Planning as a Practice
It will change your life
Men and women both benefit from planning. And some people prefer to DIY their own planners or use printable planners. Right now I prefer a planner with both weekly and monthly spreads. But I used to use these planners with one page per day — often referred to as an agenda.
It all started in Middle School…
In the 100° heat, I slogged up the front steps of my middle school, frying under the Texas sun. I dreaded opening the school doors. I couldn’t figure out how to use the combination lock on my locker. I couldn’t keep all of my teachers straight. I went to the wrong classes at the wrong periods. After school I spread all of my books and notebooks out on my bed at home hunting in despair for assignments that seemed to vanish.
I was drowning. And by week three, I gave up.
One day my English teacher said, “Where is your planner?” I stared at her blankly. I didn’t have a planner. She sent me straight to the school store to buy the school planner. I had no idea these magical publications existed, but there it was — pages for each week, gridded for each class, and monthly calendars for longer-term assignments.
My life changed completely.
Using a planner didn’t make middle school any less of a social nightmare, but I earned good grades, always had my assignments done, and I figured out how to use a combination lock -- because I wrote my combination IN my planner! Learning to use a planner was the most important thing I learned in middle school.
While my life has changed a lot since middle school, I still plan on paper. My planning practice -- and it truly is a practice like yoga or meditation or prayer -- has changed over time as my life has changed. When I was teaching in independent schools, I used lesson planning calendars and taught my students how to use paper planners. As the Director of Publications for a large non-profit, I used a planner that had one whole page per day for notetaking. Now as a freelance writer, author, and mom, I use two Passion Planners: one for weekly planning and tracking of travel, events, tasks, and goals; the other serves as editorial calendar and content notebook.
I am very deliberate about my planning practice. Each Sunday afternoon or evening, I spend an hour or so in my office alone with a cup of tea. I start by indulging my inner middle-schooler and decorate my planner pages with stickers and washi tape, markers and colored pens. Then I move on to setting goals, making lists, and getting organized for the week to come. This restful hour each week sets me up for success and lowers any anxiety I may have about getting it all done.
Planning is more than just managing a calendar. Using a daily, weekly, or monthly calendar can help you define goals and live your best life. Planners are customizable and personalized depending on your needs. Expensive or cheap, a quality planner (and perhaps some stickers) can help you tame your time. Also: passion planner, moleskine, teachers, happy, erin condren, moms, men, amazon, diy, agenda
Currently I use three planners. I use two Passion Planners each in a different way. And I use The Nice List where I track all of the gift giving that I do at Christmas and in an entire year.
My practice continues all week long. My planner lives open on my desk. I check off tasks as I get them done. I record milestones and great things that happen. And I add tasks as they pop up over time. My weekly planning includes my whole life -- not just work. Swim team practices, travel schedules, meal planning, home maintenance tasks -- they are all part of my weekly planning practice, and communication between our family members about the week’s events ahead often happen over my planner.
I can always tell, too, when I haven’t spent enough time planning. Things start to feel out of control. When I rely too much on my memory, on my phone, I begin to miss details. Suddenly I realize that I have neglected my practice which centers me and brings me back to the intellectual and emotional space I need.
Lest you think I am a neo-Luddite, I also use Google calendars, reminders on my phone, and an online project planning tool. I live online, but I organize my life on paper. Technology has its place, but I stick with paper in part because there is science behind it: paper is better. Study after study has shown that physically writing something down -- not typing it -- improves your long-term learning and memory.
In other words: if you write it down on paper, you are more likely to remember it and more likely to do it!
Any time of year is a good time to start planning, but planners tend to start either in August (academic planners ) or January. They tend to come in both 12 and 18 month versions, so it is possible to switch from academic to annual fairly easily. Each publisher approaches that in different ways. But truly you can begin planning at any time. In fact, the planner I use on a daily basis, the Passion Planner, is available in an undated version so you can start anytime.
Any time is a good time to make a fresh start -- a wonderful time to recommit to writing it all down. Whether you are a parent trying to keep your work and school schedules straight, a student juggling the assignments and schedules of a new year, or a professional working to stay on top of your commitments, look for a planner that’s right for you. It’s not hard to find one in any price range, size, or design. I have several resources collected with different types of planners at all different price ranges.
Fancy or simple, expensive or cheap all planners serve the same purpose: put your life down on paper and take control of your calendar, your obligations, and your commitments.
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Planning is more than just managing a calendar. Using a daily, weekly, or monthly planner can help you define goals and live your best life. Planners are customizable and personalized depending on your needs. Expensive or cheap, a quality planner (and perhaps some stickers) can help you tame your time. Also: passion planner, moleskine, teachers, happy, erin condren, moms, men, amazon, diy, agendaThe Nice List
I am so committed to the life-changing power of planning, that I wrote my own planner: The Nice List. The Nice List is a planner specifically for the Christmas season, and it is designed to help you keep your spending on budget and to help you give better gifts by planning your giving. It also has calendars, shopping planners, a place to track thank you notes, and many more helpful tools. Order your copy of The Nice List, and have the nicest holiday season ever!
A Guide to Planners & Planning
This listing is for The Nice List Christmas Workbook + The Nice List All Year.
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Free Gift with Purchase: The Nice List books are designed so that they can be used in a Traveler’s Notebook -- a simple way to keep them together. For a Limited Time we will include a FREE handmade, upcycled traveler’s notebook with each purchase of The Nice List Bundle (while supplies last).
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Christmas is a busy time, particularly for parents. With school performances, parties, shopping, baking, and decorating on top of the normal busyness of life, I know many people find the Christmas season to be… overwhelming.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Over the years I have developed a system that helps me stay on budget, on time, and sane! And now with The Nice List, I am sharing that system with you so you can have a more organized and more beautiful Christmas season.
The Nice List Bundle includes two separate notebooks:
The Nice List All Year: a gift-giving tracker to last for years to come
The Nice List Christmas Workbook: a planner for the entire Christmas season to keep you organized and help bring a little sanity to your holiday season
Both are available individually or together as a bundle.
The Nice List Christmas Workbook includes:
How to Use The Nice List
How to Use The Christmas Workbook
November Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
December Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
Weekly To Do Lists for November and December (undated)
What Sparks Joy for You? Setting priorities for the holiday season
Budgeting worksheets: to establish a budget for your Christmas season — and for each gift, too
Coupons & Codes: tracker for holiday sales and discount codes
Giving Lists: to help you prioritize where you spend you money and on whom
Thoughts on Thoughtful Giving: ideas for gift giving and reducing the stress of the holidays
Thank You Note Tracker
Holiday Card Tracker
Menu Planners
Baking Planners
Shopping Lists
Blank pages for notes and planning
With a little planning and some careful thought before a gift is ever purchased, The Nice List can help you keep Christmas from spinning out of control and help you find the perspective you need. The Nice List helps you set deadlines to avoid high shipping charges and has a tool for tracking all of those promo codes and sale codes that start to flood your email inbox, too.
The Nice List All Year gives you a place to track all of the gifts you give the loved ones in your life -- not just at Christmas time. It is designed to be used for multiple years and can be purchased separately if you have more than 15 people in your life to track.
The Nice List All Year includes:
How to use The Nice List
How to use The Nice List All Year
Giving Records for 15 people covering multiple years
The Nice List All Year is also designed to be used by anyone -- not just people who celebrate Christmas. From Hanukkah to Lunar New year, Kwanzaa to Eid, and birthdays, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and more -- record every gift you give and make notes for coming occasions, too.
Plus, when you use The Nice List All Year year after year, you develop a record of your gift-giving, so you never give the same gift twice!
Not only is The Nice List a beautiful planner, but it also comes with online tools including an extensive giving guide with gift suggestions in every budget for every person on your list — parents, inlaws, kids, friends, teachers. We have suggestions for them all and exclusive discount codes as well.
I love the Christmas season so much I have written what my husband described as my “love letter to Christmas” — The Nice List!
Order your copy of The Nice List today, and give yourself the gift of a very organized and holiday season!
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A NOTE ABOUT RISOGRAPH PRINTING:
Garden Notes is produced using a Japanese Risograph printing duplicator. Imagine an old-fashioned printing press and a fancy copy machine had a baby -- that’s the Risograph. Each color of soy-based ink is laid down separately -- like a printing press -- on rich, toothy paper. Like screen printing, each page must dry completely before the next color is applied -- a process which takes days.The soy inks are applied like paint, and occasionally some smudging may occur. This is to be expected. And as with any handmade product, imperfections are part of the charm! The result is a beautifully printed, handmade product with rich colors and an artistic feel.Owl and Ember produces each printed product in small batch runs at our headquarters in Menlo Park, California. All Owl and Ember products are printed on FSC Certified papers.If for any reason, you are dissatisfied with your purchase, please contact us so that we can make it right.
ABOUT THE CREATORS:
Angela K. Nickerson (@midmodernmama), author, and Holly Kennedy (@messymamaholly), designer, both love office supplies, planners, stickers, and creative living. They have been producing The Nice List, their first journal product, since 2016 and have been collaborating on projects big and small for almost 15 years. Together they are @owlandember and owlandember.com.
All designs © Angela K. Nickerson and Holly Kennedy, 2015-2025
Reproduction rights do not transfer with sale of items.