Best Laid Plans – Details, episodes & analysis

It's August's Q&A episode! Join Sarah as she tackles listener questions and comments. Topics include: - an inbox zero success story - approaching nebulous//large projects such as book writing - what does it mean to "work faster" compared to others - thoughts on the Organize 365 Sunday Basket system (Sarah has one!) - teaching planning and organizing to school-aged kids - mindfulness! How do you stay present in the moment if you're always planning the next thing? Request - if you enjoy the show, consider subscribing + setting your podcast player to automatically download! Episode sponsors: Jenni Kayne: Find your summer aesthetic at jennikayne.com. Get 15% off your first order when you use code plans at checkout. Earth Breeze: Effective liquidless laundry detergent! Listeners can receive 40% off Earth Breeze by visiting earthbreeze.com/plans Mint Mobile: To get their new customer offer and your new 3-month unlimited wireless plan for just $15/month for the first 3 months, go to mintmobile.com/plans PrepDish: Check out PrepDish.com/plans for your first 2 weeks of meal plans, FREE! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's a Mixed Bag ep! Topics covered: 1- PTO Spreadsheet - inspired by my friend Kae (gratefulkae.com) 2- Vacation Postmortem! Consider doing a post-trip analysis with a partner. Can also extend to other home areas (summer, a school year, a holiday season, etc!) 3- Two upcoming books I’m excited about - Kendra Adachi’s The Plan and Oliver Burkeman’s Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts. 4- Hobonichi Release! Their preview is at https://www.1101.com/store/techo/en/magazine/2025/y25/ 5- Hemlock & Oak Paper Covers! My link: https://www.hemlockandoak.com/pages/_go_?ref=8195:338926&discount=BLP - use discount code BLP 6- Halo Planner is out! https://www.thehaloplanner.com/shopify-products/the-halo-planner-q4-2024?_kx=pEbNyEVSsMRzyt72zDDz91CczlNZdlBltKjzzraQMoUL1fg2AWRFo5wbuF5ol2IB.Vgsz5G Note - currently it shows the price in $HK not USD, I will ask if they plan to have it show USD as well! 7- Just Scribble Planners - https://www.shopjustscribble.com Episode Sponsors: Jenni Kayne: Find your summer aesthetic at jennikayne.com. Get 15% off your first order when you use code plans at checkout. Earth Breeze: Effective liquidless laundry detergent! Listeners can receive 40% off Earth Breeze by visiting earthbreeze.com/plans Mint Mobile: To get their new customer offer and your new 3-month unlimited wireless plan for just $15/month for the first 3 months, go to mintmobile.com/plans PrepDish: Check out PrepDish.com/plans for your first 2 weeks of meal plans, FREE! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Sarah provides a mini life update and then answers questions that have come from listeners over the past month! Topics/questions include: - Tips for working in distracting conditions - Ideas for budget planning - how does Sarah use YNAB? - What happens when when attempted morning planning sessions get derailed (by a kid, by illness, by ??) - Listener idea: having kids cook dinners on rotation through the summer! Fun AND educational. - Listener feedback: discussion of how with burnout and other mental health issues, planning tools are not enough - Ways for handling regularly occurring "abnormal weeks" - when relatives are visiting or call weeks As mentioned, Sarah loves receiving your questions and feedback! Reach her via theshubox.com or via email (sarah.hart.unger@gmail.com) or text her via (305) 697-7189. Newsletter: theshubox.com/newsletter Links mentioned: - BOBW episode with YNAB Founder: https://lauravanderkam.com/2021/04/best-of-both-worlds-podcast-budgets-and-more-with-ynabs-jesse-mecham/ - Getting through tough weeks: https://theshubox.com/2022/02/blp-show-notes-etc.html Episode Sponsors: Jenni Kayne: Find your new uniform at jennikayne.com. Get 15% off your first order when you use code plans at checkout! Earth Breeze: Effective liquidless laundry detergent! Listeners can receive 40% off Earth Breeze by visiting earthbreeze.com/plans Crunch Labs: Camp CrunchLabs is 12 weeks of awesome build-it-yourself fun! Go to crunchlabs.com/PLANS to sign your kids up for Camp CrunchLabs today! Mint Mobile: To get their new customer offer and your new 3-month unlimited wireless plan for just $15/month for the first 3 months, go to mintmobile.com/plans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this fun episode, after sharing a digital planning tip from listener Sonali, Sarah chats with Kristen Meinzer, a podcaster, culture critic, author, and more! They chat about aspects of planning that are incredibly important but that might not instantly come to mind, from planning for death (promise, it's more uplifting than it sounds!) to planning memorable dates and strategic media consumption. You can find all of Kristen's work (and there is A LOT of it!) by starting at