My 2017 Planner strategy was a fun and creative adventure and definitely had a strong influence on what I am using in 2018. Let me share how I turned my planning solutions around.
My 2017 Needed a Plan
As 2016 was coming to a close, I knew I wanted to start using my planner for more than work and basic important personal dates. While on the Covey site, I noticed they were selling flair for decorating planners and I began to wonder when that became a “thing.” So I, like many people, consulted YouTube. Who knew?!? I found out there is a whole world out there of planners. Eric Condran, Happy Planner, Carpe Diem, and so much more. How would I ever choose? After hours of advice obtained through bloggers and YouTube-ers I had to think of what I needed. So I made one of my famous lists. I wanted a planner that helped me with:
- Budgeting
- Weekly and monthly cleaning
- Family stuff: school, activities
- Personal goals
- Work goals
- Meal planning
- Grocery shopping
- To do lists
- Daily schedules
- Stickers to make my plans pretty
With the research and the realization that I had a lot to track, I decided that a buildable, customizable, and pretty option was the way to go.
Visiting my local Michael’s as suggested by all the online sages, I grabbed the basics.
And I fell in love with how I could fit all of the pieces into one place. A new planner became an exciting adventure and my 2016 Christmas present from Santa was done!
2017 Changed…So did the planner
By March, I realized that I needed more rings and more for home. So I built a home planner that separated the home care, budget, cleaning, and shopping into a separate planner. Best idea ever. I only needed that stuff once a week and it added bulk to my daily routine. And when I was researching Happy Planners for home I found out they had a recipe planner too.
I went from one to three planners instantly and have been centralizing my recipes into one place over time.
I love the format. Even here I embellish. I want my kids and my future grandkids to know where special recipes came from. This one is from my grandmother and we make it every Christmas season.
Making three separate places for things has been an amazing evolution. I focus more in monthly planning and imagining and creating. Because HP styles foster such time and the creators have thoughtfully designed tools that make my heart sing. Here are some of my pages.
Washi tape and stickers have become an obsession of sorts. They make me smile and I use them on everything now.
I have flexibility and a place for every personal and professional goal. And it I can track anything I want. Here is the bonus: I want to use it! I don’t struggle with it. And on weeks where I am busy or just not feeling it, I still use it and just ink it up and keep the stickers and washi for another time.
So at the end of 2017, I had a decision to make. What planner? You see, I new Happy Planners work for me. So that part was easy. I was fully invested in the product. But until you have spent hours through the year with the HP Sages, you have one major decision. Of all the new dated planners (and there are many) which will my new favorite design, layout, and size?
That, my friends, is for part three of this series. I will share how I plan to plan in 2018. And it will be the introduction of my upciming weekly series called Managing Mondays.
Do you use a planner? Which one? What do you love and hate about it? Share photos please! I love seeing how people use their tools. There is so much to learn from each other!
She Sips Coffee 