HOW TO PLAN YOUR YEAR IN ADVANCED
Updated: Oct 4, 2019
Have you ever heard of the concept of planning your year in advance? You may think it is madness but I want to walk you through what I do in order to plan for a more successful year!
Before I walk you through what I typically pre-plan make sure you grab your planner so you can start schedule these things out too!! I love using my Happy Planner to keep track of my schedule. I’m currently using a vertical classic size planner. in this post I’m going to walk you through how I use the monthly spreads for my yearly planning.
1) CELEBRATIONS:
First start with marking off all celebrations. This would include any celebrations that you don't want to miss, birthday's, anniversaries and holidays. Most planners will already have the holiday's marked for you but if you have an undated planner you will need to do this.
When I'm marking down birthday's in my planner I normally either highlight them so I don't miss them or you could use a sticker like a birthday cake or a balloon. This year I'm opting to keep my monthly spreads simple so I'm using my erasable markers to highlight or make boxes around the celebrations.
PRO TIP: You could even write down reminders a week in advance for when you need to send out birthday cards or gifts so they don’t get missed.
2) NO SCHOOL DAYS/DAYS OFF
Knowing when school is out or you have days off work is extremely important for setting yourself up for a more organized year. If you know when school is out then you can know to plan extra activities during those days, cancel daycare or schedule a vacation.
3) APPOINTMENTS:
Scheduling appointments in advance can be a huge help, especially if you are anything like me and you forget or just keep putting off certain appointments. Think of your yearly appointments that you typically make for example doctor appointments, the dentist, haircuts, etc.
PRO TIP: Use a color code system in your planner so you know who the appointment is for. For example in my planner my daughter is purple, I'm red and my husband is green then anything that involves the whole family I mark with orange.
4) TRAVEL/VACATIONS:
If you plan out your vacations in advance you are more likely to be prepared with getting things done ahead of time and saving for your trip. So for example we know that in April we will be going on a vacation. Since I know this now I can start planning ahead and know that I need to have my content for that week done in advance so I'm not stressing about it over our vacation. It also allows us time to save for the trip in advance.
PRO TIP: Set up a sinking fund for upcoming vacations
We use sinking funds to plan in advance for things like vacations. Have you heard of the term sinking fund? The basic concept of a sinking fund is that you are setting aside money each month in order to go towards a future goal or bill. I will dive in deeper for you in a future post all about sinking funds but they have been essential for my husband and I this past year in meeting some of our financial goals.
Sinking Fund example:
Savings goal: $1,200
Monthly sinking fund savings: $100
1,200 (goal)/12 (months) = $100 or goal/months until trip = monthly sinking fund saving
5) TRACK GOALS:
Another thing you could plan ahead is to set up goals throughout the year. For example if you know that you have a financial goal like saving for a vacation you could mark down in your calendar when you need to make your sinking fund payment so you don't miss it.
6) RECURRING EVENTS:
If you know that you have certain events that happen every week/month go ahead and put those in your planner as well. For example my family are in a Tuesday night and Wednesday night small groups. I went ahead and marked these in my calendar with the time and then when I do my weekly planning I will go ahead and mark down the details at that time.
PRO TIP: Use erasable pens so that you can make edits easily if plans change. My favorite are the Frixion erasable pens.
You could also do this with your kids activities, practices, church events, date nights etc. Just think about anything that you are writing down from week to week. If you don't know all of the details that is fine you can fill those in later but if you mark it down now you will be less likely to overbook yourself.
PLANNER PACKAGE GIVEAWAY:
I am so excited to be able to do another giveaway for you all!! I hope that these planner goodies will help one of you get your year planned in advance!
GIVEAWAY INCLUDES:
- 12 month mini horizontal Happy planner (undated)
- 12 month mini Happy Planner fitness planner (undated)
- 5 sticker packs
- 2 washi tape packs
- Frixion erasable pens (my favorite!!)
The giveaway will be open from December 19-31, 2018. The winner will be announced the first week of January 2019. Make sure to take advantage of the bonus entries!!!
DISCLAIMER:
The giveaway will run December 19-31, 2018. The winner will be announced the first week of January, 2019 and have 24 hours to claim. If the winner does not claim, a runner up will be chosen. No purchase necessary. This giveaway is open to resident of the contiguous United States.
