Best Laid Plans

BLP Ep #208: July Q&A — Planner Peace x 2, Task Management on Paper, Notetaking, and More!

July 22, 2024

In today’s episode, I take a crack at questions sent in the last month!

First, I opens with two Planner Peace submissions. Then, I answer questions on task management on paper, email management (how long does it REALLY take to clear an inbox?), handling major schedule changes in an already complicated life, and notetaking.

Planner Peace photo from Katie’s Hobonichi Weeks method:

Keep your questions coming! Submit yours at sarah.hart.unger at gmail, or text (305) 697-7189!

Be on the lookout for information on Best Laid Plans Academy Fall 2024, coming next week (newsletter subscribers will get first signup link!).

Planners Mentioned in today’s ep:
Go Girl Planner Pro

Laurel Denise Academic Year Vertical Weekly Planner

Hobonichi Weeks

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5 Comments

  • Reply Priyanka July 23, 2024 at 11:42 am

    Hi Sarah I enjoy listening to both your podcasts. I am relatively new in the planning space but I have a suggestion in response to the last question of this show. I am an academic and lab director in biological sciences, Mom and I prefer visualising things! Goodnotes has been useful for this. I take personal notes or write for my Medium account mainly in Apple notes. However, I use Goodnotes exclusively for research projects. I can even sketch a pathway or model and have it saved in project folders. If I end up taking notes on paper I just have to transfer it to Goodnotes. It has been good so far! I do have projects in Trello but I prefer Goodnotes for the visualization bit.

    • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger July 23, 2024 at 11:53 am

      lots of people LOVE Goodnotes! I will need to share (and should probably play with it).

  • Reply Grateful Kae July 24, 2024 at 7:43 am

    For the question about the many long lists in Google Tasks, I know she was looking for a paper solution for this, but also just wanted to mention: That’s why I made those 3 lists at the top of my Google Tasks lists. DO TODAY, This Week, and Upcoming (referenced in my BLP ep). That way I only really have to skim through ALL the other lists once a week or so, and then the rest of the time I can just work from within those 3 lists on a day to day basis.

    On Fridays, I review all the big lists and try to identify any tasks from any list that I want/ need to address sooner than later, and then I click to move those to my broader “Upcoming” list. Then I will pick some from there that need to happen This Week and move those there, and then each morning I can skim THAT list and see which I should Do Today. It’s a nice little nested system!

    Just an idea if she does want to continue using Google Tasks alongside a paper method. This system has really helped me to manage and not “lose” things in a bunch of different lists. I also totally agree with you Sarah about putting things that have to happen on a specific day just right on that day right on the calendar, too!

  • Reply Nancy Lawing July 25, 2024 at 12:20 pm

    Great podcast and enjoyed this episode. I like Katie’s list as shown in the photo and am going to try that. If you add a large sticky note to the weekly page for dailies, you’re all set with one book. Thanks, Sarah for all you do!

  • Reply KimW July 26, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    Making a list in that sideways orientation, in one or two columns, is a great idea for a list in a larger notebook that you want to be able to access quickly – it would stand out so well when flipping through the notebook. I’m definitely going to try that!

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