I am obsessed with planners, planner printables, tips and tricks on how to improve my planner. Anything planner related, I probably like it. Just look at my
"Because I Like To Be Organized" Pinterest board or my
"Printables" Pinterest board and you'll see what I mean.
About a year ago, I got into color coding and coordinated my class schedule that way, but after watching countless YouTube videos, I got into decorating my planner and improving my planner system. So, I thought I'd join in on the planner obsession and share what works for me and how I decorate my planner.
I bought
my planner at Barnes and Noble (I couldn't find the exact one. The only difference between the linked one and the one I bought is the color. Mine is blue!). I knew I wanted a spiral bound planner because I wanted to include my own inserts.
The only thing missing from this planner were monthly views, so I found
this one from Scattered Squirrel and I glued it onto pages I wouldn't use. I knew I wanted a monthly going across two pages, but there are plenty of single page monthly views out there! To reinforce the glued pages, I used washi tape to cover up the edges that way the pages would fall off as I used my planner.
Then I used these
printables from MsWenduhh to add in holidays and birthdays. I found a bunch of other printables to include onto to my monthly view. I decided to decorate each month as the year continues, so right now I only have January decorated, but probably in the next week or two I'll decorate the February spread.
Organization wise, I have a color coded system in my paper planner that coincides with my iPhone planner. The only differences between the two is that for workouts: it is pink in my paper planner, but red in my iPhone planner only because pink wasn't a color option in my iPhone. Also, in my iPhone planner, my classes are all under one color (blue), but in my paper planner, each class is written down in its own color.
I tend to use the monthly spread for an overview of when things are/deadlines and the weekly view as a to-do list/steps I need to take to complete the deadline, etc. In the weekly view is where I write that color coded class schedule, but I also include appointments and meetings.
Some planner extras...
I use paper clips to mark off where I'm at in the planner. This planner comes with little tear-offs in the corners that can help you keep your place, but I decided to used the paper clips. I've seen some people add bows or other embellishments and I would love to do that, but I throw my planner in my bag, so those would probably break off.
I created my own inserts after watching
this video from MissVickybee. I needed some pockets where I could stick coupons and some of my printables that I know I'll use more often. All I used for mine were envelopes and some washi tape on the side to keep it strong enough to handle the holes I punched in to match up with the spirals. Behind those inserts are an
exercise/workout calendar I printed from Balancing Home.
I've also seen some planners that have an elastic band to help keep it closed. I thought that was a fantastic idea! I had some left over elastic and I made one myself. I'm not sure how to decorate it though. Any thoughts??
Hope this was helpful! That was a lot of information- if you have any questions/comments, let me know. And feel free to share how you utilize and decorate your planner.
