Putting Together Your Planner & Making it Work For YOU!

When we launched the academic set of our planner pages in August, I had several immediate requests from people wanting to see our pages "in action". I completely understand the desire to see how all these pretty little pages would come together and if they would be as useful and functional as I claim them to be.

So today, I decided to take some more detailed pictures of MY planner to show you how I am making all of it work together. 

About 10 years ago, Franklin Covey made a set of planner pages that were bright and fun and had little seasonal comics on the bottom of each page. I remember sitting in class and smiling when I would open up that beautiful little planner. I made doodles in it, used stickers, different colored pens and markers...I made it my own. And I enjoyed opening it and using it everyday. And to me, if you don't enjoy looking at a planner and if it doesn't meet your needs...you are not going to use it.

Period.

So that's why I tried to make these pages bright, colorful and FUNctional. And of course, I needed an equally adorable cover to put them in. There are really so many options out there, whether you get them professionally bound, put them in a cute 3-ring binder (Target has some ADORABLE ones right now) or put them in one of the Arc or Martha Stewart Discbound planners from Staples...the whole point is to find a cover that works for you and makes you happy.

And this pretty little Martha Stewart cover made me VERY happy :-)

Now that I've used a discbound planner...I honestly don't know if I can ever go back to anything else!! There are so many ways to customize it and I think it's fabulous that you can purchase different size discs to give you more space in your planner. I upgraded the discs that came with my Martha Stewart cover to the 1" discs that Arc makes. And what a difference in space!

As I said in my last post, the thing I love best about this system is that it lays flat when it's open and that I can still get all the great accessories that typically go with a standard binder, like this plastic zip pouch that is part of the Arc system.

In it I have just a few sheets of note paper, a blank card, some business cards and a pack of stamps. Just a few little essentials that I like to have on hand when I am writing in my planner and realize that I have to mail a thank you note or give someone a business card.

At the top of my planner, you will notice two plastic clips. My sis-in-law Meagan gave these to me for Christmas and they are the BEST planner accessory ever. They are Oli Magnetic Clips and you can find them at the Container Store.

I use them to hold my plastic pouch to the front cover of my planner (so that it opens like it does above) and I also use one to mark the current week in my calendar pages...

Because they are magnetic, they are extra strong and flexible and can hold a nice chunk of paper.

While you are out buying these other great accessories, be sure to pick up my favorite Ink Joy pens. They write so smooth and never bleed through paper.

I know it isn't necessary, but I love writing out my weeks with different colors :-)

Using the weekly and monthly planner pages are pretty self-explanatory, but sometimes all the extra printables and tabs can get overwhelming. It's tempting to see all these free printable lists on Pinterest and want to print and use them ALL...but my advice is to really think about how you will use each one and if you think you will actually look at it on a regular basis. For example, I have printed out several different blog planning printables over the years and as hard as I've tried to schedule posts and plan ahead, that's just not how I operate with my blog. I pretty much just wing it around here and if I do happen to get a good idea for a post, I like to just jot it down in a note. But again...that's just me. Many people are making blogging their career and if that is the case, you NEED a blog planner. 

So again...choose the printables that are helpful and not just cute :-)

Under my "Holidays & Events" tab, I printed our Special Dates list so that I could jot down the birthdays and anniversaries in our immediate family. It' nice to have just a quick reference guide to find these things when you don't know them by heart. I forgot THREE anniversaries last year and TWO birthdays. No bueno. So this sheet is going to help me a lot. As you can see from the picture, I have also included my Christmas Planning Pages. These may be totally useless if you are not someone who plans ahead for Christmas, but I for one start planning in August.

Okay June.

In my "Health & Fitness" tab, I've decided not to include a fitness tracker because I already track all this info in my Nike app and on my weekly pages. No need for ANOTHER page to fill out. But what I do include in this section is any paperwork for races I have signed up for, any great workouts I rip out of magazines, and of course, our family health info.

One sheet that has really come in handy for me is the Annual Appointments list.

I find it so hard to remember when we each have our dental appointments, when I have my yearly lady doc appointment, when I have my 6-month dermatology appointments, etc. so having this sheet to refer to is incredibly helpful.

This page is then followed by our Physicians List so that all of doc's numbers are close at hand when it's time to schedule an appointment.

Out of all the printables I've made over the last year or two, the ones I use the most are my Monthly Menu page and my Weekly Meal Planner.

In my new planner, I can actually set up the pages up so that I can see them both while I work.

I try to plan the month first and then each week with a shopping list.

Obviously, printing out menu planners ever week/month can be kind of a pain, but one way to alleviate all that paper waste is to use a plastic page protector or discbound folder, place your Monthly Menu calendar inside of it and then use a washable dry erase marker to plan your month!

I prefer the Crayola Washable Dry Erase markers because they dry without smudging and wipe perfectly clean with a damp towel.

As for the Weekly Menu Planner, I still prefer to print one out for each week because now that I have the discbound system, I can pull out the page and take it with me to the grocery store. No need to transfer the grocery list to another piece of paper.

Menu planning has done wonders for our budget this year and now that I have my new planner all set up, I know it will only get better :-)

If you do purchase a pack of the plastic discbound folders, be sure to use another for your weekly Cleaning Schedule. This can also save you 4 sheets of paper a month.

Over the years, I have found that my planner becomes more than just a place to keep appointments and phone numbers. It also works as my journal in a sense...a diary of our daily activities and milestones. Something we can look back on and even keep in a scrapbook :-) One thing I have loved in some of my other planners was the space to do some journaling each month, so I made sure to include that in my pages as well.

After setting up this planner and getting some excellent feedback from all of you, I've decided to create some additional FREE Printables that are now part of our Planner & Home Management Binder Printables Kit.

Our kit still includes:

Emergency Info

Special Dates

Annual Appointments

Physicians List

Cleaning Schedule

Monthly Menu Calendar

Weekly Meal Planner

And now, thanks to all of your fabulous suggestions, the kit will also include:

A Contacts List

Annual Renewals list {for tracking yearly memberships and subscriptions}

Holidays List for 2013-2015

Password Tracker

Favorite Websites 

{for jotting down all your favorite online shops and blogs like ThePolkaDotPosie}

Account Register

Weekly Budget Worksheet

And as an added bonus for all you teachers out there, a standard weekly Lesson Plan

I have really had the BEST time putting together this planner and creating enough resources to meet everyone's organizational needs. Of course there is ALWAYS room for more lists so be sure to stay tuned for some updates to our holiday printables this fall.

And as always, the best suggestions and ideas come from all of you so please feel free to share any ideas or feedback you have about the planner and binder pages so I can take them into consideration for the future. It's because of all of you that we now offer SMALL Planner Pages that work with the small/junior size discbound notebooks. You can read all about them here. Isn't this a beautiful sight?

Also, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see pictures of YOUR planner in action!! If you take pictures and/or write a blog post about how you are making your planner work for you, be sure to share it with me so I can add it to this post!

My friend Sarah from Happily Edwards After just posted about her beautiful planner and if you are someone who is a little worried about the print-at-home process...she will certainly ease your fears.

I have several other great pics from friends and some other blog posts in the works so be sure to stop back by and check those out as I add them :-)

Thanks so much for EVERYONE who has made our first planner launch such a success. 

Now let's get organized!!!!