Have you decided that 2017 is going to be the year you show up? The year you step out of your comfort zone, create goals, and make them happen? Yes?! Awesome!
Is that as far as you’ve made it?
Crickets….
It’s overwhelming, right? So many goals, and plans, and ideas, that you sit and do nothing, perhaps with your mouth hanging slightly open. You go to bed feeling like you’re failing, but you don’t even know what you’re failing at because there was nothing planned to begin with! Tomorrow will be better.
And it will. I’m going to help you. I have been asked repeatedly about my planner. I use it religiously, it’s a part of me and I’m lost without it. That’s true for many, but it’s hard sometimes to find one that fits you perfectly and supplies all your needs in one place. I finally found it. I stumbled upon it really, about 4 years ago, maybe and every time someone catches a glimpse of it they want to know where I found it. So, here we go, I’m going to tell you my little secret (it’s totally not a secret, but just pretend).
The Day Designer is your all-in-one planning miracle. It has everything you really need, without the extra pages that are never used. The best part is that there are options that you can choose to suit your needs even further. Check out the Day Designer website for the different styles they offer. I’m going to tell you about the Flagship model, though.
The Flagship edition purchased from the Day Designer website is a hard covered, bound planner. I purchased that exact planner for several years in a row and have never been disappointed. It’s beautiful. This year, however, I was in need of a new one quickly, quicker than I could wait for one to be delivered (I like instant gratification), and because the heavens aligned, Target sold the exact planner in their stores minus a few bells and whistles. The planner shown above is the one I purchased from Target. The main difference is that this cover is not a hard cover. There is a decorative heavy weight paper that you see in the picture and it’s covered by a heavyweight plastic that handles a great deal. I toss this thing in my purse along with who knows what else (it’s scary in there sometimes) and it still looks brand new.
A must for my planners is a blank monthly calendar with enough space for me to write EVERYTHING I need to write. This one is even better because it offers lines for neat writing and a note section off to the side for any additional tidbits when you need to see the month at a glance.
I color code everything. I have to. I have five children, I homeschool, my husband has days that he’s on call and is gone, and don’t even get me started on sports. Beyond all the necessary reasons for color coding things, I also do it because it’s pretty and sometimes you just need more pretty in your life, especially when staring at all your to-do’s.
Along with the large format monthly view, each month is broken down into individual days! Each day receives it’s own page with the exception of Saturday and Sunday, they share a page. Each day has a detailed breakdown providing you a way to plan by time, to-do’s (complete with perfect little check boxes), notes, top three must do items, tonight (which I use to jot down the meals), and a section for gratitudes. I love that they include that box. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in all the above, albeit organized chaos, that it’s so nice that the reminder is there for gratitude. Before this planner came along, I was using a separate notebook for my to-do list and carrying two around. This thing is fabulous, I tell you!
For you planner junkies out there, you may appreciate the thought put into the design for this book. It also has heavy weight tabs for the months to quickly flip to the month you’re looking for. If this all seems ridiculous to you and unnecessary, I assure you it is not. Any tiny little thing that makes your day go more smoothly and efficiently is mucho importante in my world.
While the planner is my go to for everything, I found that we were still missing events and our schedules (mine and my husbands) would get thrown off due to unknown meetings or last minute plans. The calendar above is a large wall calendar, also purchased from Target. I’ve been using the same brand for about three years and they change the decorative design each year, but the functionality is still the same. This sucker lives on our wall. I transfer everything from my calendar to this and, yes, as you can see it is also color coded. This is for me to look at in a pinch, but mostly so my husband knows what’s going on, too. He’ll ask about days to take off occasionally or what we have going on and I will say, “refer to the calendar,” and he does 🙂
So, here we go…big dreams, goals, plans for 2017, here we come…right after we organize our daily selves so that we don’t have it all buzzing around our brains. Organization adds a little bit of calm to the crazy in my world and it’s even better if it comes with style.
Enjoy!
