How to Achieve More with a Productivity Planner in 2022
Let’s be honest: we’ve all had those days where we crawl into bed and feel like we didn’t accomplish a single thing that day.
With so many people working from home these days, personal and professional lives have become increasingly intertwined. The result? A feeling of constant overwhelm and loss of motivation.
It’s okay to lose motivation now and then, but if you’re looking for a way to boost productivity in 2022, you need the right tool to help you get there.
This week’s blog post is all about the productivity planner: what it is, why it’s helpful, and how to use one.
Whether you’re looking to move forward in your business, achieve a personal goal, or simply stay on top of daily tasks, a productivity planner offers a system to keep you accountable.
Let’s dive in.
What Is a Productivity Planner?
You might be wondering: what’s the difference between a productivity planner and the monthly calendar that sits on my fridge?
Simply put, a productivity planner aims to track and monitor your goals through impactful daily actions. If you’re looking to achieve specific goals within a specific timeframe, having the right planner is key to your success.
A productivity planner is an improved version of a traditional planner. They are specifically designed to help you with goal setting and habit development, as well as using strategies like journaling to encourage self-reflection. For example, the Aligned Planner combines daily pages, habit trackers, and journal prompts to help you take aligned action towards your goals every day.
If you want to be more productive and reach new heights, then you need a tool that offers more than just a pretty page to write on – you need a strategic goal-setting system. You need to get aligned.
Why Use a Productivity Planner?
Now that you know how a productivity planner differs from a regular calendar or to-do list, let’s take a look at the added benefits of using this type of planner:
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Helps you break down big goals into small, actionable steps that can be taken daily.
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Combines monthly, weekly, and daily pages, as well as timetables in a centralized location so you can prioritize your most important tasks.
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Gives you a visual space for writing down notes, to-do lists, and any other important tasks or reminders for the day.
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Encourages reflection so you can recognize positive habits, identify challenges, and allow room for improvement.
A productivity planner is a powerful tool that delves a lot deeper than a plain list or journal. These types of planners tend to be more effective in planning daily tasks, objectives, and long-term goals - so they are often used by high-performing people.
How to Use a Productivity Planner
In his bestselling book Atomic Habits, James Clear wrote “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Think of a productivity planner as a system that you use every day to bring you to the desired outcome.
High achievers understand the importance of systems – and know that productivity and fulfillment often go hand-in-hand. The right tool will help lead to those feelings and ensure that you make the most of every day.
Here are a few tips for using the Aligned Planner as your go-to productivity tool.
Commit to writing in your planner every day. Come up with a schedule that works best for you and try to write at the same time every day.
Remember, writing is a habit like anything else – the more you do it, the more you’ll feel the benefits and want to continue!
The best productivity planners help you plan at different levels. Breaking it down into smaller time increments will ensure that your goals remain specific, realistic, and achievable.
Let’s take a look at these planning sections in more detail:
Quarterly: When you start a new planner, use the quarterly section to write out the big plans or goals that you have for the next 90 days.
Weekly: Every Sunday evening, take a few moments to plan out the week ahead. This is a chance to plan out more general tasks, deadlines, or meetings scheduled for the upcoming week.
Daily: The daily pages are where you develop the habit of productivity. Use this section to write out the specific goals, actions, and affirmations that will guide you throughout the day.
Every tool in the planner is part of a high-performance goal execution strategy. From calendars to affirmations, task lists to journaling prompts, each page serves a purpose to help you reach your maximum productivity level.
Whether you choose the physical or digital version of the planner, reference the pages throughout the day to remind yourself of your goals, and analyze whether your actions are best serving your end goals. For an extra dose of inspiration, use the journaling prompts to write your thoughts out.
Additionally, it’s important to perform quarterly reviews to assess your progress. The only way to tell if you’re achieving your goals is by taking time to evaluate where you’re at and whether your current actions are pushing you forward.
The Aligned Planner includes plenty of blank pages for you to reflect on your growth at the end of each quarter.
Feeling inspired to get more done? If you’re ready to take charge of your time, using a productivity planner is an effective way for you to stay on top of everything you need to do.
Check out our planners to help you structure your day, set ambitious goals, and achieve more than you ever thought possible – one page at a time.