Best Laid Plans
Welcome to Best Laid Plans -- a podcast all about planning and the planning tools we love. From planning techniques and organizing philosophies to planners and notebooks, we cover it all. Host Sarah Hart-Unger is a mother of 3, physician, podcasting pro, and a lover of lists and all things paper! Listen in weekly for conversations about planning and productivity as well as product reviews and interviews with planning experts!
Episodes
In today's episode, Sarah share the strategies that got her feeling much less "in the weeds", including airtight task capture and inbox cleaning, plus monthly work planning!
Then, she shares a Planner Peace segment from Ross in NZ, who uses mostly digital tools plus a paper daily and has an incredibly well-thought-out and organized overall ecosystem!
Topics for the Q&A:
- Finding planners with affordable shipping to AUS and NZ- ...
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May 5, 2025 • 26 mins
In today's episode, Sarah gets real: she shares her current feelings of being "in the weeds", how she got there, and the strategies she hopes to employ to climb out.
Additional Notes:Best Laid Plans LIVE in Florida: Planning 2026 has very few remaining slots - grab yours now at theshubox.com/blplive
Sign up for the newsletter at theshubox.com/newsletter
Share your own tactics for getting out of the weeks - send Sarah an email or...
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April 28, 2025 • 33 mins
Allison Schaaf is the creator and owner of PrepDish (longtime BLP sponsor!) and her business is based on planning, specifically around meals! But she also has plenty of wisdom to share around planning the rest of life, from long term goals to handling emails and managing a team. She is also highly interested in streamlining tasks as she is a mother of 4 (including a baby!).
Shared by Allison:
- Clever Fox planner
- Superhuman ema...
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April 21, 2025 • 30 mins
In today's episode, Sarah reflects on routines, noting that her recent episode on morning routines is already obsolete (as it applies to her own morning routine, anyway!). She shares thoughts about being flexible as you set your routines, and the need to continually re-evaluate, as well as her new morning routine.
Then, she pivots to all things weekend planning, as inspired by her friend noting that weekends were feeling . . . uns...
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April 14, 2025 • 26 mins
In today's episode, Sarah reflects on where we are in the year and offers encouragement and ideas to help you start thinking through summer.
She also provides an overview of some fun planner releases for spring, including new editions from Erin Condren, Simplified, and Laurel Denise.
Episode of Amanda's Favorites where she describes designing a planner with Laurel Denise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZnWjf0qdWM
Episode Spons...
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April 7, 2025 • 24 mins
Sometimes there is vast space (and struggle) between planning and executing on our plans. In this episode, Sarah delves into why that might be an offers some solutions.
She also mentions Lisa Woodruff's Medical Binder and Carolyn Cohen's Wellness While Walking podcast.
Episode where Carolyn was a guest: https://theshubox.com/2025/01/blp-ep-232-planning-and-goal-setting-for-health-with-carolyn-cohen.html
Episode Sponsors:
PrepDi...
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March 31, 2025 • 24 mins
Some might think the purpose of planning is to get more done. That may be true in some cases, but there is so much more to the story than that. In this episode, Sarah shares 10 benefits of planning that have nothing to do from productivity, from stress reduction to anticipation to creativity to having more fun.
Other news:
BLP Live is open for registration!! Join Sarah and Laura Vanderkam in South Florida this November for 3 days ...
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March 24, 2025 • 25 mins
In today's episode, Sarah shares an update on how her recovery is going in addition to some great wisdom on the idea of a "recovery routine" from a listener. Then, she shares a planner mini-review and new additions to her 2025 Stack:
- Full Focus Spiral-Bound
- Excello Essential Weekly + Monthly (https://excellobrands.com/calendar-year/essential-monthly-weekly-planner-7-x-9-cy-2025-frosted/ or via Amazon (search for ESSENTIAL 2025...
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March 17, 2025 • 28 mins
Sarah checks in + introduces the show. Then, the main part of the episode is a re-air from 2024. Sarah hopes it is helpful as we approach the spring season!
Sarah opens with a discussion of the idea of planner page as "outside observer" and how seeing her day laid out in physical form can help alleviate stress and provide some helpful objectivity. (She is curious if this is a familiar feeing for anyone else!).
In the main portion...
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March 10, 2025 • 19 mins
A common question sent into BLP is about planning in the face of hard things or uncertainty. This episode is a raw/current one about some challenges Sarah is going through now and how she is going to try to handle them. Please note: this episode was recorded from a hospital room with no special mic so the sound quality might be a little different.
Episode Sponsors:
Green Chef: Thrive all year with clean, easy meals from Green Che...
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March 3, 2025 • 40 mins
Today, Sarah has a really fun and conversational chat with Azizi Williams and Malika Amandi, otherwise known as the Happier Ladies! These sister started a podcast inspired by the work of Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft, and share a love for planning, experiments, goal setting, and accountability (to each other, as well as their listeners). Azizi and Malika share their favorite tools, planning rituals, and more.
Their podcast can...
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In today's episode, Sarah answers questions accumulated in the month of February! Topics include:
- How do you deal with planning events for family members (ie camp, bday parties, etc!)
- How do I integrate goals lists into my planning when I feel like I have endless detailed lists dedicated to complicated projects?
(Nested Goals ep: https://theshubox.com/2024/01/episode-182-nested-goals-explained.html)
- Advice for planning in pre...
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February 17, 2025 • 25 mins
In today's episode, Sarah shares her top 10 (plus maybe a bonus!) Planning + Planning Adjacent Tools! For specific links, visit https://theshubox.com/organize!
1) Kokuyo Campus Notebooks
2) Uniball Jetstream Pens (0.5 and 0.38 size)
3) Zebra Mildliners in pastel colors - especially used to create little squares for checkboxes!
4) Apple's Screen Time App + Widget
5) Stalogy Short Sticky Notes (plus bonus mention: Midori Sticky Notes...
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February 10, 2025 • 27 mins
Today's episode is dedicated to all things morning routine! Sarah shares her own (in detail) and discusses all of the questions to ask yourself if you're looking to add a bit more to your mornings (or not!).
And, she shares some exciting book news -- Best Laid Plans: A Simple Planning System for Living a Live That You Love will be out in January 2026!!
Episode Sponsors:
Prose: Custom skin and haircare that works! For an exclusive ...
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February 3, 2025 • 35 mins
We all have to get dressed, right? This is just one more area rife for planning an organizing strategies, and stylist Gab Saper (aka The Wardrobe Editor) is here to deliver! She chats with Sarah about all things wardrobe curation and organization, and Sarah also gives a brief update on recent organizing wins in her closet!
Ways to find and connect with Gab:
Website: https://wardrobeeditor.com
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/wardro...
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In today's monthly Q&A ep, Sarah shares a Planner Peace vignette, 2 stationery shop recs, and answers 4 listener questions:
Planner Peace comes from a healthcare provider who has cut her documentation time in half after reflecting and listening to Sarah's Efficiency Tips ep. She uses Google products for almost everything, plus a daily paper planner (filled out fresh each day, referring to her digital lists!) for her schedule and ta...
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January 20, 2025 • 35 mins
If you have any kind of organizing or decluttering goals on your 2025 goals list, today's episode is for you. Sarah interviews Tyler Moore (known as Tidy Dad), a teacher and author with a passion for organizing and curating spaces to meet the needs of life as they ebb and flow through the seasons - and his current season is 3 young kids in a small NYC apartment!
This interview offers plenty of inspiration and great ideas from Tyler...
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January 13, 2025 • 28 mins
In today's episode, Sarah checks in with a January energy report and provides some words of caution about this high-motivation time -- it's fun and you should enjoy it, but be prepared for it to be transient!
She shares her thoughts on 3 essential systems for life management: a comprehensive and accurate Master Calendar, Airtight Task Management, and her Nested Goals framework.
Resources/other episodes mentioned:
1) Seasonal Planni...
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January 6, 2025 • 33 mins
Carolyn Cohen is a health coach passionate about helping others reach their wellness goals, and she chats with Sarah today about how planning and goal-setting intersect with health and wellness. She discusses the pros and cons of having a separate wellness planner, effective habit tracking, the benefits of data from wearables, and more. She also introduced the idea of a health planning retreat!
Find more from Carolyn at wellnesswhi...
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December 30, 2024 • 21 mins
In today's episode, Sarah shares her goals for 2025 in 4 domains: personal, work, relationships, and household! If you love listening to others share their plans and dreams for the year, this episode is for you :) Topics include fitness and health goals, goals related to kids, work goals, organizing aspirations, and more.
Thank you for listening this year, and wishing you a wonderful start to 2025!
Episode Sponsors:
Jenni Kayne: C...
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