Monica Coumbe - My 5 top tips for staying organised!
Confessions of a Wedding Planner- My 5 top tips for staying organised!
As a wedding and events planner a major role in my job is definitely being organised and being able to stay on top of things while having various different weddings on the go.
I have come up with my 5 top tips that I use on a daily basis in order to stay on the ball!
Write everything down!- While this may seem like an obvious tip, it is one that I find is very overlooked. There have been times I’ve been on a phone call and thought I would remember what had been discussed and continue to work on something else, to later realise I can’t remember a single thing said throughout the call. This could easily have been avoided if I would have made notes on everything said!
Get yourself a planner/diary- This is something I have done since my secondary school years. Apart from being a stationary nerd, there’s nothing like getting a fresh diary at the start of the year and filling it out with important dates! My planner/diary of preference is a Filofax as it allows you to insert the sections you want such as to do lists and contacts. However you don’t need to splurge on a Filofax to get organised as there are many affordable planners and diaries out there.
Make lists- Again this may be another obvious point which everyone has heard a million times before but it’s worth reiterating. By making a list of tasks to complete in a day, week or even month I find that I feel more accomplished once I start to tick them off. I find it really boosts my morale when I look at my to do list for the day and find that I have managed to complete every task. And even on the days where I find I haven’t been able to complete everything it just gives me more motivation to do better the next day.
Don’t take on more than you can handle- Saying NO is something I really struggle with along with many other people I know. This leads to a build up of work and tasks almost impossible to get through alone. Something I have learned in the last few months is that I’m not Superwoman and I can’t do everything (as much as I wish I could!) This lesson has been so impactful, as I’ve found that taking on a little less has actually allowed me to get more done. Always remember “A little goes a long way”.
Colour coding is your best friend!- As I mentioned in tip number 2 I use a Filofax religiously and one of the most effective ways I’ve found for using a planner/diary is to colour code it. For example I use coloured tabs (the plastic ones are best as they wont bend in your bag) to categorise my plans and everything has its own colour ie. green is for meetings, blue is for events and pink is for weddings. I have found that this method really helps to keep me on track and visually see what I have going on that particular week.
I hope you enjoyed this Blog post and found some of these tips helpful, keep your eyes peeled for a new one next week!
Monica x