My Planner + Free Printable Daily Planner Inserts

Did you start 2017 with a new daily planner to help you schedule and organize your week?  Is it still working for you?

Four years ago I wrote a post about the daily planner I used. It was called a Planner Pad. I loved it, it worked great for me for four years.  You can read about it in this post. I receive many questions about it and I thought I would do an update about what I use now to plan out my daily life as well as what you read here on In My Own Style.

Last year, I found I needed something more customized for the way I work and in tune for what I needed as a blogger. I have bought other blogger’s planners online.  They were colorful and well organized, but I found that none of them where 100% right for me so I set out to create a simple planner that I could customize just for me and they way I know I will use a planner.

I decided to make my own planner using a mix of my own creations as well as purchased planner sheets that I found online. Etsy and Amazon both have a ton of planners all ready to download.

My daily planner consists of 3 different types of pages:

• Vertical monthly calendar page for each month – Free printables I made (download below)
• This Week – 2 page spread I bought.  One is a focus page, the other a weekly page with space to write things for each day of the week.
• Movable/Wipeable To Do List – Free printable I made for you to download below

I bought the weekly planner 2-page inserts from EllagantInk. It includes inserts for the entire year and are all dated, which I like.

I assembled the pages in a 1-inch white binder I bought at Staples…

…along with colorful plastic pocket dividers that I put in the back. They are where I hold information I use on a weekly basis.

I bought colorful monthly tabs to separate each month.

I use a pen, pencil and a wet erase marker to write things in my planner. Pen for the items I know are going to happen, pencil for tenative things, and the wet-erase marker for my movable/wipeable To-Do List

Almost all planners have horizontal monthly calendars or the month is on a two-page spread. I prefer a one page monthly calendar page so I can view it along with the weekly day page for each week when my planner is open.

The vertical monthly calendar pages can be printed below:

Jan | Feb| Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec

Here is what the Focus page I bought looks like…

…and the weekly day page.

I use Washi tape to tape add color to the pages, but also to tape two pages together, since I did not print the 2-page spread back to back.

This is how I really customized the purchased planner pages to fit my needs. I like to see everything at a glance in my open planner notebook.  After the vertical monthly calendar page for each month, I taped the weekly day page to the next weeks Focus page so when I open my planner I see both pages at once and don’t have to turn any pages all week, except if I want to look at the monthly calendar.

I also have a movable To-Do list.

This list can be moved easily to the next week so I don’t have to re-write my list every week.

I made the removable wipe-off insert by self-laminating the printable and punching 3 notebook ring holes along the edge. I then cut slits with a pair of scissors from the outer edge of each punched hole. This allows me to move it on and off the rings without opening them.

I use a fine-tipped wet erase marker to write items on the list and then cross out the items as I complete them. At the end of the week, I use a wet tissue to remove the stuff I did, but keep the items I still need to do intact and move the list to the next week.

How To Make A Movable Daily Planner To-Do List

supplies needed: 

• Download : To Do list printable
• Self-Laminating sheets
• Paper cutter
• Hole punch and scissors
• Washi Tape

1. The printout has two lists.  Cut in half on the center grey line and then place them back to back.

2. Place the back-to-back images in self-laminating sheets. Cut around edges leaving about 1/4″of laminate around the paper list. Add Washi tape for interest.

3. Cut the slits into the holes as shown in the photo above.

Having a different list on each side helps me keep two running lists. On the back of my To-Do insert I list posts I am working on and planning.

Having used the Planner Pad for many years taught me a few good habits when using a planner:

• Keep things as simple as possible.
• Always put the most important stuff at the top and funnel down to the least important stuff on your task pages.
• Before shutting down on Friday afternoon, I move my To-Do List and any items that didn’t get done to next weeks tasks.
• I use two different colors of ink. I use colored ink for items that hold more importance.
• If I need to clip something to my planner, I use these jeweled paper clips I made to make my planner look colorful and pretty.
• I try to plan ahead and use pencil when writing down items that are tentative. I can simply erase them if they don’t happen or go over them with marker when I know it is confirmed.

Do you use a daily planner?  Do you want to share any tips on how you use and organize yours?

RESOURCES: affiliate links used

Ellagant Ink Planner Pages

Colorful Plastic File Folder Dividers

Wet Erase Markers

Self -Seal Laminating Sheets

Washi Tape

Jeweled Paper Clips

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