61 Ways to Plan Your Life the Way You Want it

If you’re anything like we are, you’re a planner. You plan your vacations, your workouts, your meals. You may even plan when you’re going to plan because, after all, planning takes time. We get it. That’s why we’ve put together this list of tools, tips, and tricks that can help you plan your life for success.

From your schedule to your finances, your goals to your tools, this list will make creating the life of your dreams a little easier to, well, plan for.

61 Tips and Tools to Help You Plan Your Life Goals

Below you’ll find 61 ways to take on what’s most important in your life and make steps toward achieving your biggest dreams. And it all starts right here — with a plan.

Let’s start at the beginning: You’re looking to plan. You probably need a planner. Luckily, we have seven of the best of them right here. Get our reviews of the best productivity planners on the market so you’re using research-backed best practices to make planning a cinch.

Every now and then, we lose sight of what our plans are for in the first place — hitting those big juicy goals that make up the stories of our lives. To stay connected to your “why”, check out these nine TED Talks. In them, authors, researchers, and experts talk about how they achieved their biggest aspirations and the guts it took to get there.

So you have your tool and you’re feeling pumped up: Now what? In order to plan for success, use the SMART goal system. This clever acronym breaks down your goals into achievable pieces, so suddenly your plan is a lot clearer and even better — it works.

Now that you know which way your plan is going, you want to make sure you avoid distractions to really make progress. To do so in our digital age, we put together a list of the best productivity apps out there. With these tools, you can block distracting sites and notifications, focus in on your most important tasks, and make productivity a game. In short, they help keep your plans on track.

Making plans isn’t all about accomplishing huge things. Sometimes, it’s about planning to make sure your future is secure, as in financially secure. To help out your future self, grab one of these seven apps. They’ll break down budgeting into easy steps, keep you on track and in the know, and make those big dreams reachable. And we think that’s what planning is all about.

You know how the saying goes: Even the best laid plans… One of the best tips out there when it comes to planning is to prepare for what might go wrong. We don’t know about you, but we run into procrastination a whole lot around here. These eight books break down concrete plans for putting less off and getting more done. Consider your plans optimized.

When it comes to making big plans, you don’t want to skimp on the preparation. Psychology Today put together a list of questions to ask yourself as you begin tackling the big ones. Take a deep breath and dive in. Your best life is just around the corner.

Your turn: What tools or tips help you plan your life? Share in the comments.

For more ways to take on your goals, check out these 7 actionable ways to get your dreams this year.

Author: Chelsey Taylor

Chelsey likes words, especially adjectives, and has been perfecting her perfectionism since infancy. She’s an endorphin-gatherer, top-knot connoisseur, and content manager at Panda Planner.