If you are looking to save time, stay balanced, and level-up your planning game, give color-coding a try!
We wear lots of hats in life. For most of my adult life I have been a mother, an employee, and a student. I also have a partner, siblings, parents, friends, pets, hobbies, volunteer work, etc. Color-coding keeps all of that from feeling overwhelming for so many reasons, but here are my top three:
3 Reasons You Should be Color-Coding Your Planning
1. Quickly locate what you are looking for. Let's say you need to adjust your schedule for next week to take care of something that can only be done during the hours that you work. If your planner is color-coded, you will be able to open your planner to next week, find the items coded for work and easily see if there is anything important that you can't miss.
2. Compartmentalize your to-do items. A giant list of to-dos can feel daunting. Color-coding allows you to hone in on only the items that need doing depending on where you are in your day. You can't clean your dishwasher filter if you are at the office and you shouldn't be responding to emails if you are off the clock. Narrowing your focus to only the items you need/can do now can make your lists a lot more manageable.
3. Get a snapshot of your life-balance. Do you ever feel like you aren't doing enough? Maybe it's work, or time with friends or self-care. Color-coding gives you insight about what you are prioritizing. Seeing a lot of one color or none of another color will give you some instant data. Feeling guilty about that self-care thing you want to do? Friends telling you they don't see you enough? Check the colors. Balance your colors and you will balance your life.
Here is an example of a weekly schedule with and without color-coding:
I have used a lot of different pens for color-coding, but these 4-color pens from Bic are my favorite. You can carry a lot of colors without having to carry a lot of pens, and they never bleed through pages.
Have a happy, and well-planned week!
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