Best Laid Plans

By Elizabeth Foss
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 9/11/03)

It was a defining moment in my life. I was at a friend’s house with six of my children. Dripping wet, I got out of the pool to answer my cell phone. My eldest son was on the line.

"Brian Smith just left here crying."

I gasped. All of a sudden, the details came to me in an adrenaline rush. It was Brian’s birthday. He had invited my son Patrick to be his only friend to spend the day with him and celebrate with his family at Chuck-E-Cheese that evening. I’d made a note of it weeks ago on the calendar in the kitchen drawer. I never even looked at that calendar that week. I thought I had it all committed to memory. Clearly, I was wrong. Brian had come to the door and we were all gone.

In a flurry of phone calls, I changed direction and rushed Patrick home. Michael had scurried up a gift and all was not lost. Never again would I fly without consulting the flight plan. On that day, I become a true believer in a planner.

I’ve owned a planner for years. Eight years ago, many of the mothers in my church were buying and using Franklin planners on the advice of Father Fran Peffley. He gave a very convincing seminar on the effectiveness of planning and the use of planners. Notes from a similar seminar can be found on his Web site at www.transporter.com/fatherpeffley/Articles/PersDevSem4.html.

Around the same time, my friend Mary Hasson introduced me to Stephen Covey’s book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey had a planner to go with his book and that was the one I bought. It was similar to the Franklin planner and conveniently enough, the two merged a few years later.

Most people buy their planners in January but my Franklin Covey planner begins in July. Franklin Covey sells refills for planners that begin in any quarter one desires. This works beautifully for people like me who procrastinated so long that they ordered their calendar for the new year in the middle of the summer. Before the birthday party disaster, I’d been limping along adequately with a giant wall calendar. In my planner, I had my address book, some roughly sketched goals, some notes from the pediatrician and many unused, out-of-date daily planner pages. I rarely took my planner with me and was terrible at using the pages as they were designed.

In an effort to reform myself, I read Time Management for Catholics by Dave Durand. Durand addresses many aspects of planning and the book inspired me to actually use that Franklin Covey planner. Durand encourages faithful Catholics to order their days so that faith and family are actually lived as first priorities. One of my favorite suggestions is the "to do tomorrow" list. When something pops into my head that wasn’t planned for that day but that is worth doing, I put it on the list for the following day. I don’t forget; I don’t get distracted. I simply plan.

Despite Durand’s assertion that one should only maintain one calendar, I’ve kept the wall calendar, and my planner goes with me wherever I go. The wall calendar stays in the kitchen for anyone who wants to know "The Plan." I spend about an hour at the beginning of the week with both calendars.

In my personal planner, I have a much better version of well-thought-out roles and goals. I have lists of gift ideas, notes on sermons and clippings from articles. Telephone trees for each of my children’s teams and the roster of my home schooling support group that go with me wherever I go. I have a plan for each month and a detailed plan for every day. If something crosses my mind, I write it down. This simple act of committing thoughts to paper is very liberating.

My favorite aspect of this new regime is that, in small stolen moments waiting for a carpool or sitting in the dentist’s office, I have a page a day to journal. I’ve taken to recording questions my children ask (Why are we born without any clothes? Would we get older faster if the world started spinning faster?). And I’ve resumed a forgotten habit of recording five things a day for which I am grateful. Finally, in the page finder, a Franklin Covey feature which allows me to find the current day quickly, I’ve recorded a favorite hymn, "Be Still My Soul," which reminds me that I am to allow God to order my days. My planner is about five inches by eight inches, large enough to record all the necessary information but small enough to take along wherever I go. Mothers who are interested in a larger format, might enjoy the lovely Catholic Mother’s Daily Planner found at www.family-centered.com/planner.html.

Whichever form it takes, time invested in planners and planning is time well-spent. If nothing else, I’ll never again rush frantically in my bathing suit to a forlorn birthday party across town.

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