Paper Planners

I was just saying the other day that if someone took a look at my Pinterest board about planners, and then peeked into my house and saw all of the notebooks, planners, and colored pens, they would surely think that I was addicted.

And they would be right.

I bought an online course recently and in the first lesson the instructor said that it’s not enough to buy the course; you have to actually participate and do the work.

I think with the planners, I’m sort of thinking that if I buy the right one, I’ll automagically be organized.

But the truth is I’m really a 9 year old girl who likes colored markers, stickers, and lots of colorful planners.

There’s Always the Next, Best Planner

Last year, in preparation for the coming new year, I purchased a planner that promised to contain every thing I could possibly need in one place: meal planning, goal setting, budgeting, and more.

They weren’t wrong. It did indeed contain all of that and more. And it was beautiful and colorful and I loved it.

Until I didn’t.

I didn’t set the goals and I didn’t do the budget, and then I felt guilty.

Plus, it was too big.

So I got this instead:

That is an affiliate link, by the way. If you purchase this through my link, I get a small percentage of the sale from Amazon. It does not affect your price. 

Bullet Journaling

The notebook I bought (up there) is called a bullet journal. And there is a whole community – actually it’s way bigger than that – but a bunch of people who do bullet journaling.

This blogger has a sensible approach, I think. Just pay no attention to the video with the “official rules”.

There is a ton of stuff on Pinterest and there are rules and lots of drawing and I don’t do any of it.

I started out trying to do fancy lettering for my page titles, but it was too much and I’m not that good.

No.

Here is what I want you to know about how and why I use this: it’s small and it’s easy because I can do whatever I want.

And it’s cool that there are numbered pages and an index so I can keep track of what is on each page, but I doubt that it’s needed really.

I don’t need a planner for my many appointments, because I don’t have any. Or hardly any. If I do, it’s maybe one or two a month. I don’t need an hourly break down of my day.

Even when I worked, most days were pretty much the same. I wasn’t some high powered executive “taking meetings” all day.

I need a monthly calendar to note any appointments I do have, plus when my bills are due, and maybe if something special is happening that month.

Here’s How I Do It

I print a small version of the calendar for the month and paste it into the next clean page.

On the facing page – if there is one – I put my dump list for the month.

The next two pages after that are for the first week of the month.

I divide each page into 2 parts, sort of top and bottom.

The top part on the left page is the week at a glance. I list the days, one to a line, and then anything happening on that day.

I list the days again a second time for dinners that week.

The other three sections (bottom part of the left page plus the right page divided in two) are for my blogs. Anything that needs to get done on them that week is listed there.

If I need to make an important phone call, I always like to take notes to refer back to. In this case, they go on the next page. I note who I called (the company usually), the person’s name that I spoke to, the date and time, and what was said.

This can be very effective when you’re calling back on the same problem. (Our brand new, fully loaded, we had it 3 days before it got hit by lightning car has been in the dealership for the last 9 months. Yes, you read that correctly. I have lots of notes.)

The Beauty of It

I think this may be the planner that works for me, and it’s funny because it’s very similar to what I used to use when I couldn’t afford to buy a fancy planner.

It’s small, lightweight, and portable. It has a pocket in the back and 2 ribbons for bookmarks, plus an index to find those notes when I need them.

I think that if I needed reminders about appointments, I would still put them in my phone and set an alarm, but otherwise, I think I may have found my perfect planner.

You should try it.

Simplicity has it’s benefits.