How to Plan + Organize Your Whole Life
Keep reading this post to learn:
⋒ All the tools I use to plan out and organize my entire life
⋒ How you can implement the Hustle Sanely Planning System into yours
⋒ My exact planning routine to get stuff done and still live a peacefully productive life
You hear me say it time and time again – our schedules and routines are tools, not chains! And the same goes for our systems. Planning systems and productivity tools need updating sometimes – what used to work for you in one season of your life might not work in this season of your life.
The best system is the one that you’ll actually use.
And before we really dive into the good stuff — make sure that you’re not expecting a planning system to solve all of your problems because here’s the deal — if you’re burned out, a planning system isn’t your solution. If you’re burned out, you need a lifestyle shift – which is much deeper than updating your planning system.
Okay so I want to start by giving you a list of the main tools that I use to plan and organize my life and a brief description of what I use each thing for so you can see how they all work together. Then I’ll go into detail about how I use each tool, sound good?
The 4 Productivity Tools I Use to Plan + Organize My Whole Life
01: Google Calendar
I use Google Calendar as a placeholder for scheduled events and recurring tasks (both for work and for my personal life) - so kind of like digital sticky notes.
02: Notion
I use Notion as a digital filing cabinet for my life lists.
03: Weekly Peacefully Productive Planner®
I use my weekly planner to create a game plan for each specific week that makes sure I’m prioritizing my mental health and relationships as I pursue my goals. (PS: we are sold out of our 2024 weekly planners, but you can snag a quarterly planner here AND get on the waitlist for our 2025 planners here!)
04: Hustle Sanely® Daily Planning Notepad
I use my daily planning notepad to create a plan for fuller days.
So as you can see, I use a combination of digital and paper tools to plan and organize my life. That is what works best for me and my brain.
Now let’s talk about each tool and how I specifically use it to plan and organize:
01: Google Calendar: I use Google Calendar as a placeholder for scheduled events and recurring tasks (both for work and for my personal life) - so kind of like digital sticky notes.
The way I have my Google Cal set up is different “calendars” for different life categories and then I also use the “Tasks” feature to keep track of recurring tasks.
So the calendars that I have set up are:
~ Fam: This is where all personal stuff goes. Adam and I share this calendar so we can see when the other has events or appointments – like hair appointments, lash appointments, therapy appointments, lunch or dinner with a friend, etc.
~ Hustle Sanely Things: This is where all time-bound work things go. So coaching calls, book club meetings, podcast interviews, calls with brands, etc.
~ Weekly Outline: This is where I have my current season’s weekly outline – so my morning routine, evening routine, workouts, work hours, weekly prep meeting, etc.
~ Tasks: I have my tasks broken up into personal and professional. I like the Tasks feature in Google Cal because you can see the tasks on you calendar or in a list format without the calendar. The tasks that I keep here are all of my recurring tasks. This way I don’t have to remember them – they automatically populate in my Google Cal and I can plan accordingly. With Google Tasks, you can create a task to be recurring – so for example, one of my recurring work tasks is “Check in with Hustle Sanely BFF FB group” – I have that task set up to recur Mondays-Fridays in my Google cal.
I like giving each thing its own calendar because then I can color code each thing and also I can “uncheck” something if I don’t want to see it on my calendar.
When I’m sitting down to do my Weekly Prep Meeting, I have my Google Cal and my weekly planner and I’m easily able to create a game plan for my week because I can see ahead to all of the recurring tasks that need to be done without having to try and remember them manually if that makes sense.
Some examples of recurring tasks I have saved in my Google Tasks:
Personal:
~ All of my monthly and quarterly cleaning tasks (I shared my cleaning routine in detail in episode 218 if you missed it)
~ My monthly and quarterly check-in meetings
~ My first-of-the-month list (things like paying certain bills)
~ Watering my plants every other Friday
Professional:
~ Story about the podcast every Tuesday
~ Post on my Instagram every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
~ Prepping the podcast for the following month the third week of every month
So again, I’m only adding tasks here that are recurring so that I don’t have to manually remember them – I don’t use Google Cal for my daily to-do list because that doesn’t work for my brain. I use it more as like digital sticky note reminders.
Using Google Cal like this frees up so much mental space for me because I’m not trying to keep track of all of this stuff in my brain so I’m not ever wondering when things are going to get done or if I’m forgetting something.
02: Notion: I use Notion as a digital filing cabinet for my life lists.
Notion is a notetaking app. So I used to use the Notes app on my iPhone to keep track of my life lists but it got real messy real quick, lol.
I moved all of my notes over to Notion in 2023 and it’s been SO much better for my brain.
