Planner Peek: Becky
I am really excited to bring you another planner in the Planner Peek series! I don’t know about you, but I just LOVE being able to sneak a peek inside other people’s planners. I love to see how they use them, how they decorate them, what type of planner they use, etc. I have asked my readers to submit photos of their planners and to tell us a bit about how they use their planning system. (You can submit your planner by filling out this really short and easy form. If you’re selected, you’ll get a free copy of the digital Sweet Life Planner worth $35!) All of the Planner Peeks in this series have been so fun to see.
Becky is currently using a 8.5 x 5.5 leather Daytime that she bought before she had kids and when she had no job. Basically, she says, she did not *need* a planner. Now, she uses planner for homeschooling, keeping up with medical appointments (she is a kidney transplant recipient) and homemaking. She also maintains a blog, called Plant Proud Living. Becky says she loves all the colorful planner inserts, both free and paid, that she finds online but she can't bring myself to use all that colored ink! Hopefully, she continues, sometime that will change but until then she uses simple black and white forms that she creates herself.
The first thing Becky did when deciding to use a planner was to “search out blogs (such as this one!) and groups on FB. I learned about dashboards and how I could use them – and even what I could use as my dashboard. While out shopping at the Dollar Tree, I came upon a small spiral-bound notebook with a colorful cover. I brought it home and carefully cut the cover off and it became my dashboard. I put it on the inside cover of my planner and carefully placed post-it notes, in two sizes, on it. I also added some paper clips.The very first thing you see when you open my planner is my to-do list (it's about 1/3 the size of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper). I put everything I need to on that list. I have blank paper underneath my list the top sheet has a post it note that says “Jot it Down” which I move to a new page once that one is filled up. I jot down things I might have forgotten at the grocery store (sometimes I put it on a post it note as well so I can pull it off and hand it to my hubby!), an idea of something to create or think about it, notes from a phone conversation, etc.” I love how organized Becky is and her use of Post-It Notes.
Becky has her Week-at-a-Glance on one page where she can add more details about the week's events and she has her month on her 2 pages section. Becky had fun discovering that she can brighten up her black and white pages with colored ink, doodling, and bright tape. Next Becky has tabs!! She uses them for just about everything and has found it helpful to have everything in one place. For fun, she likes adding tabs, flags, and bookmarks on the top and bottom of my planner.
Becky says, “I have a ‘Notes' tab where I have included an index of all my planner contents, and a password reminder page. Under ‘School' I keep up with schedules and activities from our homeschool covering. I recently started keeping my daily lesson plans in my planner under the…wait for it…'lesson plans' tab. Then I have the usual homemaking, menus, shopping, blog, and contacts tab. I created my planner a little over a month ago and I am already concerned that I am going to outgrow it – just a good excuse to buy a new one, right?”
I absolutely love Becky's use of Post-it Notes and Tabs to keep herself well-organized using her Daytime Planner. Becky's planner just pops with color!
You might want to check out all the Planner Peeks in this series to find even more inspiration.
Do you want your planner featured in this series AND have a chance to get the Sweet Life Planner worth $35 for free? Just click here to fill out the super short and easy form to have your planner considered for the series.
Leave a comment and let us know how you liked the planner peek and how it’s inspired you.
Havok Says
It’s nice to see another planner that doesn’t use color! I don’t have a color printer, so everything I end up with is black and white. Kind of makes me sad, in a way, that my planner will never be as pretty as I would like it to be, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other ways to add color! Love all those tabs!
LauraJane Says
Yes, you can definitely dress up black and white planners in other ways besides having a color printer.
Yvonne Poole Says
Wonder if that will help my situation??? I am the frugal ink fanatic so what would you suggest using to spice up my planner??
Tanya Says
What changed my life (my printing life that is) was HP Instant Ink. I swear I love that so much. I used to be so frugal about printing because of the cost of ink but I spend so much less now I print color and pictures all I want now! I know that sounds like an advertisement but I really do love it. The only downside is you have to use an Instant Ink enabled printer, but they aren’t any more than other printers. We switched a year ago. This planner is super cute!
LauraJane Says
I’ve never heard of that. It sounds interesting. I’ll definitely google it.
Mert Says
I’ve never heard of that. It sounds interesting. I’ll definitely google it.
Poppy Says
Can You make one of these for 2016? I’d love one❤️
Yvonne Poole Says
I love the idea of a things to do list half page, then follow-up pages behind. I am so bored with my planner set-up that I feel like trashing it!!!! A. A5 is too much planner for my purse, but the personal is too small. I am trying to minimize the number of planners that I use. Wow what a chore!!!
Heidi Says
Roll Tide Becky!
Sacha Says
IT’s the same with me, I only have a black and white printer so it’s really hard to find printout sheets that are only black and white. I love it when I find someone that has some printouts for everyone.