Find a Planner that Fits Your Style

With the New Year, comes resolutions and a commitment or recommitment to goals. To keep all your new tasks organized requires a planner that fits your needs.

I’m organizationally challenged, which causes problems because I’m also a multi-business entrepreneur. I’m always on the hunt for the perfect planner system that fits how I work. My preference is to see the whole week at a glance and have all my to-dos (personal and professional) listed along side any appointments. I don’t want to have to turn pages to manage my day because I’m more likely to not turn the page and therefore miss something. The problem has been that I’ve never found just the right planner.

If you’re having the same problem, visit DIYPlanner which has tons of different planner styles…for free. These planner templates are created by DIYPlanner or its members and uploaded for anyone to use. Planners come in a variety sizes depending on your needs.

The site also offers articles and other resources related to planning. The best way to find the actual planner templates is to click on “DIYPlanner.com” or “Time Management” in the left hand side bar. But do take some time to read the articles and other information. There is an interactive community with lots of great tips and ideas.

To learn more, visit DIYPLanner.com

Goal Setting Using Google Calendar

I love web aps that make my life easier. How ever too many apps can confuse things. That’s why I love resources like iGoogle in which many of my tools can be accessed in one place.

In my hunt for a great goal setting tool, I was concerned about how I would manage yet another app. Resources like 43 Things are great not only to set and manage goals, but for the support and social aspect. But I don’t tend to go back to them once I set them up. If you don’t use it, it can’t help you.

So I was intrigued when I found this post from last year on We Do Creative on how to use Google Calendar to manage goals. I love this idea because I do check my calendar on a regular basis. You can not only set your goals, but break them down into milestones and tasks as well. If your goals are a group effort, you can share that particular goal’s calendar with others as well.

Check out this article, “Google Calendar as a Todo List & Task Management App” and see if it works for you.

Family Management the Cozi Way

Most planners and productivity tools are geared towards work, but running a household requires many of the same tools CEO’s need to manage a company.  Cozi offers such a resource for families. With Cozi, families can:

• Manage the family calendar
• Create customizable lists (shopping, chores, etc)
• Send reminders and messages (text message to phones) to keep everyone in the loop.
• Access the calendar, to-dos and other tools from a cell phone.
• Keep a family journal.
• Create a photo collage
• And even sync with MS Outlook

Cozi is a web-based organizational tool for families. It offers a desktop feature as well as the ability to access Cozi tools through a cell phone. What’s really helpful about Cozi is that its not just for mom but for the whole family so they can keep insync with activities and events.

Cozi is free and easy to use. You can learn more or sign up by visiting Cozi.

Grocery Lists and Meal Planning Made Easy

In my attempts to save money, meal planning and grocery shopping has become more complex. I’m clipping coupons, shopping multiple stores to get the best prices, and planning meals around what’s on sale. Being domestically and organizationally challenged, this new way of cooking and shopping has been difficult for me to manage.

But I’ve just come across a great new web and phone app that can make it easier. Ziplist offers lots of great features to create a shopping list and plan meals. The shopping list can be organized by aisle or store. It can be shared with other members of the family so that they can add items.

Not sure what to make for dinner? Ziplist has tons of recipes and with a single click all the ingredients can be added to your list. It will even show you items that you may already have at home so that they aren’t added to the list. And if you find a recipe on another website, you can save it to your Ziplist recipe box.

When you’re ready to shop, you can print out your list or access it by through your SmartPhone (iPhone app coming soon).

To learn more or to create your own list, visit Ziplist.