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What’s a great way to spend a cold January Sunday? Getting organized, of course! I’m starting 2014 off with more efficient organization and a huge purge of clutter in my home. (More on the purge later this week!) One thing I’ve read over and over again is how important it is to organize your week. And I’ve tried several different methods. I’ve even attempted the electronic route with a iPhone planner, but that just didn’t work for me.
I need plenty of space to write, draw, and sketch. I need flexibility and I need to be able to see everything at once. So I designed my own planner and I figured y’all might like it if I shared.
There are 3 .pdf files below to get you started. I’ll explain what’s in each one and then talk about how I use them myself.
The first two files are covers and a back. First you pick which one you’d like and download that. You might want to print these on a thicker cardstock. You can use a binder and three-hole-punch or get your planner spiral bound.
In the third file, you’ll find the planning pages. I have a landscape weekly planner with four blocks. You have some options here as well. Two versions use minimal ink and another has bold blocks. Of the two versions with just the outline one has a block for “Work” while the other has “Go.” Since I work from home, I like the “Work” title, but that may not fit for everyone.
My suggestion is to print out 52 (or however many weeks you want) of this page (or the “Go” version):
and one of this:
This bold page can be laminated or stuck inside a frame for a wipe-off version of a weekly calendar. I like the idea of having a week displayed like this because then everyone (cough-Hubby-cough) can know what’s going on. Again, it’s all up to you.
Additionally there are a few pages for Ideas, Reminders, and Milestones that you might want have handy to jot things down. You can print as many of these as you like and add them wherever you need. For me, I’ll have several “Idea” pages for sure.
So what’s my thinking behind the design?
One reason I chose to do landscape pages without actual borders for each day is for flexibility. Most things I do are somewhat transient– meaning I might plan to do something on a Tuesday but end up sliding it over to Wednesday. With this design, I can simply draw an arrow to the left or right and it’s not too far off.
I chose the four blocks to represent my main four priorities. I do keep a more detailed binder that’s 100% dedicated to work projects. But I still want to plan my week in the context of the work I need to accomplish. Since there’s not a ton of room on just one page, I’ll just write a brief description of what I need to do on that day. So for today I’d just write “Sweetbottoms Blog Post” but all the details will be kept in the other binder. If you aren’t using the version with the work label, you could keep appointments or errands in this top “Go” bar.
My second bar is titled “Play.” And I put this in because it’s really, really easy to overlook. I want to see that I’m making plans for my kids to get out and do something just for them at least once a week. Most of the time they are dragging along with my crazy errands or playing alone while I work. And while I don’t think there’s anything terrible about that, I’d also like to schedule in some fun times that we can all enjoy.
The last two blocks, “Home” and “Eat,” are for household chores, which I am terrible about remembering, and meal planning, which I’m even worse about. I’ll be writing some more detailed posts about this in the next few weeks.
I hope this planner is helpful for keeping us organized this year! Get your free printable version by clicking the links below.
Your can get a 2014 Monthly Calendar here.
Do have another weekly planning tool that works well for you? Please share it in the comments below!
