organization is key.

I am a consummate list maker. I love paper. I love pens. I love lists. There are days where my lists even have lists. Like yesterday for instance. Sticky notes on top of lists that was on top of a list.

You can imagine that this paper lover, list maker, perpetual planner and organization freak would be quite the finicky one when it comes to buying a planner. I have had my eye on two amazing planners recently but neither are in the budget right now. So I settled for an adorable little gem by Martha Stewart for Staples. The planner is a 3-ring binder with pockets inside the front and back cover which makes it perfect for tucking away notes, bills, recipes, etc. And since the planner is a 3-ring I can use it for years to come by simply purchasing the refillable calendar pages or making my own.

The great thing about this planner, and what I require from any planner I purchase, is the layout of the week and days. I need the days to be listed across the top of the page so that I can list out my daily tasks vertically. Does that make sense? Most planners, and typically all the cute ones, list the days in a way that does not make sense for my brain. So, this planner does that very thing, giving me tons of room to list away on each day. It is also great as it divides the day into three parts: morning, afternoon and evening. Typically my days are not scheduled by the hour but more so just like that, morning, afternoon and evening. There are also two blank rows on the bottom that I am using for 1. kids daily activities (i.e. a way to force my intentional play time with the little ones. ‘Take Asher to the park’ for example was written on Monday.) and 2. for dinner menu/family activities (i.e. written on Thursday is: ‘Bible Study / bring dessert’)

The only downside so far to my little planner is that those silly 3-rings get in the way of my writing. I am thinking that a left-handed writer would find this planner exceptional. 🙂 I am a problem solver by nature though so I simply take the sheet out of the binder, write on it and then snap it back in place. Not a problem.

What I love the most though is that I can design my own little worksheets, hole punch them and add them to the binder. Now I can keep all my lists in one place.

I created two for myself and thought you might like them as well so I have two FREE worksheets for you today in two different sizes. One is just a weekly to-do list. I use this on Sunday evenings to list out everything I can think of that needs to get done for the week and then I assign days/times to get those things done. I have a ‘To-Do’ list for work and a separate ‘To-Do’ list for home & family. My home/family list is even crazier than my work list right now. I attribute that to having just moved.  The second worksheet is a Blog Planner. Many bloggers schedule out their posts by the month but every time I have done that it never seems to work out as well as if I just schedule out the week ahead and commit to making the posts happen. Each Blog Planner worksheet includes space for 5 days worth of post details to keep you organized. List the topic/title with the date you would like it posted. There is space to jot down ideas for the post as well as space for you to jot down what images you will need for the post. There is also space to check off that you have 1. written the post and 2. published / marketed the post.

And of course both worksheets include Proverbs 31:25 at the bottom:  “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” Hopefully, that verse will serve as a reminder of the deeper importance behind planning — so we can laugh at the future, be excited about it rather than anxiously await its arrival.

Hopefully these will help you stay organized in 2013!!

FREE PRINTABLE
To Do Lister (8.5 x 5.5)
To Do Lister (8.5 x 11)

Blog Planner (8.5 x 5.5)
Blog Planner (8.5 x 11)

To Print & Use Free Printable
1. Click on this link.
2. Right click to ‘Save As’ on your computer or (depending on your web browser) click the disk icon that represents ‘save.’
3. Open the file & print onto the paper of your choice.
Feel free to email me if you have questions or problems downloading the file.