10 Signs You Should Invest in a Day Planner

Whether you choose to go old school with a paper planner like I do, or decide to use an app on your phone, staying organized is important. However, I know plenty of people who think they're getting by just fine without any sort of organization tools. For those people, here are 10 signs you should probably invest in some sort of day planner.

1) You're buried under a pile of sticky-notes.

I understand the need to quickly write something down that you'll need to remember later. Sticky notes are good for that. But where do you put them? On your forehead? The back of your phone? Having a planner is good because you have somewhere to stick all those sticky notes. And then when you're done with it, you can remove it from your planner so it stays neat and uncluttered.

2) You're always running late.

If you are having trouble remembering what time you have to be places, I have a solution for you. You can write down appointment times in your planner. This is assuming you remember you have an appointment at all...

3) You miss important appointments.

I've missed plenty of doctors appointments, and there have even been shifts at work I missed because I didn't write down my schedule. Don't be like me. Anytime you plan something from an important work interview to a doggie play-date, write it down.

4) You procrastinate all the time.

Yeah, maybe your stuff gets done, but does doing it all at the last minute help you reach your full potential? Scheduling goals for longer projects in your planner can help you feel less stressed and overwhelmed, feel more productive, and produce better work.

5) Your bills don't always get paid on time.

Schedule bill payments around your paydays and avoid overdraft or late fees. A lot of payments occur monthly so it's easy to go in and schedule payments in your planner way ahead of time. For me, I have my bills set to auto-draft on certain dates each month, so when I see the note in my planner, all I have to do is make sure I have money in my account or reschedule the payment and everything works out nicely.

6) You're too busy for a creative outlet.

This mostly applies to physical paper planners, but could apply to phone planners too. There's a whole planning community out there that turns planners into art with various stickers and decorations. My personal favorite is the Erin Condren Life Planner, because they are customizable in just about every way and the stickers they sell on their website are gorgeous. It makes it easy for me to feel like I'm being creative without any hard work.

7) You feel like there's never enough time.

One of the bad things about procrastinating is that at the end of the week, you wonder where all your time went! You feel like you hardly had any time to relax or recharge your batteries. If you sat down and planned your week out ahead of time, you'd be able to squeeze in some personal time wherever you saw free space. This is perfect for planning work-outs, extra long showers, or my favorite, trips to Sephora.

8) You constantly forget passwords and birthdays.

There are so many passwords that we are expected to remember, it's insane. I know there are apps for your phone that can save passwords for you, but they need a password as well! Writing them down in my planner ensures that I never forget one again. And as for birthdays, Facebook does a pretty good job at reminding me when my friends are turning another year older, but for the people closest to you it's nice to have a reminder in your planner that way you can plan for parties, gifts, and cards.

9) You're terrible at budgeting for fun stuff like concerts vacations.

Or any sort of budgeting, really. Having a planner can help you keep track of how much money you're setting aside each month for a new tv, or how many glasses of water you're drinking each day. It's just keeping track of stuff, money or otherwise.

10) You're generally overwhelmed with life.

Obviously I'm a planner freak and you don't have to go as hard as I do. Start small and see how much planning helps your overall stress level.  For me, knowing I have everything in order and I'm not forgetting anything really helps me relax throughout the day and enjoy my life just a little bit more.