Planner Updates

A PEEK AT WHAT’S NEW

Household Forms
(NEW) Recipe Notebook (Swirly Design): Covers, Spines, Recipe Cards, Recipe Pages, Menu Planning Forms … editable
(NEW) Recipe Notebook (Bear Design): Recipe Cards, Recipe Pages, Menu Planning Forms … editable
(UPDATED) Recipe Notebook (Bear Design): Covers, Spines, … editable

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Setting Up Your Household Planner Tips

I have added more of my personal “Setting Up Your Household Planner” tips and how-to’s.

Planner Updates

A PEEK AT WHAT’S NEW

At-a-Glance Planning Pages
(NEW) At-a-Glance Weekly Planner Inserts (Daily Do List)

Bible Study & Quiet Time Pages
(NEW) Divider Title Pages
(NEW) Bible Study Pages
(NEW) Quiet Time Pages

Lists, Lists, Lists
(NEW) One day after frustrating myself with a dozen to-do sticky notes, I created this FUN post-it style note page for all my miscellaneous notes and lists to myself I make all day.

To-Do Pages
(Update) Fixed the font color on the Swirly To Do Pages (pages 6-8)

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The first section of my household planner is the “planning section”.
I will detail here how I have put mine together and how I use it.
(The yellow card stock is hiding the rest of the binder
so you can plainly see what just this section looks like.)

As you can see from the above photo, I printed a divider page onto card stock and inserted it into a sheet protector.  Besides protecting the page, the sheet protector will make the divider stand out beyond any pages put behind it.  You will also note that I have added an adhesive index tab (available at Walmart or any office supply store) to the sheet protector to give it a label I can see from the sideview.  This will make it stand out even more than just a protected page found anywhere else in the planner … easy to spot as a “main” section of my planner.

So what’s inside?

Month-at-a-Glance
On the left you see the back of our sheet protected divider.  I insert loose items I have collected that need to be added to the calendar for a future planning session. On the right, I’d first like to point out that my “divider” is actually a piece of transparency film with an index tab attached.  This makes the divider the same size as the paper behind it but allows me to view the current info.  I used this method for this entire section of tabs.  I could have used a piece of card stock instead with an attached tab, but preferred this method for this section.

I use the at-a-glance monthly calendars to plan an overview of upcoming events.  Each month, I will transfer this info to my working calendar in the monthly calendars you see below.  I will also come back later and add any important info that I want to remember for next year’s planning.  Next year, this set of calendars will be used as my guide.  I have two sets of these calendars – one for home and one for business/ministry.

Perpetual To-Dos
This is one of the most FREEING sections of my planner.  I have printed out lists with the following headings:

• Perpetual (main)
• Perpetual (for each season)
• Honey-Do
• Mom Blessings (things to do for ME)
• Home Blessings (things to do for the house)
• Homeschool
• (my list for business/ministry is kept on my computer notebook)

To each of these lists, I add ANYTHING I want or dream of doing.  I can completely empty my brain.  During each week’s planning session, I come here to cross off any items I accomplished and pick up to 18 new items I would like to add to my weekly plan.  Throughout the week as I think of any ideas, they go on these lists keeping my brain clutter-free.

Routines
Here is where I keep copies of my routine pages.  I haven’t updated this for a while. In fact, that’s not even one of our “routine” pages in the photo above. That’s created using one of our List forms.  I now use our At-a-Glance Weekly Planner Inserts (Routine Pages).

Business/Ministry
No photo — this section is similar to my Monthly At-a-Glance tab.

Blank Forms
This section is exactly what it says, blank forms.

Monthly Calendars

I bought my monthly tab dividers YEARS ago from Walmart.  To “seasonalize” the dividers, I taped the month’s divider printed on regular copy paper to the tab divider.  In each tabbed month, I have printed three calendars (one for home and two for business/ministry).  I will also include any informational flyers for special events in this section (like info for church retreats, concerts, etc.).  I work out the details for each month on these calendars.  All events, times/places, appointments, etc. go on these calendars ASAP. The month-at-glance calendars mentioned above just hit the highlights.  These calendars flesh out ALL of the details.  I visit this section each week to add important info to my weekly planner.

