I can tell you right
now that 2019 is going to be absolutely insane!
We have so much happening next year it is just plain crazy and if I'm
not organized and on top of things I'll likely need to drive myself to the loony
bin. Most important though, I want to make
sure we can get it all done because from where I stand, it all seems pretty
darned important.
I have to make sure
things are not forgotten and fall through the cracks. I will need time in order to get everything
done because there are only so many hours in a day. And of course there is always the financial
aspect of things. I want to make sure I
can afford everything. Running out of
money won't be an option. Planning ahead
and being organized will help me be far more successful in accomplishing all
that we will need to do next year.
Hopefully without breaking the bank.
I got started on my 2019
calendar in September. I used Publisher
(Microsoft Office 2013) like I always do to make up a plain template for the
entire year, month by month. I picked
out my fonts and started out by filling in all of the holidays, seasons and
plugged in our birthdays. I went through
the school district calendar and added in all the breaks and dates the schools are
closed. Then I figured out a couple days
off for me so I can have a break every once in a while too.
I decided this year,
rather than write in my daily chores on my planner pages each month, I'd just
go ahead and put those on as well. Save me
a little bit of time. I also went ahead
and scheduled a few fun things so we'll be sure to do them and not get too
caught up in all of our busyness.
This time I added my
monthly goals to each of my pages instead of making that separate. Along with that I put in some motivational
quotes that I really like and then I decorated it with various clip art snips
to make it pretty. Once I was done I
tweaked it here and there, added a few things, took some out and once I was
satisfied with it I printed it out.
At Wal-Mart I went
to the office supply section and bought a really pretty 1" inch 3 ring
binder, some plastic dividers with tabs and a really nice pencil pouch with
three different zippered pockets in it. The
binder is the same brand and style as the mini binders I bought last year to
make my journals.
I used plastic sheet
protectors to put the calendar pages in and a sheet of return address labels to
print the labels for my tabs, both of which I already had on hand - Daily
Planner, Meal Planning/Groceries, Projects, Graduation, Family Vacation.
I labeled my tabs and put everything together
in the binder. I also added some college
rule loose leaf binder paper to certain sections for writing lists or making
notes.
I put pens,
mechanical pencils, a clic erasure, scissors, paper clips, post it notes and
flags into the pencil pouch along with some restaurant coupons. Under Family
Vacation I inserted our receipts and confirmations into sleeve protectors
and put those in the binder. Graduation has our preliminary party
plans.
I found a brand new
wool Givenchy bag at the thrift store last summer that I plan to use this
winter. It is really nice and my binder
fits inside it beautifully with loads of room to spare so it will be handy to
pack this puppy around with me. Along
with everything else I seem to need on a daily basis.
Because so much is
going on this school year I plan to begin using my new planner next month. I'm excited to use it and put it into
service. I have great hopes that this
binder will help me keep my wits about me and help me hold onto my sanity. If luck holds out and the planets align I may
even get it all done.
Love this! I'm sure the time you invested in putting this planning notebook together will serve you well - plus it looks great!
ReplyDeleteAs long as it looks good nothing can go wrong. Right? Ha, ha. Thank you Ruth. :)
DeleteDid you get your templates off the internet or did you make them up yourself? I need to do this!
ReplyDeleteI have Publisher software so I was able to start with a blank template, but you can totally get these templates online. All of the clip art is from the internet as well.
DeleteYou would not believe the thrill I got out of this post! It is a planner's dream! Lol. I have an outrageous love of school supplies and I am always looking for ways to plan and organize better- thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteBtw, sorry I've been on a very long absence from the blogging world. I am looking forward to catching up on lots of posts that I have missed. I hope you and your gals are doing well!
Daaaaaaaawn!!! Is it really you? OMGosh! So happy to hear from you. We are well and I hope you and your family are too. We need to catch up!
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