stressed! At the end of the day, you should know that you have worked on important tasks that will take you to your goals. You should never be “shoulding” all over yourself about the number of tasks you crossed off on a list.
2 – You are less distracted
Using a physical planner rather than a digital device removes the distraction that your phone or computer provides. We all know how tempting it is to scroll on social media or check our email. If every time you check your next task on a device you will be hit by notifications and you will surely end up on social media at some point. Where did those 20 minutes go??? You were scrolling before you realized you weren’t working.
Planning in your physical planner also allows your eyes to take a break from the blue light of your screen. It gives your brain some downtime from the over-stimulation that comes from bright lights and the massive and continuous amount of information we get from our screens.
Handwriting stimulates different brain cells that help improve your focus. A study by the Dominican University of California revealed that those who write down their goals have more accountability and will share with others. They are also 33% more likely to achieve them. This is because the physical act of writing things down activates areas of your brain and signals that this is something important that must be remembered.
3 – You remember things better
Physically writing things down is scientifically proven to help you remember them. When you are handwriting your memory of the words links to the movements required to make each letter. Handwriting is a far more complicated neurological process than typing, therefore your brain will consider the information to be important and decide to retain it for later.
Using a physical planner not only gives you a chance to handwrite and have interaction with physical objects and be organized.. No sticky notes to lose or random pieces of paper that get destroyed or thrown away. As much as I love sticky notes they can’t be trusted (no matter how pretty they are) to store important information you want reliable access to!
It’s easier to create a habit of planning and checking on your plan when you have it all neatly organized in a single place. You just have to open your planner and get going – everything is there. You don’t have to look for the scrap paper where you made your notes… you know you put them somewhere so you wouldn’t lose them… but where was it?
4 – Being creative will motivate you
Paper and pencil allow you to be creative. There isn’t software that will allow you the same flexibility to create like a paper will. Unless you want to program your own stuff… The JOY that pens, stickers, and doodling brings in beyond comparison! A physical planner allows you to create something of your own and you can exercise your creativity as much as you wish. What a rush!
This in turn helps you stay motivated and keeps you using your planner. It’s quite common for people to start planning and then let it slide after a while, but if you have something to be excited about when using your planner, like awesome pens and stickers, it’s easier to stay motivated!
You will see progress when you start using your planner consistently and taking meaningful action every day towards your goals. You will start to see progress and that will motivate you even more. It becomes a positive cycle!
5 – It’s easy to get started
Planning is a skill. If you are new to planning a physical planner can make it way easier for you to get started. You already know how to use pen and paper! There isn’t a software learning curve or new lingo adaption. You just gotta sit down with your planner and get to it…buy those pretty pens!
You can transition into the new habit of planning by making it easy to stick to. In no time you will see the benefits and then it will just be a part of your daily actions.
Why choose the Rockstar Business Planner?
All of the reasons above are part of the reason why I created the Rockstar Business Planner. However, I wanted to go above and beyond the “usual” format. I didn’t just want an agenda or journal where I could write things down. I wanted a system where I could establish my goals and keep track of my progress, where I could keep my important tasks in the forefront of my mind and make sure I was taking meaningful action each day.
In the Rockstar Business Planner, you will easily access your goals and plans throughout the year. The planner is set up with yearly, quarterly, and monthly planning pages to ensure you are checking in with your goals as you run your business. You can look back throughout the year to see where you started, how far you have come, and how you have had to pivot accordingly as things change.
Another feature that is super important for me is to be able to easily see what the most important items (we call those non-negotiable tasks) are and therefore get my high-impact tasks done. Getting your non-negotiables completed will help ensure you are working consistently towards your business’s yearly goals and having a space specially designed to hold these tasks is very helpful.
When you are able to see what your next high-impact task is there is less procrastination between tasks. You know exactly what the next step is without “wandering” and delaying the success you deserve.
Don’t waste any time! Make sure you’re signed up for the 2022 Rockstar Business Planner Waitlist