Here are the things that I keep in Notion:
I have 2 sections, one called “Life Lists” and one called “Hustle Sanely”
Under Life Lists I have stuff like:
+ Hustle Sanely Planning System: this is where I keep track of my vision + goals for the year, my non-negotiables for my current season, my weekly outline for my current season, my catch-all task lists, and a list of what my recurring tasks are (the things I told you that I keep in Google Tasks)
+ Books: Books I want to read this year, Books I’ve read this year
+ Home: Cleaning routine, favorite Simply Earth oils, backyard project
+ Go-To Meals
+ Anniversary Planning
+ Wish List
+ Family Traditions list
+ Monthly Girls’ Night Schedule
Under Hustle Sanely I have stuff like:
+ Biz at a glance: this is where I have my business goals mapped out for the year
+ Social media + Marketing: posting schedule, content ideas for each platform (Instagram, emails, YouTube)
+ Podcast: episode topic requests, guests to invite on, outreach template
+ BFF Membership: future topic ideas, past topics and books list, open list, close list, first of the month list
+ Paper Products
+ TWSR Book Club
+ Future Projects Brain Dump
I do have Notion templates in the shop for the Hustle Sanely Planning System, if you want to use some of the same ones that I do!
03: Weekly Peacefully Productive Planner®: I use my weekly planner to create a game plan for each specific week that makes sure I’m prioritizing my mental health and relationships as I pursue my goals.
My weekly planner is my ride or die, lol. It’s my “working plan” for each week.
This is what I use to take everything in my life (scheduled events, recurring tasks, goals, etc.) and merge them into one place so that I can make the progress I need to make without burning out.
The way that the Peacefully Productive Planner® is set up makes it easy for me to put together my weekly game plan to get done what needs to be done but also making sure to weave intentional rest and self-care into my days.
I have whole blog post and podcast episodes on how I use my weekly planner but I’ll give you the cliff notes version:
If you’re looking at a weekly spread in the planner, the top left has a spot to write your Top 3 Tasks for the week. This is where I write the 3 most important things that need to get done. I blend personal and professional. Some weeks I have 2 work tasks and 1 personal task and other weeks it’s the reverse.
Then, there’s a spot to jot down other tasks that need to get done for the week. I only jot down tasks here if I don’t know which day they’ll be done on. If I know what day I’m gonna do a task, I put it on that day’s Focus 3 or in that day’s blank box.
After that, there’s a spot to write down how you’re resting that week. I look at that week and see what’s going on and what kind of rest I think will support me. If I have a lot of social events, I’ll usually plan a solo night to be my introverted self for rest. If it’s a full work week, I’ll usually plan some sort of outdoor activity to do with my family to rest.
Then, there’s a habit tracker for the week. This is where I keep track of things I want to do to prioritize my mental health and self-care. Some examples of habits I’ve recently been tracking:
~ Save Days (my version of a no-spend day)
~ Read 50+ pages
~ Grounding and sunshine
~ Following my phone hours
And lastly, for each day of the week, there is a spot for you to jot down scheduled events, a blank area to use for meal planning, writing affirmations, to-dos for that day, or whatever you want to use it for, and a spot for your Hustle Sanely 5 habits, which if you need a refresh are:
01: Focus 3 tasks (the 3 most important tasks to get done that day)
02: Move for 30 minutes
03: Tidy for 15 minutes
04: Kind thing to do for yourself
05: Kind thing to do for someone else
Think of Hustle Sanely 5™ (HS5) as daily action steps for how to live a peacefully productive life. HS5 is a list of 5 intentional habits that the Hustle Sanely community does every day to help us release overwhelm and focus our best time & energy on things that align with our goals so we make consistent progress while taking care of ourselves and our people.
I love being able to open my planner and see the week’s 3 most important tasks and then each day’s 3 most important tasks.
The way my weekly planner is set up, helps me prioritize what’s actually important which in turn helps me make real progress on my goals. When I have a long to-do list staring back at me every week that doesn’t have the tasks prioritized or scheduled for specific days, that’s when I get overwhelmed and feel stuck.
If you missed last week’s blog post (or podcast episode if you would prefer to listen!) we talked all about why you’re not getting your to-do list done so go check that out if you missed it!
Currently, our weekly planners are sold out but we do have a waitlist going for 2025 planners so sign up for that now so that you get an email when planners are ready for you this fall!
04: Hustle Sanely® Daily Planning Notepad: I use my daily planning notepad to create a plan for fuller days.
I don’t use my daily planning notepad every day but on the days that feel fuller and like I need to get more nitty-gritty with time blocking, I use a daily planning page that just basically takes the layout from the weekly planner and enlarges it for that specific day. So like the weekly planner is a bird’s eye view of my week and the daily planning notepad is if you zoomed in on one day.
There is a spot to time block your day in 30-minute increments which is really helpful when you have a busier day.
There’s also more to-do list spaces for each day so you can get specific with your daily tasks if you’ve got a lot going on one day. You can snag a daily planning notepad here!
This system works super well for me in this season and I can honestly say, I hardly ever feel stressed out about where things are going to fit into my schedule or about knowing what needs to be done each day.
If you want to learn more about The Hustle Sanely Planning System – so things like having a monthly Focus Goal, a weekly Top 3, a daily Focus 3, and using HS5 to live a peacefully productive life, I’ve got you. I created the Hustle Sanely Lifestyle course as a way to teach you and show you The Hustle Sanely Planning System. Use the code PEACEFULLIFE to get $50 off the course so you can say goodbye to burnout and pursue your goals while prioritizing your mental health and relationships.
INTRODUCING
The Hustle Sanely Lifestyle Course
All the tools and strategies you need to ditch overwhelm once and for all!
Use the code PEACEFULLIFE for $50 off your enrollment!
Loved this blog post? Tune into the full podcast episode below!
