Welcome back to Your Win-Win Teacher Business. In episode # 10 we’ll be talking about planners for work tasks. Which one did you choose for the shiny new year and how is it serving you?
Check out the recently updated FREE PREVIEW of my favorite planning tool today:
https://janice-s-site-3363.thinkific.com/courses/DIY-Asana-Systems-For-Teacherpreneurs
Let’s talk about planners for work tasks
Many teacher business owners reach for paper planners because it’s what they loved using as a teacher, in their previous career. Over time, I realized that so many of my work tasks were digital. In order to execute them, I needed to have the logins, passwords, and notes in a grab-and-go efficient place. So while I had a paper planner. . . I couldn’t use it without another digital tool that held all that important information. I realized it might just be more efficient to have ALL of my work tasks organized in a digital planning tool.
A cloud-based digital planning tool allows me to quickly reference any information about my business on vacation, in carpool pickup line, on a library computer, or in my office. I don’t need to keep track of my bulky paper planner and favorite pens and the switch has made me feel so much lighter.
The best planner for business owners
Wouldn’t it be easy if there was one magic tool that was labeled as “the best”? Maybe. . .but your brain and business goals are unique and that’s a positive thing if you ask me. The best planner for a business owner is the one that makes them feel peaceful, productive, and profitable as they use it. If it helps you manage the chaos AND reach for your goals, then it’s the best one for YOU.
Why planners don’t work (sometimes)
A terrible plan can wear a disguise in a beautiful planner. . . but that doesn’t mean it will get you to your goals with a smile. A planner is only as strong as the plan we put inside it. So if you’ve tried my favorite planning tool before and decided that it doesn’t work, it might be that we need to take a step back at how we are creating schedules and goals and plans in the first place. When I look at all the beautiful paper planners that I’ve invested in and then later abandoned, I realize it wasn’t the planner’s fault. . .it was that I wasn’t ready for the planner. I needed to learn skills around goal setting, capacity, and scheduling before a planner could swoop in and save the day.
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Read the transcript:
Janice Cook 0:00 Welcome back to Your Win-Win Teacher Business. In episode number 10, we’ll be talking about planners for work tasks. Which one did you choose for the shiny new year, and how is it serving you?
Janice Cook 0:14 You’re listening to Your Win-Win Teacher Business, a podcast for teacher authors who want to make a big impact in the world for teachers and students, and have fun doing it. I’m your host, Janice Cook here with a pep talk to start your week off strong. Some seasons of running a business feel hard and sticky, but it shouldn’t feel like that all the time. Let’s make your business a win-win together.
Janice Cook 0:39 If you open your planner every day, use it, feel supported, and you are crushing your goals for the year, then this episode might not be for you. But if you purchase planners hoping that once they arrive in your home, you will instantly feel like you’ve got it all together, that I think we need to chat.
Janice Cook 1:01 A planner is like a laundry basket. It can hold your clothes and keep them safe until you’re ready to wash, fold, or put them away, but it isn’t going to do those tasks for you. You aren’t going to magically have a new wardrobe that fits like a glove and makes you feel like a million bucks once you purchase the laundry basket. Not to take the romance out of planner shopping altogether, but a planner is just a container, and I think sometimes we need that real talk reminder. If you put ugly, ill fitting clothes into the laundry basket, that’s what the basket will hold for you. If you put cherished staple items that are filled with memories of special occasions, the basket will hold those. But the planner cannot change your life. Only you can. The planner holds your schedule. It will hold a lousy schedule, if that’s what you load into the planner. It will hold a win-win schedule for you, too if that’s what you have before you start using the planner as a container. At the end of the day, this is still your business, and you have to know your goals, priorities, and capacity. You have to make a path to get there that matches the season of life you’re in. Your planner might have a space for you to record your goals, but it isn’t going to check on them periodically, data mine, pivot, adjust, or celebrate.
Janice Cook 2:40 I have a favorite planning tool. It is a digital project management tool because my work tasks are largely digital in nature. My planning tool contains all the links and passwords needed to actually do the tasks, helping me to get more done in less time. I choose a digital tool because the power of recurring tasks stops me from having to rewrite the same things over and over again. Digital is the way for me, because of how easy it is to share information with team members when and where I need support. But before this planning tool could save my life, first I had to learn skills about capacity and scheduling. I had to learn to set up a to do list that actually could be accomplished. I had to learn how to plan a path to my goals, when some days I have 20 minutes to work and other days I have five to six hours to work.
Janice Cook 3:38 You deserve a planning tool that supports your big goals. Inside my systems course, we start with coaching on how to give your schedule a reset first, because that’s a universal skill. Create a schedule you love with me – my gentle coaching will hold your hand step by step. Then we write that schedule in the planner you love. It might be the planner you already have. Sometimes a little tweak can help you use the tool you already have to the best of its ability. Maybe you can finish the year strong with the planner you hoped to fall in love with when you added it to your cart.
Janice Cook 4:20 But if you aren’t opening your current planner, or if that planner isn’t making you feel accomplished, or if your goals aren’t on track, then it’s probably time to stop by the free preview of my systems course, and take a peek inside my favorite planning tool with a curious heart, today.
Janice Cook 4:40 You deserve to have a planning tool that is a good fit for your brain. You deserve to have the coaching you need in order to make a plan that leads you to consistently achieving the goals on your heart. This month, my dream is that every podcast listener will take a moment and watch that free preview. I will leave a link in the show notes for you. It’s brand new this year. I just updated it. If you enjoy my coaching in this show, I think you’ll love the free preview of the course, and I hope you’ll find a few moments to dive into it this week.
Janice Cook 5:17 And the last thing I will say is that I do love my current planning tool. My favorite project management tool is Asana, and it’s free. I used to spend so much money on planners, hoping this one would change my life. It makes sense that, of course, the perfect one was free all along. I have used it for years, and not only does it save me money, it saves me time during planner shopping season. I don’t have to look at layout after layout, spread after spread and reflect on what went wrong with the planning tool I had from the previous year. I can step over all of that planner advertisement noise, and that feels so freeing. I already have what I need, and I don’t need to take time setting it up again and again year after year after year. I don’t have to start my shiny new year copying all the same information from the previous planner into this one. I don’t have to look at last year’s planner and the empty pages and feel the shame and the buyer’s remorse. My planning tool is ready to go. This planning tool has saved me money and time, but most importantly, it has gifted me peace during planner shopping season and for me, that is truly priceless.
Janice Cook 6:36 You deserve to have a planning tool that you love. You deserve to feel supported as you reach for it and crush your goals. If you have that perfect fit tool already, I am so happy for you. But if you don’t take the free preview of my course today with a curious heart. Because it’s worth repeating, you deserve to have a planning tool that’s a good fit for your brain. You deserve to have the coaching you need in order to make a plan that leads you to consistently achieving the goals on your heart.
Janice Cook 7:10 Your goals matter. Let’s make this the year we achieve them together.
Janice Cook 7:17 Thanks for making this podcast a part of your day. I’d love to help you find clarity with your next step in business. Go to cookfamilyresources.com/hiring-guide I’ll also leave that link from the show notes for you. This guide is packed with good news for those days when you feel like you can’t possibly do it all. It might be time for you to invest in paid support, but the truth is, there are a lot of free steps to explore first. After you dive into that guide, I’ll be in your inbox every Monday morning with more actionable tips to help you enjoy running your business again. See you in the next episode.
