Notebook Planner: Your One-Stop Information Center

What about you homeschool, is it organized? Do you know  what work to assign today or what they did yesterday?

What if you could experience less stress, frustration and choas while gaining time and energy? If you take a few hours to set up lists in a Notebook Planner you can!

Your  Notebook Planner can be a very power tool acting as a coach, manager and secretary. Written plans will help you feel more in control of your time. This notebook is your recipe to create balance and harmony in each of these vital areas: spiritual, family, physical, financial, educational, social, and professional.

A Short Pencil is Better Than a Long Memory

To create your Notebook Planner, start with a three-ring binder, some clear page protectors, paper and tabbed dividers. Many of the forms and lists I recommend can be printed from your computer (see links below).

We always make lists lists in our heads the goal here is to get the lists on paper.  Something happens when you write down what needs to be done on paper. It frees up mental ram in your head and you become more productive than you would if you just  “fly by the seat of your pants.”

Notebook  Options

• One  Large 3-Ring Notebook – Combine printable calendars, schedules, planner pages and checklists in one notebook and store in a special place. Plan on using it daily.
• Several Small Notebooks – If you prefer keeping smaller notebooks to carry in your purse be sure you have a special box in a designated area to store them so they don’t get misplaced.
• Purchase a Planner Notebook – You can purchase a planner such as The Ultimate Homeschool Planner or Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home. The notebook pictured in this post is from http://www.etsy.com/shop/woodlandcottagefarm
• A Computer Planner – There are also many organizing programs on your computer or online. I suggest you start with a paper plan and more it to the computer when you find a program right for you.

The first step in getting to get organized is to to make a list of the type lists you need.  I’ll give you some ideas.  Once you know the list you need you can organize the lists into the notebook.

List Categories

• Spiritual (Bible reading checklists, prayer lists, journal entries)
• Goals (family mission statement, personal goals, business goals)
• Meals (menu planner, recipes, freezer cooking, and master shopping lists)
• Home (annual, monthly, and weekly, and daily chore lists)
• Finance (budget/spending record, credit card list, insurance, utilities/services directory, vehicle)
• Calendar (birthdays,  doctor’s appointments and  everyday tasks)
• Addresses (phone numbers and addresses)
• Health  (medical records, medications, supplements, blood test results, shots, medical authorization form)
• Homeschool (books read lists, books to read lists, annual, monthly and weekly, and daily schedules, library return list, wish lists, unit study planner)
• To Do (daily and weekly to do lists)
• Honey Do (on going lists of things you need your sweetheart to do)
• Exercise (goals,  log, diet tracker)
• Animals (vet records, shots, worming dates, etc.)

Be creative! Make your notebook work for your family by trying different forms and divisions. You’ll come up with a system that works for you.

Its easy to add new sections to a 3-ring binder. Planning home improvement projects? Add a divider, and store paint chips and swatches in page protectors.

If you find  section you rarely use you might combine it with another section. Example put your To Do list ad Honey Do  in the calender pages.

Keep main goals in the goal section with steps to complete goals in the other section. Example: Put your spiritual and exercise goals in the goal section for an overview with step details in the spiritual and exercise section.

Downloadable Printable Forms Online:

• Organized Home Printable Planners
• Donna Young
• The Project Girl

Alternative Lists

I don’t keep all my lists in the Notebook Planer.

1. A magnetic note pad on the fridge is a handy grocery list. Every time you or a family member notices that you are almost out of something, right it down.
2. A calendar on the wall may work best for your family to jot down daily events or appointments.
3. Make list to take with you when you errands. Save time and gas by going to these places in order of shortest distance instead of running all over town.

How about you? What lists do you make? Do you use a notebook?