(Side note): It’s important to have a family calendar somewhere in your home that kids/husband can use. If you’re not comfortable with them thumbing through your household planner, then BE SURE that each week you’re checking the family calendar to keep it synced with your calendars. It might be easier to copy your calendar and give one to each family member. Just a thought.

Days of the Week
Divider pages for each day of the week are printed on card stock, slipped into sheet protectors, and given an index tab. I do not do a whole lot with this section, but it serves me very well. Inside each day’s sheet protector, I will put any important loose items I need for that day. I also print a daily routine task page and write down any task lists I might need for that day’s tasks.

For example, Sundays are my planning days, so I have a checklist of items to run through each Sunday evening. Wednesday is my short shopping trip night for household items, so I keep a running shopping list in this section. It’s also AWANA night and bank night, so I keep any important forms needed for AWANA’s as well as prepared deposits in the Wednesday sheet protector. Thursday is my “bill day” and so there is a list of tasks to complete in the “Thursday” section.

During each week’s planning session, I run through an update any information as needed in these tabs.

That’s it for my planning section! As mentioned above in the blue box, I keep my weekly plan in a separate little spiral bound planner I call “Debra’s Daily Planner” I create using our ProClick Binding Tool. I’ll write a separate post showing these details at a later time.

Coming up next:
Adding the rest of the sections to your household planner.

Got those ready? Let’s get started!

There are four files I use in my weekly planning.
1.) At-a-Glance Weekly Planner 2 Page Spread (choose a theme)
2.) At-a-Glance Weekly Planner Inserts (Routine Page)
3.) At-a-Glance Weekly Planner Inserts (Daily Do List)
4.) At-a-Glance Planning Boxes (2 rows, 7 columns)

Daily Tasks
Please print 1 copy of the At-a-Glance Planning Boxes Page.
Label the first row of boxes with the days of the week (Mon-Sun).
Label the second row’s columns with “1 x week”, “2 x week”, “3 x week”, and so on until you get to the seventh box and label it “Every Day”.

Now, take your notes from your Monday-Sunday pages and copy the info to the appropriate box on your planning page according to the criteria below:

1) If it’s a task that is specific to a particular day(s), copy it to that day(s)’ box.
2) If it’s a task that is not specific to a particular day(s), copy it into the appropriate box in the 2nd row.

Examples:

Get the idea?

Do you have to write EVERYTHING down in this planning stage? No, of course not. I do not need to remind myself to make dinner every day. It’s going to happen — I have nine mouths to remind me! However, there have been MANY days that I forgot to thaw meat or to put something in the crock-pot. So, I do need to write down “morning prep for dinner”. You know yourself. Writing down a plan helps you see where you are spending your time and where you have time available for other things. It also keeps you on task so you don’t let those important things you should be doing fall between the cracks.

If you like the saying, “a place for everything and everything in its place”, then how about:
“A time for everything and everything in its place.”

Routines
Please print as many copies as you need of the At-a-Glance Weekly Planner Inserts (Routine Page) …each page will hold 2 routines.

Pull out your notes from your “types of days” pages. How many “types of days” do you have in a week? I have 4-5, but so far I have only filled out routines for 2 because they are the ones I need most. I can manage my other days without the routines detailed for me (for now anyway). Using your notes, create your routines/flow for the day for these special “types of days”. I have one for “School Days” and one for “Work Days”. There is a column on either side to record the time for each task, but don’t feel obligated to use it. I use it for the initial planning stage of my routine so that I know there should be enough time to do all I want to do in the day, but I do not follow it perfectly when actually living out my plan. Print out and fill in as many routines as you need. If you find tasks from these days that need to be moved to a specific day or to one of your other planning boxes, go ahead and do that now.

