I'm sure it may come to no surprise to you all, but I'm a bit planner obsessed. I love feeling like I have my ish together when I have my week wrote out and color-coded. In the past, I have shared how I organized my Lilly Pulitzer planner and I loved sharing my tips and tricks on how I keep it organized/working for me. Over the past few months, I have been switching to the Day Designer and have been LOVING it. I swear it just stepped up my organization game by 10 notches. Today I'm going to share the low down of how I organize my Day Designer and hopefully give you some inspiration on how to organize yours!
Happy Wednesday friends!
Ok, ok I do have to preface before that we start that I know that looking/reading how I organize my planner may seem a little excessive to some, but it's what works for me. I love color coordinating and I love being able to visualize everything. Each person is different and has their own ways to keep their day organized. I just want to share how I personally use my planner and hopefully share some tips with you all on how to make your planner a little more organized! So, without further ado, let's get started!
Monthly Spread
For my monthly overview, I pretty much write everything and anything that is going on in the month. Since each day in the Day Designer has its own dedicated page it can be hard to visualize what's happening for the whole month/week so I like to dump it out all on the monthly page. Of course, I have to keep everything color coordinated.
Right now my system is:
Red: Job 1
Orange: Job 2
Green: Workouts
Blue: Bills, Payments, anything money related
Purple: Blogging
Pink: Personal
Black: Holidays / Events
Along with color coordinating my events, I also like to cross off each day that I workout. Days I do make it to the gym I cross out in green and the days I don't are crossed out in black. It's a great way for me to visually see how often I go and if I'm making the most out of my membership!
On my monthly spread, I also like to track how many hours I work at each job/total. On the right-hand side, I'll tally up how many hours I'm scheduled for each job and add up the total. This way it gives me a nice idea of how much money I'll get each week / if I want to pick up more shifts or not.
I also keep track of my weekly spending on the right side of the page as well. I have a budget sheet that I add to weekly to keep me on track with my spending habits and like to record how much I spend in my planner to remind me to stop shopping so much, haha! It seems a little excessive, but whatever works to help me stop spending $4 on coffee every day!!
Lastly, on the right-hand side under "This Month" I like to list down any projects for the blog I have to do, upcoming goals and any challenges I'm doing for the month. It's a great way for me to visually see what I want to accomplish for the month.
Related: How to Balance 2 Part-Time Jobs
Daily Spread
I think one of my favorite parts of the Day Designer is that each day has its own timeline and to-do list. It's a great way for me to plan out each day and list the tasks that needed to be done.
I follow the same color-coordinating key as I do on my monthly spread and plug in the events into the appropriate time slots. As far as my to-do lists go, I keep those in black ink and list off tasks I need to complete throughout the day. For things that need to get done ASAP or HAVE to be done that day are highlighted in yellow. I have been loving the built-in to-do lists because of as much as I love my sticky notes, they were getting a little bulky carrying around to make my lists every day.
Related: How to make the most out of a busy schedule
Weekly Todo's
Since the Day Designer has it set up where each individual day has its own dedicated page, it can be hard to visualize what you have planned for the week. I had made a little divider card that was originally used in the Happy Planner and use it to stick my weekly todo list/spread on it and just move it as I go on throughout the week. This has been so handy and a great way to easily see what the rest of week holds/things you have to do or want to get done early without flipping back and forth to your monthly layout.
Another feature that I love about the Day Designer is the "Next Week" section on the weekend page. I typically write in the next week's blog posts in this box it's a great way for me to write/schedule the upcoming posts for the next week since I typically knock them out on the weekends.
WHEW. That was a lot. Like I said, my planning ways may seem a bit much for some, but it's what helps me get my ish together. I'd love to hear down below how you organize your planner and learn new ways to incorporate it into my daily planning! I hope you all enjoyed the post and as always, thank you for reading!
Happy Wednesday friends!
Ok, ok I do have to preface before that we start that I know that looking/reading how I organize my planner may seem a little excessive to some, but it's what works for me. I love color coordinating and I love being able to visualize everything. Each person is different and has their own ways to keep their day organized. I just want to share how I personally use my planner and hopefully share some tips with you all on how to make your planner a little more organized! So, without further ado, let's get started!
Monthly Spread
Right now my system is:
Red: Job 1
Orange: Job 2
Green: Workouts
Blue: Bills, Payments, anything money related
Purple: Blogging
Pink: Personal
Black: Holidays / Events
Along with color coordinating my events, I also like to cross off each day that I workout. Days I do make it to the gym I cross out in green and the days I don't are crossed out in black. It's a great way for me to visually see how often I go and if I'm making the most out of my membership!
On my monthly spread, I also like to track how many hours I work at each job/total. On the right-hand side, I'll tally up how many hours I'm scheduled for each job and add up the total. This way it gives me a nice idea of how much money I'll get each week / if I want to pick up more shifts or not.
I also keep track of my weekly spending on the right side of the page as well. I have a budget sheet that I add to weekly to keep me on track with my spending habits and like to record how much I spend in my planner to remind me to stop shopping so much, haha! It seems a little excessive, but whatever works to help me stop spending $4 on coffee every day!!
Lastly, on the right-hand side under "This Month" I like to list down any projects for the blog I have to do, upcoming goals and any challenges I'm doing for the month. It's a great way for me to visually see what I want to accomplish for the month.
Related: How to Balance 2 Part-Time Jobs
Daily Spread
I think one of my favorite parts of the Day Designer is that each day has its own timeline and to-do list. It's a great way for me to plan out each day and list the tasks that needed to be done.
I follow the same color-coordinating key as I do on my monthly spread and plug in the events into the appropriate time slots. As far as my to-do lists go, I keep those in black ink and list off tasks I need to complete throughout the day. For things that need to get done ASAP or HAVE to be done that day are highlighted in yellow. I have been loving the built-in to-do lists because of as much as I love my sticky notes, they were getting a little bulky carrying around to make my lists every day.
Related: How to make the most out of a busy schedule
Weekly Todo's
Since the Day Designer has it set up where each individual day has its own dedicated page, it can be hard to visualize what you have planned for the week. I had made a little divider card that was originally used in the Happy Planner and use it to stick my weekly todo list/spread on it and just move it as I go on throughout the week. This has been so handy and a great way to easily see what the rest of week holds/things you have to do or want to get done early without flipping back and forth to your monthly layout.
Another feature that I love about the Day Designer is the "Next Week" section on the weekend page. I typically write in the next week's blog posts in this box it's a great way for me to write/schedule the upcoming posts for the next week since I typically knock them out on the weekends.
WHEW. That was a lot. Like I said, my planning ways may seem a bit much for some, but it's what helps me get my ish together. I'd love to hear down below how you organize your planner and learn new ways to incorporate it into my daily planning! I hope you all enjoyed the post and as always, thank you for reading!
xoxo,
Amy
Amy
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