Posted by Laurie | December 30th, 2008

Two days until 2009 and currently my to-do/calendar system is a little, well, interesting to say the least. Important deadlines are always put into my Google Calendar. I love the Google Calendar system, especially now that it is integrated into my Gmail! But I don’t really like to use it for all of my ongoing tasks and to-do’s. I prefer to keep it mostly for important deadlines and reminders so that when I glance at it I immediately see what is coming up, without having “pick up drycleaning” or “follow up on potential client” as part of the list.

Due to that desire, I’ve recently tried out a couple of online “to-do” style systems - Remember the Milk and Toodledo. Both are pretty good systems, but to be honest, I still kind of like having a physical list in front of me. I like that I don’t have to have my computer or cellphone handy to look at the lists!! I spend enough time on my computer as is, I like to prepare my daily to-dos without the computer - it’s a good thing to do first thing in the am, while the kiddos eat breakfast, without the full distraction that turning on my computer tends to be.

My current paper system is very inexpensive - but hardly the most organized! It’s a spiral bound notebook where each week I make a page with about 5 lines for each weekday and about 7 lines for the whole weekend. I then list the tasks I want to accomplish each day, personal and work stuff. I like being able to cross it out as I finish the task! Fortunately, my work is picking up and with another new client starting Jan 1, I don’t really have enough space to fit everything in properly (I write kind of big, lol) and I’d like a proper book where each week’s info is spread over two pages. I’ve looked at a lot of calendars, but nothing really appealed to me enough to spend the money on it. At least my system is about $3 and lasts quite a while!

Still, I definitely want to upgrade to a real calendar, and definitely a paper one. I may try harder with an online system too, but for now I’m on the hunt for a great diary suitable to my wahm lifestyle! Here are a few I’ve found online so far:

• Moleskins - seem to be a huge fave of a lot of people. I don’t want the whole week on one side with notes on the other though. I want a full column for each weekday and that doesn’t seem to be an option here.
• Mom Agenda planners - hmmm, these may just be what I need. A little pricey (to me anyway!) but if it keeps me organized….
• This also has a great format - a free printable planner from Busy Mom Resources. I’d have to print it and put it into a binder (and label it all), but I do have a great binder I could use for it. Definitely a more frugal solution!

Decisions, decisions! Anyone have any other suggestions or resources? Love to hear from you!

Tags: busy, calendar, diary, mom, offline, planner, schedule, to-do, wahm, weekly