Best Laid Plans

Today's episode is a special treat - Sarah hosts a Q5 planning party and invites Azizi and Malika from the Happier Ladies podcasts to join in, guiding them with questions leading up to the creation of Q5 goals. Sarah shares some of her own seasonal goals as well, and you can use this as a planning template for yourself if you'd like -- just pause the podcast after each question and answer the questions for yourself!You can find more from Azizi + Malika from their podcast (https://happierladies.wixsite.com/mysite), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/happierladies/), or Substack! (https://happierladies.substack.com)In other exciting news, Planning By Season registration is open TODAY - link is in the monthly newsletter! This is Sarah's guided planning course held longitidunally over the course of the year, now with MONTHLY sessions.Please register early if you hope to join, this course does tend to fill quickly!NOVEMBER SPONSORS:Tin Can: A new landlind concept for kids to chat to talk with friends and family - no screens or algorithms involved! Go to tincan.com/PLANS to get $10 off your first order.Quince: Give the gift of quality this holiday season. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers, or go to Quince.com for free shipping and 365-day returns.

PrepDish: Strategic and healthy meal planning right in your inbox. Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠PrepDish.com/plans⁠⁠⁠⁠ for 2 weeks, free!
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In today's episode, Sarah kicks off with a planner peace segment from @lindyplans , who has been tracking financial data in a $2 notebook for 17 years, following in her parents' footsteps. She also shares a listener tip about clear sticky notes (like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XK8FCHC)Then, she answers several questions collected during the month of October, including:1) Recommending a monthly planner (without weekly or daily layouts)Options discussed: Leuchtturm 1917 (https://www.leuchtturm1917.us/products/monthly-planner-with-notebook-2027-16-months-english?variant=48586425139445), Hightide (https://www.atlasstationers.com/collections/hightide-planners/products/hightide-2027-monthly-square-diary-coton-a5?srsltid=AU7gw4WiuSMPcKhkvEEYE3wQeAHjPvjg8PdOjgWfoZpRXZT9gimrj0DK), Erin Condren (https://www.erincondren.com/monthly-planner), Ashley Shelly (https://ashleyshelly.com/product/2027-monthly-notebook-planner-amandas-favorites-collab ), Midori Double Schedule (https://www.jetpens.com/Midori-Double-Schedule-Diary-2027-B6-To-Do-Green/pd/53104)2) How do avoid overplanning AND overtweaking your system?3) Screenshot follow ups! 3 listeners share how they effectively manage phone screenshots as capture tool.NOTES:Planning By Season 2027 registration will be in next week's newsletter! Ensure you are signed up at theshubox.com/newsletterBest Laid Plans: Planning 2027 is open -- you can check out the details on Sarah's courses page at theshubox.com/courses

OCTOBER SPONSORS

Boll & Branch: Amazingly comfortable bedding. Get 20% off your first order plus free shipping at ⁠⁠⁠bollandbranch.com/plans⁠⁠⁠ with code plans

Factor: Healthy meals with ultimate convenience. Visit ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/plans50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code plans50off to get 50 percent off and 1 free breakfast item per box for 1 year, while supplies last until 10/31/2026.

Quince: Beautifully made classic pieces for your fall wardrobe, and more. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Explore Worldwide: Explore Worldwide’s trips are crafted, planned and facilitated by real human experts who know all those hidden local gems. Check out all of the wonderful options at ⁠⁠⁠exploreworldwide.com⁠⁠⁠IXL: Effective home learning for grades K-12! Visit ⁠⁠⁠https://www.ixl.com/plans⁠⁠⁠ to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

Warby Parker: Buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at ⁠⁠⁠WarbyParker.com/PLANS⁠⁠⁠.

PrepDish: Strategic and healthy meal planning right in your inbox. Check out ⁠⁠⁠PrepDish.com/plans⁠⁠⁠ for 2 weeks, free!
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In today's episode, Sarah shares her current daily layout (you can see a photo on today's show notes - theshubox.com) in the MD Notebooks she is currently using (Jetpens: https://www.jetpens.com/MD-Notebook-A5-Lined/pd/13606; Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4ds8jQL) as well as the prompt she uses to help with scheduling.Then, she discusses several planning tactics that help alleviate anxiety.NOTES:Sarah's annual planning course Best Laid Plans: Planning 2027 is open for registration at theshubox.com/coursesPlanning By Season 2027 will release via newsletter in early November - you can subscribe for more info and initial access at theshubox.com/newsletter

OCTOBER SPONSORS

Boll & Branch: Amazingly comfortable bedding. Get 20% off your first order plus free shipping at ⁠⁠bollandbranch.com/plans⁠⁠ with code plans

Factor: Healthy meals with ultimate convenience. Visit ⁠⁠factormeals.com/plans50off⁠⁠ and use code plans50off to get 50 percent off and 1 free breakfast item per box for 1 year, while supplies last until 10/31/2026.

