Planner 2.0

Back at the beginning of this year, I shared my homemade planner.  A month in, I decided to change things up a bit. I knew that it was going to be work in process. (You can click the link to visit the post about the original version). And it was only $3 to get a new one rebound (plus the paper + ink) but that stuff is on hand.

Some things stayed the same:
--> I left my goals page in the beginning. I did type it up for this planner so it looked bit neater.
--> The monthly planner page I left, as it helps me get a big picture of view of what's going on that month.
--> The menu plan stayed the same, but I did find a prettier page to use.
--> The grocery list stayed in, but again, I found a prettier one to use.

Some things didn't make the cut:
--> I took the routines page out- I found it just unnecessary for a daily planner. It would be better suited for a home management binder that stayed at home.
--> Monthly blog topics page got the oust- I liked having a month plan, but it was kind of overwhelming and life happens sometimes and I would get off the plan and that just causes me anxiety.
--> The weekly outlook I had was broken down by days and hours and didn't always get filled in when life got busy. I needed just some blank space to give me that weekly outlook, but not so specific that I felt like I was wasting the whole page for a few things.
--> The to do list simply did not have enough lines.

New additions:
--> I found a new week at a glance page, but I think it's a little too detailed for what I need for this one page.
--> I also found a to do list that was divided into "work" and "home" and had plenty of space!
--> I found a weekly blog post schedule to try out.

My Very Own Planner

So this year, I decided to forego the planners sold in stores. They just never met my needs perfectly and I would end up using other things with the planner and it was just too much. This year, I made my own for $3 plus the printing.

I subscribe to ListPlanIt and also a couple of blogs that giveaway printables as well as have stores that sell them (Clean Mama, iHeart Organizing, Life Your Way). One of the blogs gave away a cover sheet, and I printed out everything I thought I'd need and want for the first three months. Then, I took it to Office Depot and they spiral bound it for $3.

The first page is a "Goals" page. I have 11 "areas" of life that I want to better and I wrote down 3 action steps that I want to take or need to do to. For instance, "Crafting" has catch up on Project Life, make holiday banners and treats, and try a Pinterest project.

Next comes the Monthly calendar, followed by a page from ListPlanIt called Routines. It has a spot for my daily routine (nap times and meals), my weekly schedule that doesn't change (dance every Tuesday and Thursday), and a monthly spot for re-occuring monthly things (like giving the dogs their meds, holidays, birthday, anniversaries, etc.). After that, I have another page from ListPlanIt called a Month of Blog Topics.

For each week, I have 4 pages. The Weekly Schedule broken down by day and hour, A To Do List with spots for each day, my Menu Plan and a Grocery List. Now, everything is one spot, it's easy to use (that's why I got a spiral binding) and in 3 months, I'll re-evaluate and add or take away as I see necessary!