Get Organized: Tap the Power of Planners

Create a special section in the planner for personal Yellow Pages forms. Unless your family name is Young, the XYZ page is a natural for these entries. Make it a rule: each time you look up a number for pizza, plumbers or party supplies, write it down in the planner's yellow pages. Next time the Senior Girl Scout sleepover is at your house, you'll be glad to know exactly which pizza parlor delivers to your neighborhood.

Journal
Whether you journal for fun, for self-development or as a spiritual tool, the planner's journal section is for you. Tracking the days of your life can be fun--and most commercial planners incorporate a journal feature.

Information Pages
A home manager's planner can be a Mother Lode of information, pun intended. If you need to know it, "it" needs a planner page. Some sample pages might include:

Information pages can--and should--be highly individualistic. A mother of young children will have party ideas, play date planners, library book lists and sports informations in her planner. An empty-nest working grandmother could include book club schedules, industry contacts, or decor ideas. Make your planner reflect you in all your individual glory.

The goal is to have that magic genie at your fingertips. What information should travel with you wherever you go? It's all grist for the planner--and the planner is the secret weapon of every organized home manager.

Whatever the form, savvy home managers harness the power of planners. After all, we have better things to do, like rear our children, love our husbands, and do our life's work. A planner is the closest thing on earth to a magic genie. It does the dirty work, so we can focus on the important things: our families and our lives.

Don't leave home without one!