Best Laid Plans

In today's episode, Sarah shares rationale and ideas for completing your own mid-year check in session, where you take stock of where things are, look at annual goals, and decide how you'd like to move forward. She provides ideas for the setting/scope of this session, and then shares her very own mid-year check in - processing her own progress on the air!

If you are interested in a guided mid-year check in video that takes you through the process step by step, Sarah is offering this as part of BLP at Home: Planning 2026 this year! You can get access to this video by preordering BLP at Home for next year (4 hour guided planning experience divided into two sessions, taking place in Dec 2025/Jan 2026).

All details will be shared via newsletter (July edition out 7/1), so visit theshubox.com/newsletter to sign up!

Episode Sponsors

IXL: Learning doesn't have to stop in the summer!  Best Laid Plans

Green Chef: Make this summer your healthiest yet with Green Chef. Head to greenchef.com/50BESTLAID and use code 50BESTLAID to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping.

 PrepDish: Healthy menu plans and prep instruction to take the mental load out of dinner!   Visit PrepDish.com/plans for your first 2 weeks, FREE.  

Mint:  Affordable unlimited wireless!  Get your new customer offer and your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for $15 a month at mintmobile.com/BLP

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a Q&A podcast! Topics include:

- Ways to plan/manage tasks when your time is unpredictably chopped up (gig worker)?
- How to move into a new planner midyear?
- How to talk with a partner who feels your planning systems are over the top (and you feel like they are absolutely necessary for a functional family life)?
- How to handle a close friend or relative who refuses to make firm plans?
- Planner recs for a child with ADHD entering middle school

Keep your questions coming! Email sarah.hart.unger at gmail, leave a message on the show notes (theshubox.com) or reply to the newsletter!

Newsletter signups: theshubox.com/newsletter

EPISODE SPONSORS

IXL: Make an impact on your child’s learning, get IXL now.  BLP listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ⁠⁠⁠ixl.com/plans⁠⁠⁠.

Green Chef:  Make this summer your healthiest yet with Green Chef. Visit ⁠⁠⁠greenchef.com/50BESTLAID⁠⁠⁠ and use code 50BESTLAID to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping.

Mint Mobile: Save this summer with a Mint Mobile Wireless plan!  Get

PrepDish:  Delicious and healthy plans to take the mental load out of planning dinner!  Visit ⁠⁠⁠prepdish.com/plans⁠⁠⁠ for two weeks free!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode centers around strategies for travel planning, from super-long range (5-10+ years) to daily planning while on vacation! Sarah shares her favorite strategies at each time horizon to craft travel plans that reflect your values and highest priorities, while meeting your actual real-life needs (budget, kids' ages, etc!).

Mentioned:
Kelsey's "The Years Are Short" sheet:
https://www.risingshining.com/2022/10/the-years-are-short-family-spreadsheet.html

Cameras (idea from Sarah Jedd, prior guest who blogs at harrytimes.com):
https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/hybrid/camp-snap-screen-free-digital-camera

EPISODE SPONSORS

IXL: Make an impact on your child’s learning, get IXL now.  BLP listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ⁠⁠ixl.com/plans⁠⁠.

Green Chef:  Make this summer your healthiest yet with Green Chef. Visit ⁠⁠greenchef.com/50BESTLAID⁠⁠ and use code 50BESTLAID to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping.

Mint Mobile: Save this summer with a Mint Mobile Wireless plan!  Get

PrepDish:  Delicious and healthy plans to take the mental load out of planning dinner!  Visit ⁠⁠prepdish.com/plans⁠⁠ for two weeks free!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lizzie Post is the great-great-grandaughter of famed etiquette expert Emily Post and serves as co-president at the Emily Post Institute along with her cousin Daniel Post Senning. In today's episode Sarah interviews her on all things planning AND etiquette adjacent! First, Sarah inquires about Lizzie's current favorite planning tools and rituals, and then she asks questions that get at some of the stickier parts of planning: how to manage making plans in a group, how to handle planner fatigue, how to deal with managing forms of communication, and how to get past barriers to planning social things.

