Hey friends! So, it’s a little late in the year to just be doing a planner set up, right? I know.
So, I’ve been wanting to switch to a ring-bound planner forever. I’m not even sure why I kept buying coil-bound planners. The last one I bought was an academic year Inkwell Press Classic, which I loved…except for the fact that it didn’t start in January!
Getting a new planner is one of my favorite parts of January, so it was a real struggle for me this year to watch everyone else set up their planners while I continued to use the one I’d set up months ago.
Unfortunately (fortunately?), my cat took care of that for me last week! I guess he got a little thirsty and knocked an entire glass of water over onto my planner while it was unattended.
Logically, I know that doesn’t ruin a planner, but now the pages are warped and the cover is soggy. It was pretty much the thing that put me over the edge to buying a new planner 6 months earlier than I should.
So, now I get a new planner!
My Planner Set Up for 2017
This post contains affiliate links. To find out more, please read my disclosures.
Since I had some Christmas money left over this year, I decided to splurge a little on myself. I picked up a Carpe Diem Planner from Amazon and got my inkWELL Press Classic Inserts to put in it.
(Side note: Inkwell Press no longer offers this option, but they have a variety of planners to choose from! You can also check out this post for details on my 2018 ringbound planner, which has different inserts!)
I am really excited to be able to move things around.
If there is one thing that has driven me absolutely crazy about my coil bound planners, it’s that I can’t rearrange things. I’m not a 2 planner type of person, but I need to be able to plan my personal life and my business life at the same time. When I keep those two schedules in different places, one gets neglected every single time. Trust me, I like planners and planning enough to like the concept of keeping more than one, but I just can’t pull it off successfully.
So, What’s Behind Each Tab?
I love making my planner pretty, so this weekend I made myself some dividers for each section of my planner. I used the paper and tabs that came in the Scarlet Lime Planner Society box, which I cut down and ran through my Laminator to make them a bit sturdier.
The sections I’ll be using in this planner include:
- Goals
- Calendar (my Inkwell Press Classic Inserts)
- Blog Calendar & Business Planning (my own printables)
- To-do’s
- Plan Ahead
- Notes
- Lists/Misc
Goals
The goals section is one of my favorite parts of setting up a new planner. I love having a chance to write out everything I hope to accomplish. I think this section is pretty self explanatory, so I won’t go into too much detail. Since the Inkwell Press inserts come with a goal-tracking section, I don’t even have to do much. I’ll probably re-label some of the sections to better suit my needs, but I haven’t done anything with it yet!
Calendar
This tab includes my monthly view, weekly view, and some week-at-a-glance printables for my business.
I know not everyone likes having a monthly and a weekly schedule, but I find it ideal for my needs. My monthly calendar spread is where I plan ahead and keep all of my time sensitive reminders. This can include doctor’s appointments, school functions, pay days, and deadlines.
I do transfer these over to my weekly view as it gets closer, but I also add reminders and other scheduling tasks to these pages.
Related: How I Use My Inkwell Press Planner (Coilbound)
I’m only keeping about 6 months worth of weekly calendars in my planner, to save space for the extra sections I’ve added, but I did keep the entire year’s worth of monthly calendars so that I can write in those plans when they come to me.
Blog Calendar & Business Plans
This is a section I’m really excited about. As I mentioned above, I’ve really struggled with keeping my business planning separate, because I just can’t keep up with two planners. However, having it on the same page as my regular weekly schedule just gets too overwhelming and I end up not having enough room! My plan is to keep one week-at-a-glance page behind my current week in the calendar section that gives me a business and blog overviews, and then keep the details separate.
In this section, I will keep a monthly editorial calendar, a social media schedule for each week, a blog post planner, an income and expense tracker, a password sheet, and a few notes pages so that I can brainstorm new products and blog posts to put up. Again, this is all available in the free printable library if you want to grab your own! I did re-size mine to print as an A5, so if you need to do that, you can check out this tutorial from Laura at iHeartPlanners here.
To-Do’s
This is another section I’m looking forward to! If you ever noticed my old coil-bound planner layouts, they were always full of to-do lists. I had them on the side as well as all through the week. I also had a ton of lists in my monthly view! This section will be to house all of that away from my schedule. I will clean it out and update it each month, but otherwise it will be running to-do lists that I need to remember. I’ll probably categorize them or date them, but they’ll be totally separate from the rest of my planner.
Related: Your Planner Won’t Help You Get More Done
Plan Ahead
This will be another new space in my planner. There are so many times that I’m told about something a year (or more!) in advance, and I never have a place to put it. Think doctor’s appointments, big vacation plans, or information for my daughter’s school. I’ll now keep a year at a glance page for 2018 and a blank notes page in this section to keep a running list of important dates that don’t fit in the planner yet.
Miscellaneous
The miscellaneous section is going to house, well, everything miscellaneous! I don’t have a solid list, because anything I think of that needs planner space but doesn’t fit a category will go here. Some of the pages I have already include:
- bill tracker
- travel iteneraries
- password cheat sheet
- debt tracker (to pay off debt)
Related: How to Set Goals You’ll Actually Accomplish
In the back of my planner, I added a few extra dividers, so that if I think of something else I want to add, I have a space for it. I also added a sticky note pad and a small blank journal in the back so I have plenty of places to write notes or extra lists!
What I Used in My Ringbound Planner Set Up
I love looking at planner setups, because it gives me so much inspiration for my own planner. Most of my favorite products have come from them! I put together a list of links for all of the products you see in this post, with links to make them easier to find!.
- Carpe Diem A5 Planner in Platinum
- Open industrial 6 hole punch
- Scotch Thermal Laminator
- Inkwell Press A5 Classic Inserts
- Scarlet Lime Planner Society Kit (this is a subscription, and you can only sign up the 2nd through the 14th of each month)
- Business Organization Printables -these are mine, and they are FREE in my printable library. To gain access, you just need to be a newsletter subscriber. I strive to make all of my emails helpful and informative for you!
You know I am all about the planner posts! Would you believe mine looks super boring right now? I think I need a good planning session tonight, you’ve inspired me! Love your printables too!
Yes! You definitely need a good planning session! I can’t handle a boring planner. haha. Have fun tonight!