Planner Peek: Suzanne

I’m so excited to be continuing with the next installment of 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 might want to check out other Planner Peeks in this series just in case you missed some.  (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!)

Suzanne says she wears a lot of hats. She is a wife, mom, lawyer, and involved in several organizations (community band, Civil Air Patrol, high school band mom, knitting group, spinning group, etc.). Suzanne likes to keep all her planning in one place. She knows lots of people use multiple planners, but for her, that way is pure madness. She is currently on the bazillionth iteration of her planning system.  She has used everything from a simple wall calendar to a fully-evolved, five-pound Franklin Covey planner and her current system combines a weekly-monthly wire-bound calendar with a separate daily planning sheet, together in a leather folio.

The best system for Suzanne  is based on a weekly-monthly calendar. The monthly calendar is her catch-all for everything that's going on for everyone in her family. Appointments, meetings, hearings, kid activities, travel–it all goes on the monthly calendar.

The weekly pages are for additional information (locations, directions, details) and to-do lists. Suzanne writes stuff down on the monthly and weekly calendars as things come up.

Then there is the daily sheet. This is her action plan for the day. Nothing goes on it until the night before, when she plans out the next day. Suzanne writes her to-do list for the day in the left column. The right column is for time-blocking. There is also a place in Suzanne's planner for her  “to-buy” lists.

Suzanne indicates that she does not  always follow her plan exactly, in fact, she states she “never” follows her plan exactly, but this planner system allows her to track where she is in getting stuff done during the day. Anything that isn't finished at the end of the day goes on the next day's sheet. She tears off each day's sheet at the end of the day (which is very satisfying!) and files it in her folio. After a couple weeks, she takes out the old sheets and files them in a separate binder, in case she needs them later. 

Suzanne is also a big fan of Post-It notes. She keeps a pad stuck to the inside cover and uses them to write out the weekly menu, which she sticks to the front cover of the calendar. She also uses them to jot down notes while she is out, things she needs to put in her calendar, weekly to-do lists, or whatever. And Suzanne  keeps a menu planner on her refrigerator, which has a post-it notepad for the grocery list. When she is ready to go grocery shopping, she peels off the list and sticks it to the back cover of her calendar.

Suzanne packs a lot into her planner.  It was fun to hear about all her system of staying organized!  Below is a composite of her planner. And, don't forget you can check out other Planner Peeks in this series, too.

You can also go and check out other Planner Peeks in this series.

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.