It’s August, so I’m headlong in planning mode. And though there are many things competing for my time these days, working on my planning is one the tasks that I actually look forward to every day. 

It’s also the one thing that teachers ask me for the most help with. I feel lucky that planning is something that I enjoy so much, and it definitely makes a difference in my classroom. I start the year feeling prepared. I head into every new block with a solid plan. And I start each day knowing exactly where my lesson is going.

Now, all this planning isn’t to say that I’m not flexible. I definitely recognize the value of deviating from the plan when necessary, and I do that often. But having a plan gives me the confidence to feel free enough to deviate. It’s the plan that allows for the creativity. It’s that old from form comes freedom notion.

So, how can you love planning? There are two main things that make the planning love happen for me.

Supplies

The first is supplies. I confess that I’m a sucker for stationery and beautiful office supplies. I’ve used a variety of different planning systems through the years and I’ve found success with all of them. I find that switching things up every now and then makes me love my planning even more.

Some of my most popular blog posts and podcasts have been about the planning systems I’ve used. I’ll link to them in the show notes.

• What Waldorf Teachers Do in July
• Supplies for Waldorf Teacher Planning
• Hobonichi for Teachers
• How Notion Has Completely Transformed My Life
• How to Plan Your School Year AND Enjoy Your Summer

Here are some of the supplies that make my planning experience enjoyable. (I’ll link to some of these in the show notes and some of them are affiliate links.)

• a nice fountain pen (Lamy, TWSBI)
• a planner (Hobonichi, Ink+Volt, Papier, Plum Paper)
• a notebook (Notebook Therapy, Rhodia, Clairefontaine)
• a large sketchbook (Dick Blick, Denik)

Want a Plum Paper planner for 10% off? Email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the coupon.

Having a Plan

I’m going to go over this just briefly because I teach a whole course on developing a planning system, but the point here is to plan your planning. Know what aspect of your planning you need to work on and when you need to do it. Here’s how my planning system breaks down.

Yearly Planning

Monthly Planning

Weekly Planning

Daily Planning

I hope taking a deep dive on planning has been helpful for you and that you’ll find yourself inspired to enjoy your planning a little more.