Best Laid Plans
Welcome to Best Laid Plans -- a podcast all about planning and the planning tools we love. From planning techniques and organizing philosophies to planners and notebooks, we cover it all. Host Sarah Hart-Unger is a mother of 3, physician, podcasting pro, and a lover of lists and all things paper! Listen in weekly for conversations about planning and productivity as well as product reviews and interviews with planning experts!
176
Back to School: Routines, Vintage Supplies, & M...
Today's episode is all about the back to school season! Sarah discusses routines to think about and other aspects of life to re-evaluate as we head into this second "fresh start" season of the year. Then, in a really fun segment she discusses her...
20 min
177
Welcome Back + &Studium Daily Planner Review EP 53
Welcome back to Season 3 of Best Laid Plans! Sarah returns from a monthlong hiatus full of ideas and planning energy. She provides an update on her current planning setup and then dives into a review of the compact and versatile &Studium Daily...
25 min
178
Planning Your Year in Quartiles or Quintiles EP 52
In this episode, Sarah does a deep dive into planning larger chunks of the year, whether are quarters or quintiles. She details the feelings and rituals that generally occur in each Quintile, as well as the use of breaking up the year in this way. ...
18 min
179
Planning, Routines & Crowding out Bad Habits EP 51
In this Deep Dive episodes, Sarah shares details about her morning routine and how she goes about daily planning. She also muses on the idea of essentially crowding out bad or mindless habits by intentionally spending time on things you want to,...
20 min
180
Getting Started with Planning EP 50
This episode was inspired by a listener who wanted to hear about ideas for getting started with planning from scratch. While it is hard to be prescriptive about what any one person should use, there are definitely a number of fundamental things...
27 min
181
The Weekly Review EP 49
This episode takes a deep dive into one of Sarah's favorite planning techniques: the Weekly Review. There are so many great ways to do a weekly review process, and one size definitely does not fit all! Listen to discover...
20 min
182
Ask Me Anything - Your Q&A! EP 48
For the season finale of BLP, Sarah put out a call to Instagram for questions for an "Ask Me Anything" format episode. Listeners write in with wonderful questions, from tips on setting up a planning routine to specific pen and planner queries. Join in...
32 min
183
Midyear Goals Check-in (with my own goals as an...
In this episode, Sarah discusses the merit of performing a mid-year goals check in. She recommends setting aside some time and going carefully through all of the goals you identified at the beginning of the year. And then - the audit can begin! Some...
22 min
184
Planner Matchmaking with Laura Vanderkam EP 46
In this episode, Sarah provides a planner matchmaking service for Laura Vanderkam! Laura is a time management expert who also happens to be Sarah's good friend and podcast cohost on Best of Both Worlds. For years, she's used a plain spiral notebook to...
25 min
185
Planning Your Summer! EP 45
This episode is all about planning your summer, with an in-depth discussion of the various things Sarah has spent time dreaming about for Summer 2021. Topics include childcare/camp, personal projects, summer reading & entertainment, travel,...
24 min
186
The Get to Work Book and Much More with Planner...
So many listeners recommended Elise Cripe a guest, and Sarah was thrilled to chat with her about her beautiful, professional, and functional planner: the Get to Work Book! This planner has goal-setting functionality, weekly spreads, and made a unique...
26 min
187
Simplified Planner Review EP 43
In this episode, Sarah provides an honest and candid review and walk-through the Simplified Daily Planner by Emily Ley. The Simplified line of planners contains both a daily and weekly option, and all feature beautiful colors and thoughtful design...
24 min
188
Q&A - Long-range planning, less feminine planne...
It's another all Q&A episode, featuring your submitted write-in and audio questions! Question 1 opens with a question on "manly" planners for a 25 year old who has just received a promotion. Q2 is from a soon-to-be medicine resident wondering if...
25 min
189
From Essentialism to Effortless with Author Gre...
This episode features author Greg McKeown, known for his work Essentialism and now introducing some powerful newer ideas in his latest release Effortless. In the conversation, Sarah and Greg take a deeper dive into the why around planning and what...
32 min
190
Routines and More with Ashley Brown of Routine ...
In this fun conversational episode, Sarah welcomes Ashley Brown to the show. Ashley is a mother, nurse educator, podcaster, and routines expert! She has her own suite of products designed to help people (especially women) optimize their routines, and...
22 min
191
Midyear Planner Switchup and Review of the Erin...
If you have felt the pull to switch planners 3 or 4 months into 2021 -- well, just know that you are not alone! Due to a few factors, Sarah jumped out of the (lovely!) Wonderland 222 and into a larger more colorful Erin Condren softbound weekly, with...
24 min
192
Q&A Episode: Filing miscellaneous information, ...
In this Q&A episode, Sarah answers 4 listener questions. The first asks about how to handle bits of information that you might need later-- but are unsure exactly when. Then, a listener asks about the Eisenhower matrix, and relates it specifically...
23 min
193
Digital Planning Hacks from Gmail to Tasks to G...
In this fun interview episode, Sarah interviews Kelsey Wharton, a mother of 3 (ages 1-8!) and fellow podcaster -- she cohosts The Girl Next Door Podcast, which happens to be one of Sarah's favorites! Kelsey has always impressed Sarah with her...
29 min
194
Quintiles or Quarters: How to Consider Your Yea...
In this episode, Sarah does a deep dive into planning larger chunks of the year, whether are quarters or quintiles. She details the feelings and rituals that generally occur in each Quintile, as well as the use of breaking up the year in this way. ...
17 min
195
Spring Reviews: Day Designer, Villa Beautiful P...
Today's episode includes a deep dive review of the Day Designer, a monthly and daily planner with beautiful patterned covers and a distinctive layout. Then, Sarah discusses her recent purchase of two Villa Beautiful crystal gel pens and (finally) a...
22 min
196
Q&A Question: Your Voices & More! EP 34
This episode features 3 listener audio questions, plus a couple of extra bonus questions at the end! Topics covered include creating organized systems to share mental load with a partner, using budgeting tools to plan ahead for bigger less frequent...
21 min
197
Organizing Your Home, Your Paper, and Your Life...
Long-time listeners will know Sarah has been a long term admirer of Organize 365 founder and CEO Lisa Woodruff for quite some time. In today's episode, Sarah has Lisa share some of her greatest ideas (and there are many!) that pertain to organizing...
31 min
198
Organizing Your Financial Life EP 32
This episode is all about ways to organize your finances. Sarah discusses 4 essential parts of being intentional with finances, including tracking your earnings & expenses, learning about investing, following and monitoring your long-term...
21 min
199
Goal Setting, Handwriting, and More with Laken ...
Laken is a longtime member of the online planning community known for her openness, her positive encouragement, and her gorgeous and unique handwriting! In this episode, she gives an overview of her personal planning methods and her goal setting...
24 min
200
Mini Q&A and MakseLife Quarterly Goal Setting N...
It's a hybrid episode! In the first portion, Sarah answers listener questions on tasks vs to-dos, managing small recurrent tasks that threaten to take over our actions lists, and ways to organize multiple in-progress projects that involve a lot...
23 min