My Tokidoki Dividers!

Here is a peek at the dividers I'm making for my planner this year. These are color copies of the Tokidoki calendar I arc'd. I took the pages to Staples and had them color copy them as I did not want to use the originals. I was worried I would ruin them and not have a back up. So I copied first, and like that I have the originals to use for another project if I like. There are 17 dividers and each has artwork on the back and front. That is 32 pages of Tokidoki goodness! 

I really am working on doing what works for me AND enjoying my planner as a creative outlet that lets me decorate and have fun with my stationary supplies. 

Systems are SUPER important, but having fun and enjoying what you're doing in your planner is just as important. 

I'll be posting again soon on my system and how I'm keeping it working for me. 

I think I am sticking with Pillowfarmer as my handle. It's weird. And unusual. Which I like. :) 

-Pillowfarmer OUT. 

Planners, Pantsers, & Trackers!

I used to believe there were two kinds of people in this world. Planners and Pantsers.
Planner people are those sorts that know what's up. They know what time an event is, they usually have some sort of calendar system and they always arrive early. :)
Then there are Pantsers. You know, people who fly around by the seat of their pants. They seldom arrive early or on time and they usually don't know what's coming next.
I'm definitely a combination of both of these...but I really want to be a planner sort of person through and through!
Lately I have discovered that the third sort of person who exists are Trackers. People who keep track of what they watch, eat, buy and do.
My husband has a notebook that is over 6 years old that has every movie, tv show and video game he's ever watched or played. And I have another friend who tracks all her online purchases in her planner and she loses weight by tracking her exercise habits.

So after you've picked your planner. You're left with picking a system!
I pick Diyfish inserts. There's a lot to be said for this system; you could devote hours to talking about how to use these! But, I am simply talking about my re-vamp and what/how I am using my planner.

I pick this system because I am a planner, pantser and a tracker. :)

Most people will almost always need or want a view of the month. Some people like their view to be a full page, half page, or like me a 3.75 x 6.75 page. Whatever size...it's a good idea to figure how to utilize this page. I use mine to plan upcoming events. This is the page I look to whenever anyone asks me to do something. I use color coding to mark my days with whatever is coming up. (I will explain my color coding later) However you plan, pants or track...this is a good page and place to just mark down that you're busy on any certain day. I know that on the 5-6th of this month my Mom was scheduled to have a defibrillator put in. I knew not to plan anything that day because I have a tiny square on that day reminding me to not double book myself. 

A nice plus to the Diyfish inserts is the monthly chart behind the main calendar page. This page is ideal for the tracker in all of us. I re-did this page because it was very jumbled and hard to read. I simplified things so you could see that the top half is explanations of my upcoming events that are also listed on my monthly view page.

My son (green) has ensemble practice and my daughter (pink) has cheer practice. These are revolving events. However, I outline the day they're scheduled and color in the box when they complete a practice. By keeping track of this, I could dispute lesson fees or mark their attendance should there ever be the need to do so. 

The middle part of the page are events that don't revolve, but rather they are one time events that may fall under the same category. Such as doctor appointments, open houses, or class dates. I color code these events and use the same line if they're the same type of event. For open house, I had one on the 17th and I have one on the 23 for two different kids. 

The bottom part of the page are true tracking events. My instagram posting, blog postings, going to the gym and when one of my kids takes a day off from school. I only use this as a reference usually. My kids will ask to stay home when they're feeling slightly ill and I can remind them that they have missed two days this month already and it's probably best to trudge through. This is really helpful for the kids that love to play hookey, because you can't dispute my monthly chart! 

If you don't use this sort of monthly chart, you could always make yourself a tracking page or a page for explanations of your blocked out dates on your monthly view. I use this because I like seeing what I've done and when. 

Our nutshell. 

1) Find a monthly view. 

2) Block out dates/times you WILL be busy. So not to double book yourself. 

3) Create an explanation page or a tracking page if your calendar is too small to go into detail as to what you're keeping busy with. 

Very small apologies for the length of this post, but there's so much thought that goes into how to effectively use this page I felt the words just coming out blah blah blah. So if you're still here...thanks! 

-Pillowfarmer

Ready? Ok!

Whats that saying about the journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step? Yeah. That.

Where to begin? 

Let's start with this squishy business that is my Black/Pink Buffalo Touch Me Leather Van der Spek!! It has 30mm rings...which basically makes my planner a fatty. I love this planner. It smells good. It holds a lot. Has nice pocket placement and wide pen loop. The essentials. 

Where to start? Pick a planner. Decide to use it. It helps if you love it. But even if you don't, DECIDE to use it. There's a difference between using a planner and collecting them because you like collecting binders. Both hobbies are equally fun and exciting. However, what I am writing about is using a planner. 

Some of the best looking planners are the ones that are well used and bursting at the seams with appointments and information. 

If we want to get anywhere with staying organized and on top of our lives, we must decide that we will use what we have available to us. 

From composition books to this awesome VDS binder, I have learned that to be really effective I have to decide to use my planner every day. Just like in a relationship, I talk to my husband every day. We check in. We talk. We discuss. We remind each other of all the things we want the other to remember. 

It's a sickeningly sweet parallel. But it's true. Say your vow. Promise to use your planner every day. 

I do. 

I also have learned that I can't cheat on my planner...with other planners. Oh my gosh!! We're so sealing the deal and going to the chapel to get married to our planners!! 

This isn't to say you can't have multiple binders! I will maintain my kid binders, recipe binders and fitness binders...but for all information and appointments regarding my life...THIS. IS. MY. BINDER.

This is where I find my stuff. Who I check in with. Who reminds me. I can't be jotting info into my Malden, my original and my VDS and expect to maintain the same quality of relationship...can I?

No. 

Gotta be faithful to recording your life..."all in one place". 

This doesn't seem like much. But oh. 

If you had a planner bug bite you at any time. You are sick. And you will want to own every planner you see on your Facebook planner group. 

And you will want to make new set ups for every binder you meet and you will start spreading your information to all your multiple planners and never really experience planner nirvana with that ONE planner. 

So aside from making planner love sound like marriage...my point. 

1. Find a book/binder/planner and decide to use it. 

2. Stay faithful to recording and planning your life in that one planner. 

More to come! 

-Wayword

Revamp

I have been going through some planner growing pains lately. I chalk it up to a few things. 

•Having a lot of information in too many places. 

•Not focusing on my main planner due to having multiple planners. 

•Not making my systems work for me, instead working around a system. 

I use DIYFish life mapping inserts exclusively in my planners. I have two regular calendars that I use in my meal planning and kids school calendar. Lately I have really been struggling with two issues when using these inserts. 

1) Foward planning

2) To-Do lists

Have you caught on yet that I'm muddling through my issues here? Lol

I am re-doing my planner system! There will be major surgery as I gut my planner and process my mistakes and figure out how to get this system to work for me. 

What I find super duper crazy is that these inserts worked great last year! I had no trouble with my system and everything ran smoothly and I won every planner nerd mom award there was. Haha. 

This does go to show that every so often if you're feeling overwhelmed or even disinterested in your planner it's possible you're doing it wrong. What worked for me last year...is now wrong for me this year. 

People evolve. How we think, process and go about our lives changes every single day. It's ludicrous to think our planning systems would hold up over time seeing as they depend on US to be effective with it. 

This isn't to say my inserts aren't working. I LOVE these inserts. It's also not to say that I need a whole new Malden in purple to get this train running again! Haha. No. 

It's a system that needs attention. 

Over the next week I'll be posting how I'm re-working my planner system. 

Here's to a fresh page!

-Wayword