Get More From Your Planner

I’ve had a planner for as long as I can remember. I remember when we would get our agenda’s in elementary school I would anxiously flip through the blank pages and dream about what would fill them up. Not much has changed now that I’m twenty-something years old. I still love the look and feel of a brand new planner and I still look through the blank pages and wonder what will take place throughout the year to fill them up.

Now that I’m older, I feel a little more sophisticated in my planning than I was when I needed my parent to sign off on my agenda each night and I’ve learned a few organizing tips and tricks along the way. Planners are all the rage lately and boy have they become quite the fad– but they’re so much more than that to me! They’re truly a useful tool that makes me feel like I have my head screwed on a little more straight and it helps me keep track of things for myself, with my blog, and with Alea in Kindergarten now.

I feel like I’m endlessly planning and writing things out in my planner!

First things first. I switched over to the Erin Condren horizontal layout this year. It was a scary move, but I’ve really grown to like it. I love that there are lines to write on (the fact that the vertical layout didn’t have lines drove me nuts) and I love the little boxes on the right of each day to notate important things or for meal planning. I’m very, very happy I made the horizontal switch this year!

And now here are a few tips to get more from your planner this year:

one | color code: Color-coding has always been one of my favorite ways to organize my planner. I don’t do it everyday or even every week, but when I do decide to color code I feel so much more organized. Use a different color pen or highlighter for each different task you will include. For example, work, blogging, chores, and to do list items all receive different colors when I color code my week.

two | use stickers: This has become a serious addiction in the planner world! I see all kinds of beautiful sticker layouts all over Instagram, YouTube and blogs as well. I always like to teak a peek and see how others are organizing their planners and what stickers they’re using to keep themselves organized. A few of my favorite sticker shops on Etsy are: Lillie Henry, Creating and Co, KGomez Designs and My Newest Addiction. The stickers you see in my layout above are all from Lillie Henry and the ones that came with my Erin Condren planner.

three | open it everyday: Sometimes (all too often if I’m just being honest) I get so busy that I don’t even open my planner on a given day. And it’s those days that I accidentally miss an important deadline or forget to do something. I always kick myself for it! So one, somewhat obvious, suggestion I have for you is to make sure that if you’re going to put the time and effort into using your planner, make sure that you’re also looking at it and acting on the items you plan out for yourself each week!

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And that’s that!

I love planning on my week every Sunday and getting organized as much as possible for the week that lies ahead. When I do this, I feel so much better knowing what we’re going to eat each night of the week, what blog posts I have going live, where I work during the week, and what days I need to run certain errands. It just makes everything run so much more smoothly, you know?

How do you get more from your planner?