There is so much currently out there when it comes to planners and journals. It’s a wonderful time really when I think about it. I have never had so much access to inspiration while at the same time being overwhelmed with all the wonderful ideas. I have mentioned before that whenever I am choosing a journal or a planner it will speak to me. I know that sounds odd but it’s really very true for me! What I mean when I say that it speaks to me is that when I hold a planner in my hand things that come to mind. The size, is it big, small? Do I want to put stickers in it? Keep it professional? Travel with it? Leave it at home? Do I want to also capture memories? Is it bound or loose pages? All these things come to mind with planners and with journals. This is how I love to then use and manage them. It may seem strange to some because I know in the past my family has always said to me, a notebook is a notebook what’s the big deal? Well to me it is. It’s just like any other passion that people may have and journals and planners are a passion of mine. Each planner and journal has worked for me at a certain  time in my life and if something did not work I  changed it. I can confidently say that I have never ever only used one planner for an entire year. Since being a child I have always used at least two! I think  in college is the one time that I came closest to only using one. The reason for why I used really only one was because I became so detailed with my days that included studying times, assignments, syllabi, meetings, work, interviews, etc, that made it difficult to easily transfer information without being too paranoid of losing information.

To the topic at hand, is it possible to combine your journal with your planner? It’s an idea that I love and sometimes I am very excited for and then notice that I end up doing more journaling and planning in another planner. I had spent many days looking through Pinterest to see if I could find anything that would inspire me and I did! I found something along the idea of an omni-journal. Meaning one journal for everything. So it would be a place to not only plan but to also document my days. I love the idea but how to make it work for me. With planning I often need it to be something that is clean and when I journal and memory capture I love it to be very colorful and creative.

Why would I want to combine the two? I have used a similar technique during #onebookjuly and found that after using it I love having everything combined. It helps to map out my life. What my days are about. I love to use a bound book and leave it on my shelf. When I come back to it and flip through it I just can’t get enough and I am absolutely in love.

I have recently been itching to make an omni-journal again and I thought that I would take you along for the journey. I would like to share with all of you how I make this work or not. It’s a really great journey to embark on because it can be challenging but definitely rewarding in the end. What I will do is see if I like adding pictures and how much of my tasks in the book. I want to explore and see if I can make some of my planning more creative and see if things get done or lost. Do you omni-journal? Do you like to capture your memories in your planner? Please share your thoughts!

I not only get asked  all the time how I use so many planners but I ask myself this same question. It’s honestly difficult to pass up something beautiful that I see on Instagram and just buy it!! I know that since the beginning of my time using planners I have always used more than one planner but not like I do today. Social media is a huge influence on what I am using and also why I feel the need to use so many things. I get frustrated with myself because I say to myself ‘ Can’t I just love one?’. I am filled with guilt that I have so many that are beautiful and are not being used all the time. I want to use them all and I try and find uses for them all to justify having them. I have the same thoughts that most people in the planner community have. I have times that I feel at a loss and then some times that I feel i’m on top of it!

What I have found since being in the community which was back in 2012 is that I have relaxed a lot more. I don’t have quite as much guilt because I know that it’s my passion and my hobby. I like to change out my planners and they all speak to me in a different way. Some of them are more strict and some are more free flowing. Some allow me to draw and watercolor in them while in others I’m setting a time management plan. In some of them I like to just use stickers and in some of them I like to only use pen. I have found this to be the answer to feeling overwhelmed and guilty.

I of course will use some examples to paint a clear picture of what it is that I mean. I will begin with travelers notebooks. I have them in all kinds of sizes from field note, personal, regular to extra wide and they all speak to me in different ways. When I want to plan on a larger scale and use the planner perfect method for example I will dive right into an extra wide travelers notebook. I love setting the notebook up and the excitement of the journey that it will take me on. It’s that experience that I really enjoy and love. In a regular size midori I tend to try and plan more creatively in it. So I love to make tabs and splash my water colors through out. I like to experiment with all the wonderful printable inserts that can be found on etsy and see what I like and what I don’t like.

I do highly recommend taking notes while using different planners and journals. This is how you will most learn about what you love. In addition to choosing a size I like to use I also have to consider what size depending on where I am in my life. When I worked on the unit as a nurse I had a small planner that I kept in my scrub pocket. It helped me to stay on top of crazy schedules and also keep little cheat sheets for different drips in the back. At this time in my life this is what worked best for me.  I currently work from home and have a toddler and one on the way so I’m not limited to which planner I can use but I like to have something more on the creative side and more portable. I love documenting everything that my daughter does. I love keeping track of the things she likes to do. If she is ill and has a fever I like to write down her symptoms and when I am giving her tylenol. I write down questions about my pregnancy etc so planning has changed with me because life changes all the time.  The planner that I had in college was letter sized and filled with appointments and time trackers and very very regimented. Having options is really wonderful because I can let them change as my life changes and with so much on social media I am able to allow that influence to add to my creativity and make sure that I am making the most of my days.