https://www.kristenmeinzer.com Books mentioned Getting Things Done by David Allen The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life by Katy Butler Podcast Sponsors: Gusto: Gusto is offering our listeners three months free at gusto.com/sarah. Get easy payroll, benefits, HR, and a happier team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah opens with a review of Nolki notebook, journals, planners, and washi, and then shares updates on Hobonichi, Cultivate What Matters, and more. Then, author and podcaster Kate Hanley joins Sarah in the kickoff to "Planner Profiles" -- a series about how different people plan! Kate shares her challenges and current practices. Kate's podcast is How to Be a Better Person, and it comes out daily! Final note: congrats to Rushmore Beekeepers (the group whose music is featured on this podcast!) for their new album release! Album info: 'What Lives and What Grows' https://rushmorebeekeepers.com/links/ Podcast Sponsors: Organize 365: To learn more about Lisa Woodruff’s work and her amazing offerings, check out organize365.com, or go to organize365.com/minicourse for a free 7 days minicourse on getting yourself organized! Gusto: Gusto is offering our listeners three months free at gusto.com/sarah. Get easy payroll, benefits, HR, and a happier team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Q&A episode, Sarah tackles 5 listener questions! Topics include: 1) Planning sustainable and enjoyable holiday seasons 2) Tips for tracking (and not forgetting to track) 3) Planner matchup request: daily pages with gridlines + colorful tabs? 4) A system to keep special memories + achievements long term 5) Planner matchup request: planner for a middle schooler Episode Sponsors: PrepDish: Healthy and delicious meal planning made easy! Check out PrepDish.com/plans for your first 2 weeks, FREE. Gusto: Gusto is offering our listeners three months free at gusto.com/sarah. Get easy payroll, benefits, HR, and a happier team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by a podcast episode of similar title (Cal Newport's Deep Questions Ep #211), Sarah decides to offer a 10,000 foot view of how she organizes . . . pretty much everything! This episode is more about principles than tools (though of course those get a mention as well!). Sarah talks through her various horizons of planning, from daily to yearly, and her methods for keeping inputs under control. Episode Sponsors: Gusto: Gusto is offering our listeners three months free at gusto.com/sarah. Get easy payroll, benefits, HR, and a happier team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Hobonichi season, and Sarah is excited! She opens with a Planner Peace submission from Hobonichi user, and then goes into a detailed exploration of the current Hobonichi offerings, from planners to covers and more. Learn about the ordering process, the website (it's in English!) and their new offerings for 2023, as well as what Sarah is thinking of ordering herself. Episode Sponsors: Yipes: Face & hand wipes for kids! Go to yipes.com/PLANS for 20% off. Growing up is messy. Yipes! wipes to the rescue. Gusto: Gusto is offering our listeners three months free at gusto.com/sarah. Get easy payroll, benefits, HR, and a happier team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Sarah opens with a discussion of back to school energy, with a shout out to the Hobonichi 2023 releases + the new Full Focus designs. Then, she shares some listener tips related to reading journals and book tracking. In the Q&A, she answers questions in themes: 2 related to scrolling habits, 2 planner matchmaking requests, and 1 on Apple Notes. As always, detailed links/notes up can be found at theshubox.com! Episode Sponsors: Yipes: Face & hand wipes for kids! Go to yipes.com/PLANS for 20% off. Growing up is messy. Yipes! wipes to the rescue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Kelly Nolan joins Sarah to talk all things digital planning and calendar management. Kelly is a lawyer, previously working as a litigator. She became passionate about helping women manage their time and thrive in busy jobs, and now teaches time management for her main career. She loves helping women to truly understand where time is going and helping them integrate work and life though her digital calendar management techniques. She and Sarah have a great discussion on common challenges women with big careers face. Find Kelly and learn more about the Bright Method at http://kellynolan.com, or connect with her on Instagram @_kellynolan_ Episode Sponsors: Organize 365: To learn more about Lisa Woodruff’s work and her amazing offerings, check out organize365.com, or go to organize365.com/minicourse for a free 7 days minicourse on getting yourself organized! Yipes: Face & hand wipes for kids! Go to yipes.com/PLANS for 20% off. Growing up is messy. Yipes! wipes to the rescue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices