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Now that all my kiddos are back in school, I’ve been feeling a little jealous of their new school supplies.  What is it that makes new school supplies so inspirational and just plain fun?  I decided I wanted to get in on the fun made my own diy blog planner and grabbed some pretty new pens.  Making the planner was so easy and I’m loving how organized it’s keeping by blog life.

 I started by designing a logo for the cover of my planner in PicMonkey.  Next I inserted the logo into a Word document and printed it out on card stock paper.  I chose to use card stock for durability.

I used washi tape to decorate the borders of the card stock.  I was careful to trim the edges of the washi tape where it overlapped so it looked neat.

Then I used scissors to trim the tails of the washi tape that were left around the edges of the card stock.

I printed out the pages that I wanted to use in my planner.  I printed out calendar and To Do pages and filled the other sections with plain lined paper (from a notebook that I purchased on sale).   I included a pocket divider to hold loose reference papers.

And I included a pencil pouch (based on an idea from IHeartOrganizing).  I took everything over to Staples and had them bind it together.  It was around $5 and only took  a few minutes.   They were able to bind both the pocket tab and the pencil pouch right into the planner with no problem.

Once I filled the pencil pouch with my supplies, it made my planner lumpy.  After about 3 minutes of fiddling with it, I pulled the pouch out and haven’t looked back.  I wouldn’t recommend  having it bound into the planner.  I simply keep my pencil pouch with my planner now, but not inside (I couldn’t stand that lumpiness!).

I used more washi tape to embellish the tabs and then used my label maker to label each tab, including the pocket tab. I used the categories of Calendar, To Do, Project Ideas, Monthly Themes, Improvements and Ask Anna (for my information on being an Ask Anna contributor).

I  printed out a simple, very simple, calendar.  I didn’t want any distraction on the calendar, just space to plan out the month’s posts and work.  I found that using color-coded sticky notes helps me to plan my month so much more easily.  Before I would write posts in pencil and then had to erase and move things around as requirements and opportunities changed.  Now with the sticky notes, I simply move the note to the new date.  No mess, no fuss, no erasing.  I’ve color coded my tasks also.  Green denotes my paid posts and pink is for my organic posts (yellow if for my contributor responsibilities).  This way I can tell at a glance if I have a good balance in my mix of organic and paid posts for each week and the entire month.  I’m a visual girl and color coding each post has helped immensely.

I whipped up a simple To Do Checklist to help me keep track of my taks.  I wanted something simple and uncluttered to help me work.  I love the satisfaction of checking off an item when it’s completed.  Once I fill this sheet up (and complete everything), I’ll simply tear it out and recycle it.  That way my current tasks are always on the top and easy to see.

I’ve been using my new diy blog planner for 3 weeks now and I wish I’d created it two years ago.  It’s such a big help in keeping Organized 31 organized.  How do you organize your work?

Susan

I’m a mom of 3, a veteran and military spouse. I’ve moved into 20+ homes all around the world. My passion is helping busy people make the space and time for what’s really important to them.