Planner Peek: Carrie

Come take another exciting tour 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.

“My planner is my life”, says Carrie. She also states, “I have always been a paper planner and have tried all sorts of different ones over the years. Being a working mom of three busy girls and a busy husband I have tried all the various types of planners and thrown in color coding, but I always seemed to overlook something. I searched online and looked at all the templates and watch YouTube videos of what people use and how they use it. For me, the templates were either too bright, not my style, too busy, or not enough.” Carrie has used the Junior Staples Arc System for about two years now.

After using several different planner systems over the years, Carrie brainstormed, thinking, “If I could have the perfect planner it would have…”. Then Carrie  sat down at a computer and created it. She has two pages per month dated so she can type in birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, appointments, tournaments, etc. She also created two pages per week which she dated. Each family member has a colored column and each row is the day of the week, again she can type in anything she knows in advance that is happening.

Finally after about four months of making tweaks here and there, Carrie has something that works best for her. Carrie gathered up all her tabs, pockets, and sheet protectors and broke them out into sections:

– 2 small pockets in front of misc. things to add to the calendar, file at home or in the planner
– Her Brain Dump – note paper for things she needs to get out of my head
– Calendar which is tabbed monthly
– Lists – shopping lists, packing lists etc
– Project Notes & Ideas

Carrie's last section is her filing section. She took a full size sheet of paper, folded it in half and wrote A-Z on the folder edge like you would find in an address book. She slipped that paper into the sheet protector (so she can see the alphabet forward and backward). She uses this section to file things she wants to keep with her to refer back to or always have. For example her softball schedule is added to her calendar and then the actually schedule gets hole punched and filed under “S” (just in case she wrote the time or didn't write the location down). She keeps coupons under C. By having the full sheet folded in half inside the sheet protector she can put personal info in the sheet protector between the folds and it's covered. During her search for the perfect planner she found this A-Z filing system and it works great for her.  I think it would work great for me, too!

Carrie says, “Now that I am finally happy with my planner and know I will use it, I ordered a leather case that my planner slips so I can close it and not worry about the rubber band breaking.”  I love Carrie's creativity in designing a planner perfectly suited for the needs of her busy family. Here is a complete peek at her planner.

What a fun tour we took today seeing the creativity and uniqueness of Carrie's planner.  For even more inspiration, check out all the Planner Peeks in this series for more creative ideas.

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.