Since the age of 8 when I first picked up a planner I have learned that ring binders like filofax and franklin covey open up the more strict side of my brain. The cap that I put on with these planners is much more business. I’m more serious and use a lot less creativity with them. This is the place that I keep my information for my online classes as well as a more structured schedule for youtube videos and social media analytics. I like to keep notes from people who ask to do reviews etc and I consider this to be a very professional interaction so it all goes into rings. I struggle with ring sizes from the personal to the a6 to the a5. These are all things I like to change up. I tend to leave the A5 at home and the other sizes I will take with me and throw into my bag. It all depends on how much I am leaving the house and if I need anything for a business meeting.

Allowing myself to feel the freedom of different planners and travelers notebooks and exploring so many different methods keeps me interested in using a planner. It keeps me on my toes and keeps me excited to set up new planners and try new sizes. In my opinion if my planners did not change over the years I would have never grown as a person. I look at my planners as an addition to my life. It adds to my day and doesn’t take away. It keeps my brain sharp and allows me to not only make plans but pull together ideas for what I want out of my life. It’s really very exciting if you look at  it this way!! Do you love all your planners and switching in and out of them?

I recently was asked ‘what’s a great way to get kids into planning?’. I love this question because I had a chance to sit down and think about how I got started as a kid. I was about 8 years old and purchased a Chandlers   planner (sadly they no longer make planners). This was a fantastic planner that came out every new school season and the most difficult choice for me was color selection and my parents knowing my stationary addiction allowed me to always get two! With that said, it brings me to the point that support and sharing with your kids is so incredibly important. Now, my mom was never a scrapbooker and never used a planner or lists or anything. My Dad was more organized and loves pen to paper. He always carried a daily agenda and loved using yellow legal pads for list making. I was never restricted if I wanted to look at his lists or his daily agenda. I do remember that he carried that with him ALL the time. It always would sit on the dash of his car and on his desk. I remember he always referenced it for phone numbers and notes and anything else that ‘grown-ups’ need access to. So I highly highly encourage showing your kids your planners and sharing examples of things to put inside of your planner.

My daughter is 3 and she shows some interest in notebooks and journals but I don’t push it. I think that kids need to naturally stumble upon things and showing them by example I personally feel is the best way to get little ones interested.

The next best thing I can recommend is a space for kids to have all their own. Whether that’s a little table or a space in the kitchen, bedroom, family room, kids need to have their own place. For myself growing up my parents always had a desk for us. To this day I have always always had a desk! Each apartment that I have lived in and each house that I have shared with my husband I have a desk space. It is something that is essential to me. I have to have somewhere where I can sit down and write, draw and color. I have done this for as long as I could remember. I have a hard time writing while lying in bed or sitting on the couch. It happens but usually I like having my designated space, lighting a candle and becoming creative or planning my next day. 

I have a small desk that I purchased for my daughter and put it in the same room as my desk. Whenever I sit at my desk she will wonder on over to her creative space even though most of the time she wants to sit at my desk, it’s an option for her. The desk I purchased was $20 at Ikea and I placed some paints, scissors, markers, pencils and crayons. I tend to stock up on these items whenever it’s back to school shopping. All extra supplies I keep in a cabinet high up and replenish when needed.

I will often times sit with my daughter and show her the journals I have put together. She loves to look at the pictures and point out different family members. I love to remind her of the things we have done. I have not shared too much of my planners because I think it’s something that might come a little later. I  focus on more of the creative process with her right now.  Letting her play with finger paints and use all kinds of bright colors. Gluing down scraps of paper and cutting up magazines, it’s all lots of fun and I use inexpensive composition notebooks and write down dates so that it’s something my daughter can look back on.

When I was first using planners as a kid one of my favorite things to use inside were the pens! I loved using the bic pens with all the different colors. I loved using stickers and markers to decorate the pages and make them my own. I know that some of my girlfriends in school use to clip out magazine articles and glue them into their planner. We use to write notes to each other in our planner as well. Every Sunday night before school would start I had a dedicated pen color for each subject and I would for example, write Math and underline it. I wrote out all of my tests and quizzes to make sure I knew when I needed to study and I was never surprised and  never missed assignments. I use to love sitting at my desk and decorating my weeks. I clearly remember drawing christmas lights and using them as borders in my layouts. I remember purchasing lisa frank stickers and holiday stickers and posting them throughout my pages.

Getting your kids excited about their planners and having them pick out what THEY want. Do they want to color and fill it with stickers? Let them! It’s their own planner let them play and explore and see what works for them. I have my daughters calendar on our kitchen fridge with dates highlighted and share with my daughter important dates. When she comes home from preschool we go through her folder and look through everything she has done and we talk about her assignments and things that are coming up. I am not someone who is a type A personality but I do think it’s important to have some kind of plan. Having some kind of skeleton for what you want out of life is the way that I like to look at it. Things happen and life has it’s bumps but having an idea of what you want out of your day, for myself has helped me get things done and have a successful life.

These are some of my tips to help kids get excited about planning and getting organized. Share your calendar with your kids show them fun activities they can plan out and that way they have things to look forward to! Show them that writing down assignments and tests and quizzes helps them to be prepared ahead of time and nothing feels better than to get a good grade on an assignment! The reward of doing well in school will help them see how great it is to have a planner. Making it fun and something that is their own is usually a good recipe! Don’t push anything on kids just show them the options and allow them to grow into it! Do your kids use planners? Any tips that you recommend?