Planners Everywhere: My Mad World | Giftie Etcetera: Planners Everywhere: My Mad World

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Planners Everywhere: My Mad World

Last night I went to a dinner party with some parents from my kids' school. I had such a wonderful time. Margaritas, enchiladas, laughter, and an adorable waiter. We always get the same waiter. He is only 19 years old, so he says fun, awkward things like, "oh, a Moms' group? Nice. I have a mom."

Anyway, during dinner someone asked when the school field trip was going to be scheduled, so I pulled out my planner and told her the date, two months from now. (
Okay, one of my friends made fun of me at the dinner table. It's okay. I still love her even if she doesn't understand the POWER OF THE PLANNER.) I also had a pen for signing the check tucked into my planner. That became important when the fifteen checks arrived at the table at once.


(Look away while I make a "note to self" - add task in planner to deal with those Cajun eyebrows.)

Then, when I paid the bill, I was able to subtract it immediately from my budget for the month, right there at the table, and see that I am on track to be $1,000 under budget this month. (Woo hoo!)

I also noted my calorie intake immediately in my little black and white Franklin 365 Flourish. (Hey, fashion matters if you are just going to whip it out during a dinner party.) So far, tracking calories has helped me lose two pounds in two weeks. (Double woo hoo!)


Mostly, though, having the planner meant that on my drive home, I could sing "Mad World" (the Adam Lambert version) really loudly the whole way, unconcerned about money, weight, or whether I was missing an important deadline. (I was also unconcerned about fellow drivers seeing me rock it out. Perhaps I should have a bit more shame.) I take my planner everywhere, so that I don't have to keep the details and worries in my head anymore.


You see, my planner is not about feeding my OCD. It's about freeing myself from my OCD.

Etcetera.

4 comments:

paperscribe said...

Love it! So relaxing to not have to carry life's details in one's head all of the time!

trekmom said...

I was just looking at this planner on amazon! Is this the compact size? I am using the arc junior right now, but want to switch to a ring binder. I am not sure if this will be the right size or not. Do you like the size of this one. I like the 1/2 size of my arc, I can just fold full size papers in half, but it is heavy to carry.. I also saw a cute polka dot planner on amazon...decisions!

Giftie Etcetera said...

TrekMom -

This planner is great. It comes with inserts (undated) which makes it a great price and it can start at any time of the year. One caution is that it is closer to Filofax personal size, at 4 3/4 x 6 1/4 inches, so a little smaller than a half sheet. However, it is thick, so it can hold a lot, while still having a smaller footprint in your bag!

Anne said...

I love the last line, not about feeding the OCD but about freeing from the OCD. You hit it dead on that time. Thanks for making me smile.