Did y'all have a good New Years? I sure did! I've actually been quite productive lately. I've been packing for my upcoming trip and have been on top of keeping my planner organized and updated, so I feel quite satisfied already this year! I've been wanting to get back into mega-organizing with a daily planner for a while now, and what better time to get it started than the New Year?
There's soooo many posts on Pinterest and YouTube about girls going crazy with their planners and buying all these things to jazz them up. There's even planners out there for $50+, which I find ridiculous. I personally like to keep my planning as simple as possible with a nice, hardy planner and a few colored fine-tip pens. I usually buy my planners from Target, but this year I saw a really beautiful, leather-bound planner at Home Goods for only $4.99. I definitely prefer leather-bound planners over spiral bound ones since nearly all of the spiral-bound planners I've had in the past fell apart after only a few months. The binding came undone and it was impossible to put the pages back together! I like fine-tip pens for writing in my planner since they keep things neat. The Sharpie pens are my favorite, but a lot of people use the Staedler pens, which I don't like that much. If you're going with ballpoint pens, I recommend finding ones with tips smaller than 0.7mm. I bought a 4-pack of Sharpie pens in assorted colors from Walmart for only $5. Amazon also sells value packs of Sharpie pens in various colors. To finish things off, I went the extra mile this year and bought some The Happy Planner stickers I found Michael's for only $5. I had a coupon which reduced them down to $2.49 for a 6-sheet pack. If you like to jazz up your planner even more with bunches of stickers, labels, Washi-tape, etc. then go for it -- Michaels, Amazon, and Etsy sell really some really cool planner accessories! I personally don't like planner organization to become mega expensive or complicated. I feel like the more complex I make it, the harder it becomes for me to stick with it.
There are so many planner layouts out there. If you're new to planning, I suggest going to different stores and online websites to find a planner that suits your style. There are tons and tons of styles at Target, Barnes and Noble, Michaels, Amazon, Etsy, etc. There are small 5x8 planners or bigger 8.5x11 planners. There are also ones that let you plan out every single hour of the day or ones that are either monthly or weekly. Seriously, it can be overwhelming looking at planners!
The one I personally prefer is one that has a monthly calendar section along with pages to write day to day stuff. As you can see in the photo above, I use the monthly sections to write down important dates, birthdays, and deadlines. The blue pen indicates holidays/events, red pen is important dates or deadlines, and green pen is for birthdays. It looks a tad bare now, but I'm sure it will fill up more as the month comes closer. I like that the monthly calendar has a "notes" section on the side for me to write bigger goals and things I want to accomplish over the course of the month. For example, in May I want to start looking at apartments and think about having some sort of graduation party. Super compact, but still great for letting me keep track of important events and due dates.
This is what the weekly section in my planner looks like. The one shown above is for the first few days of January, when I'm not as busy, so that's why it looks a bit empty. I use the weekly section mainly as a to-do checklist for errands and projects I need to do that day. Some people use different colored pens for each category (work, school, home, blog, etc) but I think that looks a bit cluttered. This is also the section in which I use my planner stickers. I took the photos above before I added my stickers to the planner, but I've been adding stickers on the weekly section for birthdays, deadlines, important events, etc. I like it because it jumps out at me, making it easy for me to remember important dates.
That's a mini-glimpse into how I use my planner. There are a ton of sophisticated, in-depth planner reviews and tutorials out there if you want to go all out. For me, this is a simple and affordable way to organize my life. I find that when I'm able to plan and organize my busy life, it really helps me reduce stress and accomplish tasks, leaving me more satisfied and happy than I would be otherwise. I would encourage everyone to use a spare weekend to go out there, find what style of planner you like, and go at it -- have fun! See if having a planner helps you organize your life better. There's definitely no way to incorrectly use your planner. It's all about organizing your life and busy schedule while having some fun (at least for nerds like me!). Also, keep an eye out for my post on financial planning sometime soon after I come back from vacation -- I'm thinking the first week of February? In the meantime, happy planning loves!
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