April Planner Pack and How I Use It

The April Planner Pack went out Yesterday afternoon and the best part about it is that in addition to the calendar, goal planner, week and daily planners, I’ve once again included the mail planner and shopping list. Just like March, I also included the Bonus Spring Cleaning Checklist updated to match April’s design.

If you are new to the blog and haven’t signed up for the email then you may not know about the monthly planner packs. Today I thought I’d share with you what the planner packs are and then share with you a little bit about how I actually use them.

The Monthly Planner

Each Month’s Planner pack includes the actual planner. I keep them pretty consistent but I’m always open to suggestions on how to make them better and I specifically ask in the email that goes out, what I can do to make them better.

The planner consists of:

a printable calendar for the month – this is a great calendar to print out and hang or keep near your home command center or use it for work to stay organized and note anything major going on throughout the month
a goal planner for the month organized by week – I like to use this to highlight all the big things happening in a given week. If B is going to be traveling, I like to put those days on the goal planner. For work, this is a great tool to use for breaking down larger tasks which helps keep me from feeling overwhelmed.
a weekly planner – this is a great way to look at your week in an overview. highlight important tasks to be done that week, set goals, mark appointments, etc. I personally use this more for work. Back when I had a team working for me in the shop, we sat down on Monday mornings and planned out our week using this kind of tool.
Daily planner – as a solopreneur, a daily task planner helps me focus on the most important tasks and anything else is a bonus. It keeps me focused and organized and never idol wondering what to do next.

Meal Planner

The Meal Planner has seen a couple of different variations but for me, simple is best so the current format includes a column for each day throughout the week divided into sections for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The meal planner includes:

weekly meal planner chart – B and I are pretty good about planning our weekly dinners and we specifically plan meals that will have left overs for the next day’s lunch. Where we struggle is breakfast and using this planner has really helped us with that as well as avoid those last minute take-out nights which has saved us money and is healthier.
categorized shopping list – I don’t particularly love grocery shopping but it’s one of those things that needs to be done. I also hate throwing a list together and then when I get to the store end up forgetting something because “broccoli” was scribbled under “toilet paper” and I forgot to go back to pick it up. This organized shipping list means I’m not adding an item twice or missing it at the store. I can go to each section of the grocery store, go down the list for that department and then move on. No backtracking, no forgetting and it takes me less time and I’m spending less money because I’m not buying extra things. That’s a Win, Win, Win!!!

Bonus Spring Cleaning Checklist

In addition to the monthly planner pack, I added in a bonus for March and April. The bonus was this 6-week spring cleaning checklist.

I love the idea of spring cleaning but I honestly don’t do it every year like I should because I get overwhelmed, don’t know where to start and then never do. Just like with anything else, when I break it down into smaller chunks but still keep a timeline on it, I’m able to focus and actually accomplish the task.

Also because I love lists, I’m able to feel a sense of accomplishment as I check off each individual task and I am able to see the overall progress I am making.

How I Use the Planner Pack

My planner pack lives on the clip board in our pantry area. It’s visible from the kitchen and right inside the back door that we use as our primary entry / exit point from the house.

On it hangs our weekly menu (it’s right beside the pantry door), as well as where I keep my weekly / daily planners for projects I’m working on around the house.