A weekly planner: The key to managing time and finding motivation

With the winter months arriving and the colder weather already here, it can be hard to manage your time wisely and find motivation, but a weekly planner can change it all for the better.

2023 is nearly over with the world being a few days into November. With the winter months now here and the UK being subject to cold and stormy weather, stress tends to find a way to occupy our days.

It can be hard to find the motivation to get out of a warm bed and do the jobs you know you need to do, and it can be difficult to keep on top of everything. Especially with Christmas being next month, managing your time and everything you need to do before the festive holiday arrives is more challenging than we probably like to admit.

Some people can list numerous ways to destress and make this time of year easier on all of us, but sometimes it's easier said than done. Trust me, I know. This time of year includes my birthday, my mum's birthday, some relative's birthdays and big events concerning work, ongoing university studies and on top of all that, autumnal/winter activities I want to do.

But there is something that I always find helps me clear my mind so that I can see what I need to do in a way that doesn't overwhelm me or make it a stressful situation.

A weekly planner.

Credit: AMB4LIFESTYLE on Etsy

This is what I use to solve all my problems in terms of time management.

How a weekly planner can help your time management

There are periods in my life where things can become a bit overwhelming because I have so many things going on and so many things to do that keeping on top of them all is difficult. One way I've learned to deal with this is to write a to-do list.

Every morning I grab a post-it note and write down everything I want to do for that day. I include things such as rewriting the second draft of my assignment, Tesco delivery and even 'Reply to...' if I need to respond to a friend's text. If there's something I then do during the day that I hadn't initially included on the list, I add it and tick it off.

On my to-do list, I also write down events in the week that are already scheduled so I know what's happening when and I try to set myself specific time slots to complete things in.

But having it on a Post-it note can sometimes get confusing because I end up cramming all my jobs onto a tiny piece of paper, in shorthand, and it's not always easy to read or remember it all.

So having a weekly planner with a monthly overview is the perfect solution.

On Etsy, there's this digital weekly planner that gives you a weekly calendar for five weeks plus the monthly overview. But that's not all.

This five-week planner allows you to not only plan each day for the week but also provides space for a weekly to-do list, a focus section to help you determine what's more of a priority, a weekly mood reflection and a space for planning the important items for the coming week.

There's also a little doodle section for a little creative break if you fancy it.

Credit: AMB4LIFESTYLE on Etsy

Having this planner helps me get an overview of everything that's happening each week. But I've found it has also helped me find motivation for tasks.

The layout of the planner makes it clear to see all the events I've scheduled and knowing that I'm going to rate each week on the Sunday inspires me to be as productive as I can.

Plus, the good thing about this planner is that it's digital. You can either edit on your laptop if you prefer working with a screen or you can print each page and handwrite, which means that for each week you can reuse the planner and start fresh.

So, if you need a way to help manage your time and find motivation to complete tasks, then maybe give this weekly planner a go. And if you do, let me know how you get on.

Until next time...