Free Your Mind For the Important Stuff A Monthly Planner is a great place for: 1) shopping lists. There is no greater waste of brain power than trying to remember that you need mayonnaise. Write it down! 2) tasks. Got a little thing to do on the way home? Write it down. Build the habit of keeping a weekly to-do list, and celebrate when you can cross things off. You don't need to remember it. The planner will! 3) projects, which are different from tasks. A project may well be a lot of little tasks. Line them out, write them down, and cross them off. 4) brain-splashing. This is different from brain-storming, as storms can be destructive. If you need to bounce some ideas around (even with yourself) brain-splash it. Just toss it out there, the good stuff will come to the top. 5) writing utensils! If you carry a purse (like me) and all the pens seem to migrate to the bottom (like me) keep a good pen that you LOVE in your planner. Just don't put it in your purse.