DIY 1: How I organize my days

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Everybody in my life knows quite well that I am an extremely organized person. I rarely forget something because I write everything down in one place in order to be able to keep track of my weekly tasks and projects but also to bear in mind every important detail from my day. I have tried different planners/organizers but eventually I realized that if the planner is simple, yet colorful and cute, I will most definitely use it on a regular basis.

For this post I will share with you my current planner – I use it every single day to write down all the university assignments, tests, and presentations but also some blog ideas and daily tasks. I tend to change my planners quite often because I like to shake things up and use different decorations. I’ve had my current planner since February and I think that I will use it until the end of July.

So, this is how my planner looks like. Its cover is extremely simple – cream paper with light gray dots on it. I have made the cover myself. Initially, the planner was with a clear gray cover which I didn’t like, so I decided to wrap it in some soft paper. I didn’t use the traditional gift wrapping paper because it gets worn out very easily. Instead of it, I used some soft paper that is usually used for bouquet wrapping here in Bulgaria and now I can have my planner in my bag without any worries that it may get torn up. I put the pink circle just to add some pop of color to it… and because I love the pink color and it matches perfectly the decorations on the pages inside the planner.

I like to keep the pages of the planner as simple as possible. I do this because I don’t want to get distracted by unnecessary information (like quotes, song lyrics, and the like). I use my planner simply to plan my days and nothing more. This is not my diary so I keep all the motivational things aside from it. Each month has its own page with a calendar written on it:

In this way I can keep track of all my monthly big tasks and assignments such as travel arrangements, presentations, tests, and homework assignments. The boxes in the calendar are small and I don’t lose any space for little or ordinary things, like meeting with friends or picking up the clothes from the dry cleaning. There are other pages for these tasks.

At the end of each month I take a look at my finances – my monthly income (hence the + sign) and my expenses (hence the – sign). In addition, I put down the books that I have read throughout the month. Based on my monthly agenda, I tend to read at least 3 or 4 books every month.

After the month page, I have a page for each day of the month except for the Saturdays and the Sundays which are always on a single page. Usually I prefer not to plan anything on the Saturdays and Sundays and live to the moment. However, sometimes it is necessary so I leave a small space for those plans as well.

At the beginning of each week – that is each Monday – I create a To-Do list for the week. In this way I have a clear week agenda and I can keep track of everything that is due this particular week. At the moment, my Mondays are usually free so I don’t need a special blank page for this day of the week. However, when I need to write down something for Monday, I use sticky notes to add this information.

After the initial week agenda I complete the pages for each day of the week. On the picture above you can see my agenda for Tuesday, 9th May 2017. I tend to separate each task in order to be more clearly visible and discernible from the rest of the daily tasks. I put my grocery list here as well and everything that I need to remember during this day.

At the back cover of my planner, I have a small envelope that I use for storing any extra paper, pens, sticky notes, and paper clips that might be necessary for writing something down during the day. I keep only the essentials here in order to keep my planner light and organized.

Do you use any kind of planners on a regular basis and, if yes, do you have any special tricks and tips that help you stay organized?

See you soon.

Love,

Chrisy