Tuesday Sundries - Planners and Planning

It's fall and therefore it's time to start setting up my 2019 planners. 

Yes, I am a bit OCD about my planners. Or rather about having a planner. Over the years I have discovered if I have my planner, check it daily, and use it to run my life, it helps with controlling my level of depression. So my planners have become a necessity. 

You really can't see them, but there are tiny tabs for the start of each month in the daily pages section. This is where I go into more depth for to-do lists, a bit of journaling - just where I need a bit more room to write.

Across the top I added monthly tabs to find the two page month-at-a-glance easily. I try and put school days off, birthdays, anniversaries, vacations. I want this to be able to open and look at and see where I have 'free' time or days which are already planned out.

There is also a section at the front of the planner where there are six months per two pages and then down are the days of the month.

 

This I am using for a tracker section. I have only filled in for January as my items to track may change as time goes by. But I can color in or 'X' off the boxes for successful completion of that item daily.

Right now I really, really, really need to get my health back in line. Eating well, drinking water, taking my vitamins, exercising and in general, dropping some weight and feeling better physically. (I'm not waiting until 2019 to start, but I am gearing up so that by January it is more natural and not something I have to think so much about.)

Note: My Not-Scary-Bear is actually a great paperweight.

I also broke out the stickers and started putting them everywhere. I get stickers and think they are so precious I don't wind up using them. So I am determined to use them this year (which means I can buy more!).

Since I am reusing my 2018 cover for my big planner I didn't have to 'do' anything to it. So my 2019 went back into the box until the end of December when I will swap it out with this year's planner.

In addition to the tabs I added, I had put charms on the bookmarks in the cover. One I keep on the current week's pages and another on the daily pages.

My Techo doesn't need anything except the little monthly tabs applied. I'll do that when I move it into the current cover I am using and replacing the cover on cover for it. The Techo is strictly my log book for my work-from-home jobs so I have a written log of time worked on the four different projects.

The last one is my Weeks.  This one is going to be mainly for finances - tracking my spending, writing my wish list, shopping lists, savings, menu ideas. I am so going to use it to list books/authors I want to read during the year. There are several authors I have 'discovered' and want to go back and read their books. But I usually forget about it until I am at the library and looking for something to read. Since this planner will be carried around with me, this is the perfect place (I think) for that sort of information.

Yes, the tabs on the side for my 'collections' (if you are a bullet journaler), but it doesn't bother me and it makes it easy for me to find the section I need. I also have room for add more categories.

I also added a couple of beads on the bookmarks which is probably a good thing since they seem to be really unravelly. One bookmark is on the monthly page and the other is on the weekly page. I plan on marking paydays and bills due on the monthly page and then what I actually spend on the weekly pages. 

On the two page, year-at-a-glance page I am listing birthdays so I know when to send out cards, get gifts, remember to at least Facebook a Happy Birthday greeting, etc. I will be adding people as the year goes along.

My 'collections' at the back of the planner I used Post-It Tabs. This way, as the year goes along, if they get too bent, torn, or dirty, I can replace them easily.

Right now, I have tabs for 'Wish List', 'Books', 'Ideas', 'Shopping', and 'Notes'. Ideas are for my writing and notes are for everything else. I still have a lot of blank pages to use if one section gets filled up or if I need a new category. That's why I purchased a Mega Weeks which has 170 note pages.

But because I know me, I can't just save 'no' to spending on something not an absolute necessity. It's like a diet. If I tell myself I can't eat sweets, I'll pig out on everything with sugar in a 10 mile radius. This is to treat myself, once a month, if everything is going according to plan, a little something.

I should have swapped out the two pages, but I can deal with it. The same thing with the ink splotch in the center of my 'Monthly Treats' page. I can live with it. I also added Starbucks Reload of $20 on my 'Monthly Treats' page, although it should almost be labeled a necessity!

So there you have it, my 2019 planners. I do need to get a wall planner, probably another Krispy Kreme one, just so I can have an instant view of donuts!