Quince: Beautifully made classic pieces for your fall wardrobe, and more. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Explore Worldwide: Explore Worldwide’s trips are crafted, planned and facilitated by real human experts who know all those hidden local gems. Check out all of the wonderful options at ⁠⁠exploreworldwide.com⁠⁠IXL: Effective home learning for grades K-12! Visit ⁠⁠https://www.ixl.com/plans⁠⁠ to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

Warby Parker: Buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at ⁠⁠WarbyParker.com/PLANS⁠⁠.

PrepDish: Strategic and healthy meal planning right in your inbox. Check out ⁠⁠PrepDish.com/plans⁠⁠ for 2 weeks, free!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Sarah starts off by sharing some answers to listener question! First comes a planning adjacent question around protein intake, as a listener wanted to know which planning tactics help for meeting nutritional goals. Then, Sarah discusses options for managing on-the-fly screenshots. Finally, a listener with a toddler asks for advice for this challenging era and Sarah shares her experiences and tips from that time!Then, Sarah shifts gears and talks about the idea of seasonality or periodicity -the idea that we can't push hard all the time but instead need different levels of effort + rest within a day, week, month, season, and even year.NOTES:Course info: theshubox.com/courses -- registration OPEN for Planning 2027, and Planning By Season will be available for signup on 11/2 first via the newsletter.

OCTOBER SPONSORS

Boll & Branch: Amazingly comfortable bedding. Get 20% off your first order plus free shipping at ⁠bollandbranch.com/plans⁠ with code plans

Factor: Healthy meals with ultimate convenience. Visit ⁠factormeals.com/plans50off⁠ and use code plans50off to get 50 percent off and 1 free breakfast item per box for 1 year, while supplies last until 10/31/2026.

Quince: Beautifully made classic pieces for your fall wardrobe, and more. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

Explore Worldwide: Explore Worldwide’s trips are crafted, planned and facilitated by real human experts who know all those hidden local gems. Check out all of the wonderful options at ⁠exploreworldwide.com⁠IXL: Effective home learning for grades K-12! Visit ⁠https://www.ixl.com/plans⁠ to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

Warby Parker: Buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at ⁠WarbyParker.com/PLANS⁠.

PrepDish: Strategic and healthy meal planning right in your inbox. Check out ⁠PrepDish.com/plans⁠ for 2 weeks, free!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by an episode of EMPowered Radio (https://macroswithem.com/pages/podcast) , Sarah is listing her top 10 Standard Operating Procedures or rules for planning and life management.

The summary:

Take your time to plan well, FIRST.

No task left behind / Airtight Task ManagementEpisode mentioned: https://theshubox.com/2026/02/blp-ep-288-your-guide-to-airtight-task-management.html

Planning goes in the planning container - once you have your list, you execute and focus on the task at hand

One source of truth!!!!

Control your inputs.

Planning doesn’t occur in a vacuum - have a communication planLazy Genius Ep mentioned: https://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/lazy/familymeetings

Use the tools that make you happy and fit your current life circumstances. Switch if you want, but you better have a really good reason.

Watch your energy and remember you are a human — even during the planning phases.

For the most part, TRY to remain faithful to your list. (goes hand in hand with making a realistic list!!!!)

Be willing to iterate - don’t let planning box you in too tightly!!!

ADDITIONAL INFO:Course info including Best Laid Plans: 2027 registration (now also CME option available!) - visit theshubox.com/coursesNewsletter: theshubox.com/newsletter

OCTOBER SPONSORS

Boll & Branch: Amazingly comfortable bedding. Get 20% off your first order plus free shipping at bollandbranch.com/plans with code plansFactor: Healthy meals with ultimate convenience. Visit factormeals.com/plans50off and use code plans50off to get 50 percent off and 1 free breakfast item per box for 1 year, while supplies last until 10/31/2026.Quince: Beautifully made classic pieces for your fall wardrobe, and more. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.Explore Worldwide: Explore Worldwide’s trips are crafted, planned and facilitated by real human experts who know all those hidden local gems. Check out all of the wonderful options at exploreworldwide.comIXL: Effective home learning for grades K-12! Visit https://www.ixl.com/plans to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.Warby Parker: Buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at WarbyParker.com/PLANS.PrepDish: Strategic and healthy meal planning right in your inbox. Check out PrepDish.com/plans for 2 weeks, free!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices