TOS Crew Review: The 7 Minute Life Daily Planner

Whew, life has been busy recently!  Between moving halfway across the country, buying a home, unpacking, taking a 3 day car trip back home, and getting geared up to start homeschooling full force again, well, every day has been crazy.

I know I’m not alone in this feeling.  Most moms feel overwhelmed.

Sometimes I feel like I’m simply riding through the fast paced river of Life, just trying to make it through.  I write a regular to-do list, but often I feel like a hamster on a wheel, completing tasks just for the sake of completing them.

Enter the 7 Minute Life Daily Planner ($24.95) by The 7 Minute Life.

This planner asks people to slow down a minute (actually, for 7 minutes) and reflect on the type of life they want to have.  We moms are so good at saying yes and bogging ourselves down with jobs and responsibilities that take us away from our most important mission in life.

My most important mission in life is to raise and educate my children, but often I don’t say no to work that I probably shouldn’t accept, which takes time away from my children.

Reflect on Your Life Goals

The 7 Minute Life Daily Planner asks you in the beginning to prioritize what is most important to you.  Ultimately, you rank the 10 most important things.  Then, armed with this list, you create a purpose in life statement.

While this is an important task, it’s not an easy one.  In fact, I put off using this planner for a week or so because I was so overwhelmed trying to nail down my purpose in life.

However, once I had it written down, deciding what tasks belonged in my life and which ones I should eliminate became much easier.

What Is Included in the Planner

The planner has a lengthy introductory section that explains how to use it and also how to make your life more purposeful.  In fact, the motto of the planner is “Live your life in alignment with your priorities and purpose.”  After the initial pages that ask you to determine your priorities, purpose, and what your strengths are, the following sections are included:

• 90 Days Goals (a page each for personal, work, financial, and life goals)
• Unfinished Work Tasks
• Unfinished Home Tasks
• Home Repair
• Grocery List
• Connections
• Annual Calendar at a Glance
• Annual Projects & Tasks
• 90 Day Calendar Worksheets (4 of these to cover one year)
• Monthly Calendar at a Glance (12 of these to cover one year)
• Meeting Planner
• Daily Progress Report
• Notes
• Exercise Progress Reports

The planner is 272 pages.

The calendar pages are blank, so you could start using this planner whenever you would like.

The creator of the planner, Allyson Lewis, clearly wants people to become more focused on their lives and their priorities.  She has even developed several videos that can help people use the planner successfully.

What I Loved about the Planner

This planner worked perfectly for me as a homeschooling, work-at-home mom.  What I loved was that the planner tried to cover all areas of my life.  There were sections for getting in shape and taking care of your body, sections for finances, sections for goals, and sections for work.  I love that this planner was not just about organizing one aspect of my life such as work or homeschooling, but that it encompassed my entire life.

I also loved the 5 before 11 motto.  The idea is that you list 5 things you want to complete before 11 a.m.  I don’t know about you, but the later in the day it gets, the less likely I am to accomplish what I need to do.  I love trying to get 5 important things done before 11 a.m.

What Could Be Improved

Overall, I enjoyed using The 7 Minute Life Daily Planner.  However, there were a few changes I would like to see made.

First, the book is spiral bound and protected by a heavy plastic cover.  While I appreciated the protection the cover offered, it tended to curl upward and often got in my way.  I found it more of a nuisance than anything because it wouldn’t stay down.

In addition, I would like to see tabs on the side of the book so I could easily flip back and forth between the difference sections of the planner.

Finally, the Daily Contacts section in the Daily Progress Report wasn’t necessary for me.  Instead, I ended up using it as a place to list what I wanted to accomplish that day.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a mom struggling to manage your various roles and to prioritize what is truly important in your life, this could be the planner for you.

I was one of 90 people to review this planner.  Click on the link below to see what others had to say about it.