Sunday 15 November 2015

using my planner effectively | Erin Condren


A little while ago I mentioned that I was getting more organized.
A day at a time I have tackled projects, renovations and one child starting school.

I had already purchased a beautiful planner from Chapters but my sister convinced me to purchase the Erin Condren vertical planner.  I've been using it since July and playing with the layouts to see how I can best use it for me.

The above is a picture of my layout for this past week. You'll notice that I have a "running TO DO list" on the left hand side.  These are items that I'd like to accomplish this week. I also have cute little "plates" at the bottom where I have some meal planning done. 


FIRST THIRD: This is where I note our family's personal schedule.  It helps me organize drives, babysitters and pack appropriate bags.  It also helps me to plan meals - in the sense that whether it needs to be quick and whether or not my picky eater husband will be sitting with us.

CENTRE THIRD: This is where I have my work TO DO priority list.  You can tell that I didn't get to much on Monday but I did get to most of Tuesdays list.  What will happen to Monday's list is that I will move those items to later in the week or the following week.

BOTTOM THIRD: My bottom third is reserved for other items, which could be a MUST DO TO DO item or a grocery list.

GROCERY LISTS: Often I stick a sticky note in my planner with the items that I need to buy rather than make a list straight in my planner.  That way I can pluck it out and bring it to the store.

I plan every day but I try to sit down and think about my week especially meals on Sundays.  I've done this already this week.  Here's how my planner looks for my nest week.  This will evolve as the week progresses.


Right now I am not much of a embellish type of planner girl but I do use stickers to keep me on task and organized.  I also use the occasional stamp.   One of the main reasons I don't do much embellishing is because I don't want my planner to get too bulky and I will also be tossing this in the garbage once the year is finished. :)

I currently subscribe to the Studio Calico planner monthly kits.  They usually include a small stamp, some stickers and some large cards.


As for stickers, I have found some stickers that I love from Lets Plan It, which I purchased from her Etsy store.  I love these three in particular.


This was a great reminder to change my planner cover.  I purchased a cover to celebrate Halloween, as well as some others that I loved. These covers can change whenever you like - so this is my hint to change it!

Stay tuned to my planning adventures in the months to come.
Cathy



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