Why do I use a Planner? What is Bilateral Planning? How are Pageant Queen Principles incorporated?

A planner is more than a calendar.

A planner is a tool to help manage projects.  

Those projects can vary from keeping your house in order, to operating a business from home; from keeping your ministry accountable and out of the red, to balancing school and work life.  

To-do lists can be as varied and unique as individuals are, therefore a system for managing those tasks should be designed to meet those needs.

My unique need for a project management system, which I call a planner, came as a result of losing my cognitive abilities.  My memory, both short and long term, were affected. Read the story here.  As I began the arduous task of rebuilding my life, I quickly realized the need to relearn many skills that had once been second nature.   

At that time, my sister introduced me to the creative community of decorative planning and I quickly realized my brain worked differently as it healed.  Some days, analytical tasks like reading, list making, and counting were too difficult or incomprehensible and I leaned heavily on the creative skills associated with the right side of the brain and could surround myself with light and laughter.  Other days, color and sound were distracting and overwhelming, causing anxiety and sending me into a panic attack so I leaned towards quiet, solitary activities that gave me a sense of calm and order like reading or listmaking.

I began studying how others approached project management for productivity.  Soon, I discovered that while humans use both sides of their brain for different tasks, we have a natural bent towards relying on one side or the other.  Some of us are more artistic in nature and operate from a right-brained perspective. Others are more analytical in nature and operate from a left-brained perspective.

Before the trauma that led to a cognitive decline and memory loss, I believed myself to favor a left-brain perspective and therefore engaged in traditionally left-brain activities, rarely pursuing those requiring a right-brain nature.  During the healing process, I read much on the subject of neuroplasticity and how to “remap” the brain by continually challenging myself to learn new things. I learned, through trial and error, how to work through the anxiety and panic of not being able to think through, and therefore follow through, with simple activities.  

 

Bilateral Planning is HOW to plan for productivity and success.

I needed to have a project management system that worked with my brain whether I was able to think with the right or left side on any given day.  I believe this approach helped me heal quicker and regain much of my former cognitive abilities. While experimenting with different ways to “remap” my brain and learn information, I created a project management system called bilateral planning.

Bilateral Planning is a system of task management that allows for flexibility while maintaining efficiency.   I utilize a framework for left-brain task and time management in addition to a space for creative thought processing.   This system has allowed me to accomplish goals that would have otherwise been out of reach.

Take this quiz to discover whether you are left or right brain dominant.

 

Pageant Queen Principles are WHAT you plan.

Incorporating Pageant Queen Principles within the Bilateral Planning framework creates a balanced system for efficiency, productivity and ultimately, success – whether your goals include capturing a crown or corraling a kindergarten class.  

Join me on my YouTube channel as I share techniques for creating a system that meets your needs.  Be sure to download the FREE printables so you can plan along with me in upcoming videos.

 

Goals – How to set and reach them

Ask people closest to me and they will tell you that I am a highly creative person and have a ton of great ideas.  In fact, someone very close to me, my brother-in-law, made the following statement yesterday. “This is the first time I have ever known you to complete something you have started and you have been staying on task for the past year now.”  True statement. Starting one project after another is not a challenge for me…it never has been. What has been a challenge in the past was completing those projects and accomplishing those goals. So what is different now?

One word…organization!

I have found the organizational system that works for me.  Oh, I have tried so many ways (think Franklin Covey) to stay organized in the past but to no avail.  Why? Because I was trying to think the way someone else thinks and therefore I failed every time. I didn’t fully understand how my brain worked and as a result felt I like a failure.  My daughter pointed out that I have taught her how to fail and keep trying again. Each failure was a lesson in what doesn’t work for me.

The challenge then became about learning what would work for me.  We are all different but there are some similarities we can focus on when determining how to set and reach goals.  I am a highly creative individual who thinks outside the box and needs an organizational system that works with my thinking style. My brain vacillates between a left and right brain thinking styles so I am not predominantly a left brain, list making planner, nor am I predominantly a right brain, visual planner – rather I am a mix of the two and fluctuate on a daily basis and therefore need to have separate systems set up to help me stay on task when my brain changes gears.  ←- This was a HUGE “aha” for me!

Because I didn’t understand that I needed the two different styles, I would fail to reach objectives when using a left brain, list-making logic-based approach and my brain starting thinking in its creative right hemisphere.  Now, I have a planning system, Bilateral Planning, that allows me to alternate between the two formats as quickly as my brain shifts gears…that can be pretty fast…and I am able to stay on task and reach my goals.

Are you a predominantly left brain, list maker who needs to see everything, structured and in black and white, or in digital form?  Are you predominantly a right brain, creative who needs a lot of real estate on your paper to doodle, draw or color code? Or, are you like me and need a combination of the two?  Knowing this one aspect of yourself, how you think, will help you tremendously in your goal setting process.

Learn more about Bilateral Planning and receive a FREE printable to help you start designing your own organizational system!

October Daily – Junk Journal with Me

In my effort to continue challenging and healing my brain, I have been inspired to participate in an October Daily journal challenge and I had to add my own twist.  

The challenge is to journal daily throughout the month of October (and I hope to video it as well and post it to my YouTube channel).

I have decided to use this journal time to challenge myself to participate in activities that engage the left brain, logic-based activity (i.e. math, science, history, sequencing) on odd number days of the month.

On even number days, I will participate in activities that engage the right brain, creativity based activity (i.e. paint, draw, write, play music, crochet, using your imagination is the key and your only limit).

I created this image as a visual prompt and show you how I will use it in my video.  

Feel free to print it out and use it as you follow along with me on this journey.

If you decide to join me in this challenge, share what you’re doing with the hashtag #odjjwm and tag me on social media.

IG: @theorganizedmiss

Facebook: @theorganizedmiss

YouTube: The Organized Miss