I admit it. I have a problem. I’m a journal/planner junkie. There, I said it. I love to make to do lists and I love checking off the completed tasks; whether in a planner or a journal. This obsession started for me back in my first job out of college as a bank bookkeeper. They sent me to a Franklin Covey Day Planner Training program and I’ve been hooked ever since. I still know his four quadrants of task prioritization:
| 1. Important & Urgent | 2. Important & Not Urgent |
| Deadlines | Relationship building |
| Crises | Personal development |
| Pressing problems | Employee training |
| Projects | Exercise & health |
| Meeting preparation | Prevention & planning |
| 3. Not Important & Urgent | 4. Not Important & Not Urgent |
| Some emails & phone calls | Trivia |
| Many interruptions | Some phone calls |
| Some popular activities | Excessive TV & social media |
| Some meetings | Time wasters |
While this definitely works, it took too much time for me to categorize everything each day so on to the next method. From there I did a lot of different planners and journals. I tried several online apps – Wonderlist, ToDoist, To-Do-List, and even Evernote. Though I did like Todoist, I missed the act of physically writing a list and checking them off so I went back to physical planners. Until about a year ago I was using a Day-Timer that I picked up at a local Staples or Office Depot but while it was good for planning for work it just didn’t work for my personal goals nor as a journal. That’s when I found Chalene Johnson’s Push Journals and the Panda Planner and I started using both of them. I know, why would anyone do double the work and use two planners, right? Well, I told you at the beginning that I’m a planner junkie and I meant it. Though I like some aspects of the Panda Planner, I’m not sure I’ll continue with it after this year’s end.
I do though, LOVE the Push Journals!! It has a place each day to write your, as Chalene calls it, “Push Goal.” To loosely paraphrase it, that’s the goal for you that if you accomplish it, it will act like the first domino that makes all your other more important goals “fall” or be accomplished. Then there are three lines for the three smaller things that you want to accomplish that day that will bring you closer to your “Push” goal.
Beneath those three items are lines for other items that you want to accomplish but not necessarily that day and they aren’t usually things that will help; you accomplish your main goal. On the facing page is a place to write what you’re grateful for that day. Under that is a daily calendar by the hour to plan your day and a column for notes. The next page is all lined for notes (while I use one for a brain dump. Then the page facing that one has a place to record all your meals and snacks for the day and how you rate your meals and snacks for the day. A place to record your water intake for the day; what you did for exercise and how long it lasted along with your weight.
Next there is a place to record how long you slept the night before; how long between you meals and then if you track it, you can record your food macros and lastly if you had any “me time” and what it was.
For me, this covers everything I had in mind in a planner and as long as Chalene has them available, I’ll be purchasing them. If this sounds like something that would be perfect for you too, you can check them out through this link which is my affiliate link. https://mbsy.co/pushjournal/23651949 They come in multiple colors – shades of pink or lavendar (my personal favorite) or a teal and I understand that she will be offering more colors soon.
So, that’s my confession. I’m a planner junkie and I don’t intend to quit any time soon – as long as they help me be my most productive. For more organization and productivity tips I’d love to have you join our private Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/uplevelorganizing/