The Planner and My Big Three

This is my planner.  Well, this is a picture of the kind of planner I got.

Technically, this is my planner.  And yes, the sleeve you see is a coat sleeve.  That picture is courtesy of the time in December when we had no heat.  Good riddance, 2012.

When December began, I had already fleshed out my Wheel of Life and all of my goals. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with 2013.  It wasn't anything amazing, like an overseas vacation or skydiving, but it was exactly what I needed: a 180 spin on a hopelessly bad 2012.  I even already knew I needed a planner.

I had a whole $10 and some change in my bank account when I walked into Walmart on Christmas Eve for a planner.  I know there are other less selfish things I could have spent my money on.  I could have digitally scheduled my life.  In fact, this was the exact response my best friend got when she posted up her planner to begin her 365 day journey.

And that's the truth.  I'm an obsessive to-do-lister.  I have Sticky Notes on my desktop.  I keep a marker board calender (and I actually keep it updated).  But I needed something that I could take with me everywhere - something that I could not only schedule my whole year in, but be able to schedule my day to day activities.

That's when this planner jumped out at me.  First and foremost, it's pink.  My love of pink is less "OMG, I'M A PRINCESS MAGIC PONY PINK!" but a more "That's a great color. I can't wear it but it's eye-catching." sort of way.  When I opened it up, I discovered a well organized daily schedule with a This Week column.  Perfect!

Check out their website to see more.

Yes, I spent my last $10 of 2012 on a planner.  And I'm damn proud of it too.

After Christmas, I finally got a chance to open up my planner and begin doing a little 2013 scheduling.  Being just a touch overwhelmingly OCD, I can't lie that this was an exciting moment for me.  But, before my pen touched the paper, that dark, nagging voice rang out in my head.

What if you can't accomplish everything?

I'd love to say that I ignored the dark voice and kept going about my scheduling business.  I'd be lying if I did.  My pen dropped and my first thought was, "Oh no!  What if I really don't accomplish anything?"  Ugh, bad, pessimistic thoughts!  Bad Marietta!

But it is true: I'd set out to do a lot in 2013.  There's a good chance that I'll falter a lot along the way.  There's even a chance that I won't accomplish everything I set out to do.  With as fragile as my subconscious is after last year, I'd hate to be shut down mid-way because I missed some goals.

That's when I decided to do one last thing to my Wheel of Life: pick out my Big Three.  Just what are the Big Three, you ask?  If I accomplish absolutely nothing else, what are the three goals I can accomplish in 2013 that would make me feel like a rock star?

1. Get back on my hypothyroidism medication.
2. Lose 15 pounds.
3. Up my number of monthly illustrations.

There's my Big Three - in big, bold letters.  Appropriate, no?  So how did I decide on my Big Three?  I looked at, surprise surprise, three main factors: goals that crossed multiple sections, particularly low percentage areas; goals that were linked to other goals; goals that were surprisingly small and relatively obtainable.

For example: The first of my Big Three, getting back on thyroid medication, actually crosses three of my low percentage areas - Health, Knowledge and Personal.  If I want to stay on it, I have to keep up with my thyroid test.  Also, staying on it will help me lose weight.  So that immediately links it to at least two other sections in Health.  On top of it, I take my supplements at the same time I take my medication, so that links it to supplements in Knowledge.  Finally, popping a pill once a day is not all that hard.  This goal attunes to all three factors of a Big Three goal.

So there you have it!  The process I went through to discover my goals for 2013 was surprisingly in depth and took me the better part of a month to flesh out.  On the bright side, these are well thought out and achievable goals.  Even if I don't achieve all of them, I know which three are the most important to work on.

And I even have my trusty planner to do it.

In the upcoming days, see my progress on my 365 day journey.  Find out how I did the first week and where I'm headed.  See picture updates as I work out, eat salads, draw, read, check off tasks and, eventually, shade in my chart little by little!

Do you own a planner?  How often do you use it?  If not, how to you keep track of your tasks?