Lizzie and Dan's new book is the the newly-updated Emily Post’s Business Etiquette - find out more at https://emilypost.com! She and Dan also cohost Awesome Etiquette, a podcast where they discuss all things modern day etiquette and answer listener questions.

EPISODE SPONSORS

IXL: Make an impact on your child’s learning, get IXL now.  BLP listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ⁠ixl.com/plans⁠.

Green Chef:  Make this summer your healthiest yet with Green Chef. Visit ⁠greenchef.com/50BESTLAID⁠ and use code 50BESTLAID to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping.

Mint Mobile: Save this summer with a Mint Mobile Wireless plan!  Get

PrepDish:  Delicious and healthy plans to take the mental load out of planning dinner!  Visit ⁠prepdish.com/plans⁠ for two weeks free!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Sarah welcomes listeners into summer (and southern hemisphere listeners into winter!). Then, she shares 10 less common (possibly quirky!) planning habits that work for her, from her tracking methods to her use of "defaults" and strategic use of break times, and more. She also shares a listener follow up to the new mom wondering how to deal with tasks that come to mind when she isn't with her planner!

EPISODE SPONSORS

IXL: Make an impact on your child’s learning, get IXL now.  BLP listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com/plans.

Green Chef:  Make this summer your healthiest yet with Green Chef. Visit greenchef.com/50BESTLAID and use code 50BESTLAID to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping.

Mint Mobile: Save this summer with a Mint Mobile Wireless plan!  Get

PrepDish:  Delicious and healthy plans to take the mental load out of planning dinner!  Visit prepdish.com/plans for two weeks free!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode is dedicated to monthly planning rhythms! Sarah discusses why the monthly planning level can be a challenging one, but then provides reasons to try giving it some attention!

Elements Discussed:

- Ways to add to the "fresh start" energy - screen backgrounds + monthly tracking
- Monthly work plan (new element for Sarah!)
- Monthly goal setting (middle piece of the Nested Goals method - great way to break up big seasonal projects), including a look back / forward / within, and a calendar landscape review
- Monthly "extras" - might include budget, household supply maintenance, fitness ideas, library holds, adding in fun, and more!

Prior episodes mentioning Monthly Planning:
#17 - https://theshubox.com/2024/09/episode-218-your-new-month-guide.html
#218 - https://theshubox.com/2020/11/blp-ep-17-monthly-review.html

Completist Products Mentioned (no affiliation):
Weekly Planning Pad: https://www.the-completist.com/collections/planner-pads/products/andalucia-weekly-planner-pad
Daily Planner: https://www.the-completist.com/collections/daily-planners
Monthly Planner: https://www.the-completist.com/collections/month-planners
Newsletter signup: theshubox.com/newsletter
BLP Live in Nov (ONE slot as of posting this!): theshubox.com/blplive

Episode Sponsors:

PrepDish: Convenient meal plans, recipes, and shopping lists to reduce your weekly mental load! Visit ⁠⁠⁠prepdish.com/plans⁠⁠⁠ for your first 2 weeks, FREE

Mint Mobile: Low-cost wireless phone service – a great way to save every single month! Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠mintmobile.com/BLP⁠⁠⁠

IXL: Tailored and effective online learning (my kids have used this for years as part of their school curriculum)! Best Laid Plans listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at⁠⁠⁠ IXL.com/PLANS⁠⁠⁠.

Green Chef: The best meal kit for eating well. Visit ⁠⁠⁠greenchef.com/bestlaidfree⁠⁠⁠ and use code bestlaidfree to get started with FREE salads for 2 months plus 50% off your first box.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Sarah shares a detailed Planner Peace submission (from a listener who listened to all 250 episodes of the BLP back catalog!) and provides a mini-review of Kendra Adachi's The Playbook, designed to be planner companions for each season, rather than planners themselves!

Find The Playbook here: https://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/merch/p/the-playbooks-bundle or here for a page by page overview: https://otterpine.com/the-playbooks/

Next, a listener with a new baby wonders whether it makes sense to carry her paper planner up and down the stairs vs make the switch to digital.

Finally, this is Sarah's birthday week! If you'd like to celebrate, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, or preorder Best Laid Plans: A Simple System for Living a Life That You Love (available at major retailers - just search for Sarah Hart-Unger!).

