They're not created with the realities of chronic illness in mind. For example, there is seldom enough room for the notes that substitute for an astute memory when my fibro fog rolls around. And my body does it's own good job of keeping track of it's aches and pains. Realistically, as my art journal page below attempts to show, there are too many of them to write down anyway, so I don't need all that unused space on a typical planner page. And looking at all that empty space would get a bit depressing too.
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| Fibromyalgia and Arthritis Pain - Oh my! |
In my planner, I've allowed space for four major or daily tasks. I chose four because it's seldom that I can complete more than that on any given day.
There is a separate space for miscellaneous 'To Do's', and important for me, a place where I can note the things that need to be delegated. Delegating is a must and having a place to note these tasks is essential.
Then, too, there is a small area in which to note appointments.
There's a special space for the Communication Queen in all of us, where we can note phone numbers, emails we need to send, make notes about our social networking sites or to jot down a url.
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| A Weekly Planner For the Rest Of Us |
A larger area in which to note things related to self-care - and those can be anything from taking a nap or a short walk, to giving yourself a manicure, to making time for hobbies or art.
Since nutrition is always a 'hot topic' for me and I tend to forget to eat, and because good nutrition is essential to keeping my pain levels manageable, there's also space to note meals.
Last, but far from least important, there is a decent amount of space for notes.
You'll find the days of the week and a place to write the date at the top of the planner, and underneath these, there is room to check off your top four tasks to show that you've completed them each day as well as space to mark off when you've taken your medications for the day. There are additional spaces that you can personalize for other things that you might wish to keep track of on a daily basis.
If you think that the planner would work for you as well, I'd be happy to email you a copy for your personal use. If you know of others who might appreciate it, please feel free to send them here.
To get a free copy (minus the watermarks!), simply leave a comment with your email - or, if you prefer not to have your email addie published here, follow your comment up with an email to CreativeArtitude@hotmail.com, putting 'Weekly Planner' in the subject line.
While I'll be providing the copies free of charge, I still ask that you honor my request above (it's the only way I have of tracking whether or not it's useful to others!) and respect my copyright by not distributing or sharing the non-watermarked copy without my permission. Feel free to Pin or post the watermarked copy or share the link to this post.
