Planner Peace: I think?!

One of my favorite things to see on instagram and tumblr are the emojis following the words: Planner Peace. Thumbs up! Clapping hands! Sunshine! Hearts for eyes! It's like the goal of every planner addict!

Since my original planner post, I purchased a personal sized Filofax Domino! I was looking at planners on Amazon one night a few weeks after my original post and came across it. It's not patent or spotted, just plain pink but the one I got it doesn't seem to be available anymore so I'm linking to this crazy cute one instead.

It is the *perfect* size for me. It's not too big that I get overwhelmed and write 1000 things to do but it's not so small that I can't see it. It has room for a lot of pages which I love. I wasn't sure about the elastic, but it's great- I can really smash lots of stuff in here.  I sometimes cram my iPad mini along with some pens under it. Probably not a good thing but whatever. ;)

For me to achieve planner peace I had to let go of the idea that I was going to have a jam packed planner filled with decorated pages with stickers, washi and kawaii. I *love* the look of those planners but I can't seem to make it work for me so I'm not forcing it. I customize things with cute sticky notes (I find these super helpful!), the occasional sticker and indie designed pages though! I like making dividers and change them out every so often. I think of this planner as a little work horse, it's gotta get everything done for me! ;)

My planner set up is:

Dashboard: This is basically the home page of my planner. I keep a packet of sticky notes, a Starbucks drink tag to stick on my cup, a Luna bookmark and a few things to remind me to not drink 9 iced coffees each day. ;) All my dividers are laminated so I can stick and unstick things to it.

Monthly: All 12 months, one month per page. The first page is always the current month. I got these from KiddyQualia- she updates her shop with calendars fairly often. On this page I get to see my entire month at a glance. Book stickers are from Miki Thompson Designs, I use these to note library book due dates & Amazon pre-orders. 

Weekly: I don't find that I use it too often so I might let this one go!

Daily & To Do:

This is the most used section of my planner. Each night before bed I make a list of things I have to do the following day and add things through out the day.

For one section I'm using Cocoa Daisy's Personal Planner Pages, I like them! The front of the page has to-do list, to call and schedule. The back page has 15 minute pick up which I love! On Sunday's I fill in the weeks worth of pages with different rooms so our house stays reasonably tidy through out the week. It has space for dinner which I sometimes use. I batch cook once a week and I shared a photo of what my food plan/grocery list tends to look like. I don't really use the other spaces except to remember to take medicine and floss again before bed, lol.

These to do lists are almost always work related. I'm the business manager for us so each day my job is different. By writing down each thing, I know what I need to do so I can get it all done efficiently. I'm not joking when I say that this has been a game changer for me. I used to work, work, work but never really feel like I was accomplishing things. I felt like I was spinning my wheels and going absolutely no where. Now I have daily things to accomplish to create a bigger, happier picture. It allows me to plan social media, advertising, due dates, supply purchasing, trade shows, etc. These things used to stress me out, I'd be checking my phone constantly making sure that I didn't miss a google alert! Having a clear cut list and game plan has really helped. It also enabled us to focus and build a new website which has been amazing!!!

The second part of my to do list is personal and more fun. I make tons of lists. Just general lists. Lists of things I want to buy. Lists of home improvements. Lists of places I want to do. Lists of food I want to cook. Lists of things I want to knit. For these lists I use these from KiddyQualia! I've already ordered them twice because I've run out, lol. They can be customized with paper colors, heart shaped fill in bubbles, Quests or To-Do. They are just A+!

My last section is books! I know, weird right?

But this is super important to me! I love to read and wanted to keep better track of library books, pre-ordered books on amazon, my reading wishlist, when books are coming out, etc. I got these finance sheets from KiddyQualia (can you see a theme here, lol!) and they are working out so well! I dedicate each sheet to a month and can keep track of everything all on one page! I kept accidentally pre-ordering a book and then realizing I had a hold for it at the library. It helps me plan spending the money I earn with amazon affiliate links better. Full disclosure: it's about $10-20 a month and I *love* it, I can get books that the library doesn't have and when I finish them, I just donate them to the library. It's perfect.

I love this planner so much! I can't leave the house without this chunky little dude. BUT one thing is missing.

Creativeness! It is perfect for work and real life but I do want something cute, something creative, something playful.

Enter Midori and Hobonichi!!!!!!

I spent the weekend researching Midori Traveler's Notebook & Hobonichi (watch the video- it's so dang cute and catchy!) and I.am.obsessed. This is totally up my alley and I've added approximately 9000 cute pins to my paper love pin board! I made lists this weekend of what I'd want to buy, what I'd want to use, what I'd want to journal about, the whole shabang. I love researching this kind of stuff. I ordered a few things to try and I'm really excited. Also: JetPens is a VERY dangerously awesome website, lol!

I'll report back with more journal/planner stuff as time goes on :):):)