BLP Live is almost full - last chance if you'd like to plan 2026 with Sarah and Laura Vanderkam in person this November! Visit theshubox.com/blplive for details

Episode Sponsors:

PrepDish: Convenient meal plans, recipes, and shopping lists to reduce your weekly mental load! Visit ⁠⁠prepdish.com/plans⁠⁠ for your first 2 weeks, FREE

Mint Mobile: Low-cost wireless phone service – a great way to save every single month! Learn more at ⁠⁠mintmobile.com/BLP⁠⁠

IXL: Tailored and effective online learning (my kids have used this for years as part of their school curriculum)! Best Laid Plans listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at⁠⁠ IXL.com/PLANS⁠⁠.

Green Chef: The best meal kit for eating well. Visit ⁠⁠greenchef.com/bestlaidfree⁠⁠ and use code bestlaidfree to get started with FREE salads for 2 months plus 50% off your first box.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Sarah share the strategies that got her feeling much less "in the weeds", including airtight task capture and inbox cleaning, plus monthly work planning!

Then, she shares a Planner Peace segment from Ross in NZ, who uses mostly digital tools plus a paper daily and has an incredibly well-thought-out and organized overall ecosystem!

Topics for the Q&A:

- Finding planners with affordable shipping to AUS and NZ
- Handling incoming papers without letting them overcrowd your desk
- Planner suggestions for a daily with decent-sized hour markings that go from 5a - 9p
- Suggestions for getting back into planning for someone with more limited use of her writing hand
- Ideas for visualizing the summer as a whole

Episode Sponsors:

PrepDish: Convenient meal plans, recipes, and shopping lists to reduce your weekly mental load! Visit ⁠prepdish.com/plans⁠ for your first 2 weeks, FREE

Mint Mobile: Low-cost wireless phone service – a great way to save every single month! Learn more at ⁠mintmobile.com/BLP⁠

IXL: Tailored and effective online learning (my kids have used this for years as part of their school curriculum)! Best Laid Plans listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at⁠ IXL.com/PLANS⁠.

Green Chef: The best meal kit for eating well. Visit ⁠greenchef.com/bestlaidfree⁠ and use code bestlaidfree to get started with FREE salads for 2 months plus 50% off your first box.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Sarah gets real: she shares her current feelings of being "in the weeds", how she got there, and the strategies she hopes to employ to climb out.

Additional Notes:
Best Laid Plans LIVE in Florida: Planning 2026 has very few remaining slots - grab yours now at theshubox.com/blplive

Sign up for the newsletter at theshubox.com/newsletter

Share your own tactics for getting out of the weeks - send Sarah an email or text at sarah.hart.unger at gmail or (305) 697-7189

PrepDish:  Convenient meal plans, recipes, and shopping lists to reduce your weekly mental load! Visit ⁠prepdish.com/plans⁠ for your first 2 weeks, FREE

IXL: Make an impact on your child’s learning with IXL!  For 20% off IXL membership, visit IXL.com/PLANS

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Allison Schaaf is the creator and owner of PrepDish (longtime BLP sponsor!) and her business is based on planning, specifically around meals! But she also has plenty of wisdom to share around planning the rest of life, from long term goals to handling emails and managing a team. She is also highly interested in streamlining tasks as she is a mother of 4 (including a baby!).

Shared by Allison:

- Clever Fox planner

- Superhuman email

- Traction

- Die with Zero

PrepDish trial mentioned: prepdish.com/plans (two weeks free - and now with Instacart shopping links!)

Episode Sponsors:

PrepDish: Convenient meal plans, recipes, and shopping lists to reduce your weekly mental load! Visit prepdish.com/plans for your first 2 weeks, FREE

Mint Mobile: Low-cost wireless phone service – a great way to save every single month! Learn more at mintmobile.com/BLP

IXL: Tailored and effective online learning (my kids have used this for years as part of their school curriculum)! Best Laid Plans listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXL.com/PLANS.

Green Chef: The best meal kit for eating well. Visit greenchef.com/bestlaidfree and use code bestlaidfree to get started with FREE salads for 2 months plus 50% off your first box.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices