Hello and welcome back to the Messy Mompreneur podcast! I’m your host, Alysha Sanford, and I’m so happy to have you here.

If you’re juggling motherhood, business, and about a hundred moving parts, this episode is for you. I’m sharing the planner that changed how I run both my home and my work — the Capture the Chaos Planner. It’s part planner, part workbook, and completely built for real entrepreneur life.

You’ll hear how this system helped me simplify my days, create balance between mom life and entrepreneurship, and finally see my business and personal priorities in one clear space. I’ll walk through my favorite features, how I use them each week, and the biggest mindset shifts that came with it.

Main Topics included in this Episode

  • Why basic planners weren’t cutting it anymore
  • How the Capture the Chaos Planner helps me organize life and business together
  • The daily “top three” method for staying focused
  • The benefits of weekly, monthly and quarterly check-ins
  • The epic business hub section that includes a dedicated space for project and content planning
  • How slowing down brought more clarity, calm, and balance

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Alysha

Music Licensing Info

Music by Eli Lev - Dancin' on the Lawn

Link

Episode Transcription

Hello and welcome back to the Messy Mompreneur podcast. I'm your host, Alysha Sanford, and I am so happy to have you here. Have you ever felt like you're juggling everything? Parenting business, deadlines life and you wish there was one tool that could hold it all together? I found one and it's called the capture the chaos planner. Which is more? Of a planner and workbook for life and business kind of combined and we're going to get into why. And today I'm pulling back the curtain on how it works for me. And why I think you need one if you're a creative a busy business owner or someone who just wants to feel less scattered. This episode is for you. I'm going to share how using this specific planner changed how I live and work when life is full. And let's be honest, it's almost always full, right? By the end of this episode, you'll understand why I lean on this specific planner. The ways that I use it, and how you might adapt it or a similar system to fit your life. You'll also catch a discount code at the end of this episode if you want to check it out yourself. Between client sessions, toddler days, marketing deadlines, household rhythms, some days the To Do List felt endless and I felt like I was floating from one thing to the next and worried about forgetting everything that I wasn't currently focused. On I realized that I needed a system that wasn't just a calendar or the typical little planner that you'd get from home goods stores, because that's what I used for years. But I needed an all-in-one life and business hub and that's how I found this planner and it has been a total game changer. I started using it for the year of 2024 and this is coming into my third year of using it. If you're listening in real time. What I wasn't getting from other previous systems and planners. So digital calendars are great, but for me they don't capture the full picture. My brain still feels heavy and full of sticky notes and half-finished tasks and mental load and I kind of hate being on my phone and extra. Amount of time, so digital calendars don't work for me. I like paper planners through. Through I wanted a place where I could physically write things, map months, weeks, and still track both business and life in one spot, not separate planners, not separate notebooks, but one dedicated spot that I would stick to. I have inattentive ADHD, so I cannot manage multiple. Ways to organize things. It needs to be one thing. Once I started using this planner consistently, I felt the weight lift. I started showing up with more clarity, less chaos, and more presence for both clients and family and marketing. So I want to talk about how I use this planner and my favorite features and routines in the planner. The first are the daily and weekly priorities. Each day I list my top three must dos the three things that if they don't happen, I will fall behind or feel behind. And this helps me to focus on what matters, not just what's urgent or what I'm filling my time with. And a weekly check in I review what worked, what didn't, what's coming up next week, and what I could move to the next week, what can what can wait. The monthly and quarterly mapping at the start of the month, I set my theme and focus for business growth, Client Care, launch prep, home, family, personal, all of it. I track major deadlines, family events, self-care goals and quarterly. I step back and look. To see if I'm aligned with where I'm wanting to go, or if I'm missing something. It keeps everything cohesive and in motion and organized. And tracking business and life in one place, from client projects, content, ideas, marketing launches right alongside my daughter's school and our personal events, doctor appointments, date nights, holidays. Everything's in one spot. That integration is what makes it feel less like work and more like life flowing intentionally. And the visual layout and tactical. Habits because I physically open the planner, I write things down, I check things off. That act alone anchors me. It's a ritual that signals control and rather than chaos, I sit down every single week to plan my next week out so that I'm going into that week. Calm as much as I can and I keep it open where I can see it and it becomes the default brain extension. Instead of strain notes everywhere I can come back to this spot, stay on track for the. May. In moments of overwhelmed distraction, toddler chaos, any of it I can come back to it, check things off, move things around. Stay accountable. And I feel like that's the biggest hack for using a planners to keep it visible in an area that you pass by frequently. So this planner has given me more calm and less scramble when I know my biggest 3 each day. I'm not pulled in 50 directions. It's given me better boundary setting because I can see when I'm over booking or over committing. I can say no or shift things deliberately and saying no is hard. For some of us, maybe all of us, I don't know, but for me especially. I have more clarity in my business. The monthly theme helps me to stay aligned with my strategy. I'm less reactive and more proactive. My life and business integration instead of feeling like I'm switching hats every minute, I feel like 1 unified person who has a business and a life, and they support each other. And gentler pace, especially as an entrepreneur. I'm not trying to keep up with the hustle culture, I'm working smarter and not harder. And this tool seriously helps me do that. So what I want for you is to choose one system that you'd actually use coming into the new year. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be consistent and write down your top priorities each day. Those three things matter more than 10 half-done tasks. Write a monthly theme or focus to anchor your business and life together. Track both business and life in the same space. So your rhythm reflects you and not just your clients. And show up for your work and your life. Being a mom entrepreneur or a parent entrepreneur means both matter and the right tools can help you to honor both. I focus a lot on talking about and sharing about sustainable marketing in the back of this planner. There is a business hub and dedicated content planning section and if you are someone who doesn't have a routine or system already for planning, content, organizing content, creating your calendar, any of that. This section is the best starting point. It's where I start with scribbles all of my brain dump my random thoughts. I you know, I map out my yearly marketing focus. All of that and it can always shift, but. It's a section that helps you to visualize where to start and you can take that and take those plans and then you can input them into your content calendar. If you have a digital one like I use an air table hub by colleague James. I love it and it just helps me to organize, but I still use this planner. Connection because it is. Kind of my foundation spot to document all of my plans. So anyway, it's such an asset to a small business owner or DIY marketer to have that dedicated section in the back of the planner and. I feel every small business owner needs this planner. I actually ordered. I ordered one for myself. I ordered one for a giveaway and I ordered one for a gift for a small business owner friend because I love it so much and. I probably annoy people by talking about it, and you've heard it mentioned in prior episodes even. But yeah, this planner has been an absolute gift. If you've been feeling scattered, overloaded, or like your to DOS are running behind or running you, you're not alone. And you don't have to add more tools, you just have to find one that fits and that you use. So if you want to check out the capture the Chaos Planner and I have the link in the show notes for you and I will also link the video walkthrough for the 2026 planner. For those of you listening in real time because I'm a visual person and I like to see what I'm investing in and she actually shows you all of the different spreads and then. The design elements. And I know you're going to love. It, but when you do. Head to the shopping cart. Make sure to use code Alicia 15 for 15% off your order. That's ALYSHA15. So here's your challenge. This week, open your planner, or even just a notebook for now. If you don't have a planner yet and you're going to get one. Open it tonight and write your top three for tomorrow and then each evening this week, check in with what worked and what didn't and what you'll carry forward. And drop me a note and tell me how it goes. Thank you for being here with me. I'm cheering you on as you build systems that support both your business and your life. You've got this until next time. Bye.