When you share your planners on social media, there's an expectation that you have your life together. You've pre-assembled your planner/s for the new year, and on January 1st it's go time! "New year, new me baby"! There are multiple set-up videos on your YouTube channel which display your creativity and genius idea for tracking your sleep patterns. And not only are you planner-ready, you're "one little word" ready. And it's SUPER inspiring. The world is your oyster, and those big goals are off and running.
Then there's me.
It's January 1 and I am already feeling behind. I haven't decided with certainty what planners I'll be using in the new year, and the one I AM certain of, has several pages (read several hours) of set-up needed. I have a million notebooks and yet nothing solid or reliable I can write in on this inaugural day of 2024. (We'll get to the 'why' in another post.)
If you're not a planner, you may not know why any of this matters. And it probably doesn't make a lot of sense either. Let me enlighten you.
The state of my planner is a direct reflection of how I'm doing mentally and emotionally. If I'm using it, I have clarity and I'm motivated to pursue my goals. I feel in control of what I can control, and more easy going and resilient with the things I can't. Starting 2024 with undecided or unprepped planners makes me feel like I'm already behind the curve, I'm already behind on my goals I was so excited to march towards in the new year.
Beyond goal-setting and tracking, my planners are where I clear my head of all the questions, ideas, problems, and miscellaneous gobbledygook that takes up a LOT of room up there. A cluttered mind that keeps me from being fully present with my little one and husband. When I'm stuck in my head, I'm less patient, easily irritable, overwhelmed, self-deprecating, and weary.
I don't put my salvation or hope in my planners, but I do see value in them as an effective tool for navigating the throws of life. So 2024, can you please come back tomorrow? Or better yet, next Monday? Maybe I'll have my planners set up by then and the oyster will be mine.