At the bottom of the At-a-Glance Weekly Planner Inserts (Routine Page), you will see an additional table. I use this to keep track of certain goals I’m working on. I recently found out I am pre-diabetic, so I am carefully monitoring my diet. I use these boxes for tracking my food, drinks, and exercise each day. I fill in the first column with the days of the week, the second column represents my morning, the third is my afternoon, and the last is my evening.

Weekly Planner
Now it’s time to customize your At-a-Glance Weekly Planner 2 Page Spread using all of the info we’ve pulled together. Decide if the headings included will work for you. If not, simply delete and recolor the headings to your preference. Then print for one week.

Here are my suggestions for the headings included:

• AT-A-GLANCE: Write the routine to follow for that day if one applies
  … School Day, Work Day, Errand Day, etc.
• MENU & MEAL PREP: If you don’t have a dinner meal plan, make one RIGHT NOW for this week and fill this in. If any morning meal prep will be needed, be sure to write it down.
• HOMEMAKING, HOMESCHOOLING, BUSINESS/MINISTRY, etc.: Using row 1 from your Planning Boxes, add the tasks to the appropriate days under the appropriate headings. Using row 2 from your Planning Boxes, add the tasks to the days you want to complete them (or see Daily Do List below for another option)
• MUST-DO LIST: (leave blank for now)
• PERSONAL, PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL, PRAYER, ETC.: Use these headings or change them. I fill these out at the beginning of each week during my planning session on either Sunday night or Monday morning.
• PERPETUAL TO-DO LIST: (leave blank for now)

Now, throughout the week, if you think of something that needs to be added to your weekly plan, put it on your At-a-Glance Planning Boxes Page so that you can include it in next week’s planning session.

Daily Do List Option
The At-a-Glance Weekly Planner Inserts (Daily Do List) is something I recently added to my planner. This page gets folded in half, hole-punched, and inserted right in the middle of my weekly planner 2 page spread (between Wednesday & Thursday).  I take a transparency (cut in half and hole punched) and paper clip it to both sides of my daily do list so I can use a wet-erase marker to mark things off each week and not have to reprint it.  I use this insert to record all of my “Daily Do” items.  I will add things to this insert that need to be done every week, but do not necessarily have to be done on a certain day.  I make a list of things to do 1/week, 2/week, etc. all the way up to “every day”.  These are things that repeat every week, but that I don’t want to have to re-type or write in my planner every week.

Hole-punch everything you have created today and add it to the front of your temporary binder.
Keep up with your paper trails by adding them to the appropriate section of your binder.

Coming up next . . .
Creating the PLANNING section of your household planner.

There are several new planner pages as well as some updated ones (thanks for the feedback!). I am editing the “How-To” files (most are hidden from your view right now), putting together some photos of my journals as well as some slideshows. Watch for those in the coming month!

Membership Info

Your membership links & info are now organized in the top right corner of the page. Everything you need pertaining to your membership will be found there once you log-in.

Enjoy the updates & keep the suggestions coming!

Planner Updates

A PEEK AT WHAT’S NEW

DETAILS
At-a-Glance Planning Pages
(NEW) At-a-Glance 2013 Calendars
(UPDATED) Weekly Planner Inserts (XLS files): Time Column reformatted to be general and centered

Homeschooling Pages
(UPDATE) Homeschool Lesson Planner (XLS files): Fixed subject column to align vertically with smaller font

Household Planning Forms
(NEW) Medical Planner Cover Pages & Title Pages
(NEW) Medical Forms: Doctor Information, History of Appointments, Medication Log

Journaling Pages
(NEW) Journaling Pages – Swirly Design

Seasonal Cover Pages & Spines
(UPDATED) Cover Pages & Spines – Swirly: Corrected the direction of text on the white spine.

To-Do Pages
(NEW) To-Do Pages – Swirly Design

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At-a-Glance Planning Pages
(NEW-all themes) Weekly Planner Pages – a 2-page spread to plan your week … a place for everything & everything in its place!

(NEW-any theme) Weekly Planner Inserts – pages to go in between your weekly planner pages to guide you through your daily routine & take notes.

Household Planning Forms
(NEW-winter theme) Auto-Calculating Financial Budget Form – type in your numbers and it does the math for you!

(NEW-swirly theme) Household Planning Forms

(NEW-all themes) MORE Task Planning Pages — Zones, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly Master Pages & Mixed Pages.

(UPDATE – season themes) Fixed title font on Editable Household Planning Forms

Remember:
For these steps, we are still working in our temporary binder. Once we get a better idea of how we want to use our household planner, we will begin building our official binder.

For this step, I want to propose two ways of organizing your daily routines & tasks:

1) By the specific day of the week.
Take 7 pieces of paper and label the tops of them with the days of the week. These pages will temporarily keep track of the tasks that are always assigned to these days.

2) By the type of day it is.
Take additional pieces of paper and label the tops with the “types” of different days/routines you have throughout the week. For example: homeschooling, work/ministry day, errand day, cleaning day, day of rest, etc.

Your days of the week may all follow a similar schedule or routine and so you won’t necessarily have much need for a specific divider for each day. That’s fine. By the time you’ve worked this plan, you’ll know. You might find your routines are more like my mine and your days are dictated by the “type” of day rather than the day of the week. Not sure what kind of labels to use yet for the “types” of days? No problem. That’s why we’re building this temporary planner. Start with what you know and see how it works for you. Make adjustments as needed.

For my Household Planner, I would have labelled pages for:

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Errand Day
Home Blessings Day
Homeschool Day
Work Day
Split Days
Weekends

Once you have your pages labelled, hole-punch and put them in the front of your temporary household planner. In the coming days (or weeks), use these pages to write down all the tasks you want to do (& actually DO) each day, write notes to yourself about these tasks, create checklists, routines, and schedules for your different days, write down what works, what doesn’t, jot down any ideas/brainstorms about how to make more of your day, etc.

I wrote down things like:

-prep meals
-made phone calls
-sent emails
-scheduled appointments
-school prep
-schooling
-make menu plan
-make shopping lists
-chores
-pay bills
-lunch with my husband
-Bible study
-played board games w/kids
-things I’d like to do if I had more time
-goals for the day
-home “blessings”
-exercising
-called my parents
-trips to library
-shopping trips
-church activities
-family activities
-took a nap
-sorted the mail
-field trips
-date nights
-family nights
-business work
…anything and everything you actually DO or WANT to do goes on these pages.

Just decide if the task(s) are an “every Monday” thing (and if so, write it down on your “Monday” page) or if they are an “every ______ day” type thing you do (if so, write it down on your “_______ day” page).

Coming up next:
It’s time to print your weekly planner and start planning!

Now, let’s move on to Part 1 of planning our week. I’ve done this a few ways.

This is DEFINITELY my favorite option and the one I’ll describe in detail from my experience. You can record TONS of information about your week in a super-organized fashion. Plus, these pages are completely editable so you can type your own headings, change the colors, fonts, type in your information, etc. Now that I’m pretty decided on the headings I like to use, I print out a month’s worth of these pages at a time with the basic info typed in.

For this How-To, I’m just going to describe the types of headings I use when planning my week. The next How-To will explain my actual planning process in more detail.

Below are the headings I include for each day. When editing the form, I choose one color for each day’s headings.

(At-a-Glance)
This tells me what sort of routine I’m following that day. Typically, I have ALL SCHOOL, ALL WORK, SCHOOL/WORK, SCHOOL/ERRAND, CLEANING, etc. I can quickly see without the clutter of all the details what my day entails.

(Menu & Meal Prep)
This is pretty self-explanatory.
Side note: I do a big grocery shopping 4 times a year (one for each season). So, I have 3 months worth of menus planned out ahead of time. HUGE timesaver for me! Once a week, I go to the grocery store for perishables and large items we cannot store for 3 months. More on that another time … my point, you can EASILY plan a 1 week menu and it will save you so much hassle when it comes to dinnertime each day.

(Homemaking)
Here I list any (non-daily) homemaking type tasks I want to do that day.

(Homeschooling)
This is not the place to put my entire daily routine & schedule. Instead, I list big prep things I need to remember like: read history notes, renew library books, watch videos, etc.

(Business / Ministry)
This is just for the highlights of that particular day’s tasks.

(Must-Do List)
I list appointments, phone calls I need to make, and any other BIG must-do’s that are not listed elsewhere.

The rest of these headings are not included as part of any particular day. So, when editing the form, I give these headings a completely different color from the rest already used. These headings describe the areas of my life I review each day to remind me of my goals and “big picture” type projects & to-do’s.

(Personal)
(Physical)
(Spiritual)
(Prayer – kids)
(Prayer – family & friends)
(Prayer – other)
(Perpetual To-Do List)
I pick up to 18 items from my perpetual to-do list that I want to “try” to accomplish this week. No pressure and no guilt if I do not get to them. I can add them again next week.

In addition to the Weekly Planner 2 Page Spread forms, I also use the “Weekly Planner Pages – Inserts” and a our “Daily Do-List Insert” (more on those later).

Coming up next:
I will walk you through organizing your daily tasks and routines so you will be ready to make a weekly plan.

Now it’s time to pick out a binder for your household planner. I personally have (at this time) 7 different binders/notebooks of varying sizes. I’ve been using this system for more than five years and pretty much know what works for me. I also homeschool, run a home business, and have 10 children. So, there’s lots to keep up with! I would suggest you start with one binder (maybe 2) and after you determine what works best for you, then you can decide if you have a need to pull out certain sections or to start new binders.

So what kind of planners/binders do I keep?

1. “All-in-One”:
   A large 2.5″ D-ring binder with clear plastic sleeves that houses my “long term” brain for everything.
2. “Medical”:
   A 1″ binder for our medical records that I can grab easily and take to the doctor/hospital.
3. “Emergency/Contacts”:
   A 0.5″ binder my important info (contact info, emergency info, etc. … things I want the kids, babysitter, husband to have quick access to).
4. “Meals & Recipes”:
   A 2″ binder for all of my recipes.
5. “Quiet Time”:
   A 1″ binder for my quiet time, Bible study, & sermon notes.
6. “Homeschool”:
   A fat 3″ binder for my “school brain” and important resources.
7. “Daily Planner”:
   An “openable” spiral bound notebook that I keep with me pretty much 24/7 that has my daily/weekly planner, routine charts, and spots for taking notes throughout the day. I used the ProClick Binding System to put together this expandable notebook (very handy tool!).

So, you’ll notice some covers are from Mom’s Tool Belt and some are not. I used to be one of those “all or none” types when it came to this sort of thing (ring a bell?). I wouldn’t have been content until everything matched, but, in recent years, I have learned to live with things a little less than perfect including my un-updated covers. However, if you are starting from scratch, you can make everything match if you like!

Swirly Theme

Spring Theme

COVERS
If you want to use our themed covers or create your own, you’ll need a binder that has the clear plastic sleeves on the outside. Most binders have more than an 8.5 x 11 space in the front cover. So, to help you fill the space left over on the sides, I have created decorated left-only and right-only border pages to add to either side of your cover.

In my first picture above (swirly theme), the extra borders are on the right & left outside edges (brown background with white swirly deco’s running vertically). In the second picture (spring theme), I used one extra border on the ride edge (butterflies & pink flowers). These border pages are found in your “Cover Pages & Spines” file.

Simply slip in your cover page and add one or both border pages behind it. You might need to trim off some of the white margins to make them fit perfectly. Looks beautiful!

SPINES
Choose the spine that fits your binder. They come in four sizes. If one of these sizes isn’t perfect, choose one that’s too big and trim it down to fit. I recommend printing the spines on a thicker paper to make insertion easier. Stand your binder upright and completely open, trying to touch the front cover to the back, and insert your spine.

Trouble removing your spine? Try this little trick. Take the sticky part of a post it note (regular tape may hurt your spine when removed) and affix it to the top of the spine, open the covers as described above, and pull. Works great!