Thursday, January 21, 2016

How I Use Multiple Planners

I am a planner addict. I openly admit that fact. I have a stack of gorgeous planners on the side table in my dining room (This is where I do my weekly planning and creative planning as we don't have anywhere in our house that I can dedicate to a craft space/office.). For awhile, I just collected planners. I changed them out like purses depending on my mood or the season. (Don't judge. I don't collect anything else.)

Recently I have come to the realization that using one planner just isn't going to cut it for me anymore. Cramming my personal life, family life, blogging, Younique, and school became too much. I wasted time searching through my planner just to find the section I needed. It just didn't make sense to do that. After all, a planner is supposed to help me keep organized and save time, right? That wasn't happening.

In the past three years of using a planner, I have tried numerous planners systems- Filofax personal size, Erin Condren spiral bound  Life Planner, the Happy Planner disc bound, and Target Sugar Paper Planner. Recently, as you may remember from an earlier post, I acquired a beautiful traveler's notebook.  A couple of months ago I heard some buzz in social media regarding the Simple Stories Carpe Diem planner. As one who was still searching to find planner peace, I ordered a robin's egg Carpe Diem A5, and let me tell you, I fell in planner love as soon as I saw it. This was as close to planner peace as I have ever been.

Once I came to the realization that my life required more than one planner, I was able to utilize my other planners as well. After much consideration of my needs, this is what I decided to use:

1. Kate Spade personal size planner- This is my every day, throw it in my bag and go planner.  It houses important appointments and events. It is also handy for creating a list on the go, or for a brain dump. I also use this planner as a wallet. It holds my debit cars, insurance card, driver's license and any coupons I think I might need. I use this planner the most.

2. Carpe Diem A5 planner- family organization. I use the monthly and weekly pages in this planner to keep track of family appointments and events. This planner stays at home so that it can be accessed by any member of the family.

3. Carpe Diem A5 planner- teacher planner. I haven't actually started to use this yet as I am not returning to school until the beginning of February.

4. InkWELL Press coil bound planner- I ordered this planner during the InkWELL Press imperfect sale, so I haven't gotten it yet. I do intend to use this planner as my blog and Younique planner.  I'm not sure I want both in the same planner, but I am going to give it a try.

5. Leather Traveler's Notebook from Imperfectly Perfekt- memory planner. This is more of a little scrapbook. I am loving this system so far, but I may need to think about a bigger size notebook.

6. Fabric FauxDori- Lister's Gotta List challenge notebook. I absolutely ADORE the #ListersGottaList challenge!

Only the Kate Spade personal is one I carry with me everywhere I go. To lug all my planners at once would be ridiculous. Heck, I would need a planner to remind me which planner is which!

A benefit to using multiple planners is being able to choose which size planner will work best for each area of my life. {Another reason I love using multiple paneers is that it gives me an excuse to buy more pretty planners for the sake of organization.}

Do you use more than one planner? If so, how do you use them?



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