Planning with Purpose - Part 1

Most paper planners are too large and too heavy for me to carry around, so I use the free version of the Family Wall calendar on my phone to add or reschedule appointments when I’m out and about. The digital calendar by itself isn’t enough because it doesn’t give me space to add tasks and see everything I need on one tiny screen.

By sharing calendars, my teenager can make their own appointments, and I can jump in to assist when they ask for help. Like many digital calendars, you can colour code appointments for family members, so it’s easy to see who each appointment is for, and we can plan family activities.

We keep a magnetic meal planner on the fridge, and we use it as a weekly planner: listing our appointments for the week (using a different coloured marker for each of us) on one side and any groceries that we need on the other side. Although I update it every Sunday night, some weeks our appointments change at short notice, and it is difficult to keep it up to date.

In the longer term, I’d love a bigger digital planner (like the Bella Linda), so it’s bigger and easier to see and so that it can sync with the digital calendar on my phone – which would cut out the extra work of writing it out and updating it manually.

The Finch app is really about self-care and maintaining routine and habits, but I also use it as a memory prompt for important tasks. I use my paper planner to write down and check off tasks but for any that are critical, I add them to my Finch app as well, and earn ‘pebbles’ that I can ‘spend’ on clothes and furniture for my Finch.

Last year, I used the Undated Daily Planner and STM Pouch from Scribbles That Matter. The planner is undated, which meant that if I put my planner down somewhere and forgot all about it, I could just jump back in and start with that day’s date on the next available page.

The pouch that it came in was great and could be carried like an over shoulder bag and had space for several pens and pencils.

This year I’m trialling the NDIS Support Planner Bundle from Planner Peace. The bundle comes with the planner cover, 12 monthly dividers, a year of monthly and weekly inserts and lined paper. As the name suggests it also comes with specialised NDIS inserts including participant and funding overviews, contacts, appointments, weekly routines, diagnosed medical conditions, reports submitted to NDIS, goals, to do lists needs lists, purchase lists, and invoice and budget tracking. When you put all the inserts in the planner cover, it is quite full and a little heavy.

The ADHD weekly inserts are quite different. The left page has a To Do list, including space for Top 5 tasks, a Meal Planner, and space to write under 3 headings: Health, Finances and Notes. The right page has 7 days (M-Su) displayed vertically down the page with 5 lines for each day.

In the NDIS section, I particularly like the 'Needs and Items lists', which include consumables, assistive technology and 'other'. These pages allow you to record details, where the item can be purchased, cost and a tick for when you have purchased it. The 'Appointments' pages have space for date, time and location of the appointment, notes (either to prepare for the appointment or follow-up), cost and type of invoice.

Some parts of the NDIS Planner Bundle feel more appropriate for a parent or other family member who is managing NDIS plan of a person with disability. I can also imagine that if you have a team of support workers and were happy to share your planner with them, this planner will help to ensure everyone is on the same page.

If you are self-managed or agency managed, the budget and invoice trackers would make life easier, and each of these sections is broken down into Core, Capacity Building and Capital.

While it’s not part of the NDIS Planner Bundle, I added the 'Last Time Tracker' to record non-regular cleaning and maintenance tasks, such as the last time I cleaned out my refrigerator, cleaned my air-conditioning filter, and servicing for my AT. You just write out the task and in the next column write the date you did it. At a glance, you can check how long it’s been. Such a simple but helpful idea!

I chose a blue cover with colourful butterflies, and I’m hoping this means no matter where I put my planner down, I’ll be able to find it easily. I love that I can keep using the same cover and just add and remove pages to make the planner work for me.