SMART Productive Planner

“Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” "You've Got Mail" - Nora Ephron

You've Got Mail is one of my favourite films. I just love cheesy chick flicks, that are usually so predictable you just know that the girl and guy who hate each other at the beginning will fall in love along with some kind of misunderstanding along the way. But there's something about it too. I think it feeds into my love of New York but also the fact that it starts with "Fall" well Autumn here in England. I love this quote because it makes me think of "Back to School" season. As I write this Jaxon is on his third day at school. After the first day, he said he wasn't going back. Then yesterday morning he was a bit more for going to school. Today the debate was which side of the road we had to walk and then where to cross outside the school (there's a pelican crossing but about five metres away there's also a small traffic island in the middle of the road so you can wait for the lights to change and then still cross the road further along - if that makes sense!) So what have I been up to with my days so far of "freedom"? Well, lots actually. I'm almost up to date on the washing and have managed to clear some other bits of clutter that have been gathering around the house. I even got the bedding and towels back into the airing cupboard instead of them migrating across the landing.

 
I may have got distracted by pretty highlighters too. Interesting colourful spreads make you more productive right? Well I'm sure it might but not 100% I was as productive as I could have been! Then I got onto longer-term goals. What did I want to achieve next week and in the rest of September? Well, I might have got to a "Before Christmas" stage as well but decided to pause that one. SMART Goals. So I don't know about you but when it comes to making goals that aren't just a "cross of a to do" kind of goal I often end up back at SMART goals. (For daily goals I sometimes try the 1-3-5 method that my friend Rickie introduced me to. 5 little tasks, 3 medium tasks and 1 big task each day rather than a long to-do list like I normally do. You can read more here). Back to SMART goals, so let's go back to the beginning. What does SMART stand for? Specific - Make sure the goal is well defined. What do I want to accomplish? Why is the goal important? Who is involved? Where is it located? What do I need to achieve it? Measurable -  Make sure the goal is obtainable - think about how will I know when it is accomplished? (For instance, rather than ride my bike more, I might set a goal like ride my bike 10 miles a week) Achievable - how I accomplish this goal? How realistic is the goal? Relevant - is the goal relevant? Does this seem worthwhile? But also is this the right time? Time-Bound - Every goal needs an end day so that you have a deadline to focus on. Maybe it's the day of a big race (like London Marathon is always around the 25th April - actually it's nearly always the weekend before my birthday!)

 

My planner is definitely more of the appointments along with daily to do list kind of goals. I've decided to try and start a new insert in my standard TN for the longer goals. With Jaxon now being at school on weekdays, I'm trying to be more proactive and try and achieve some of those goals that I kept putting off because I couldn't do them with Jaxon in tow. September started with a lot of decoration, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and even if Anna's September stickers weren't technically HP and Hogwarts themed they did work perfectly (with some additions) to decorate the week leading up to what is the day everyone catches the Hogwarts Express to school. I paired the stickers with red and yellow washi. They were the closest I had to the Gryffindor colours (although I did discover at last year's Jingle and Mingle that technically I'm a Hufflepuff. Have you booked your tickets for this year's Jingle and Mingle? They are available here)

 

Hannah