Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Day Designer (Planner) Organization

After sharing what exactly I keep in my backpack with y’all, I was surprised to see so many of you interested in an updated planner organization post! Once I find a routine that works for me, I tend to stick with it, so with this being my second year using the Day Designer, you’ll find that a lot of my organization tactics remain about the same. This semester is a bit different since come the second week of February I’ll be finished with my classes and in the classroom full time. The photos of the inside of my planner will help to give you a general overview of what I have coming up while also hoping to inspire your own organizational tactics. I am very aware that planner organization can be personal and it will depend on your preferences, so I am just including the practices that have worked best for me over the years as a student!




In the same way that choosing how you would like to organize your planner is a personal preference, so is picking out which planner to use however, I couldn’t ignore explaining why I adore my Day Designer in this sort of post!





Reasons why the Day Designer is totally worth the price:
1. It's aesthetically pleasing yet simplistic making the pages very functional.
2. You have a page for each day of the week complete with time slots, a to-do list, and a place for additional notes.
3. It's perfect for college students or adults because you are able to fill it to fit your individual needs.
4. The lining is light blue and never fails to make me smile when I open it up.
5. I never run out of space to write down appointments or things I need to do  even the busiest days.
6. The monthly calendar boxes are plenty roomy and look so pretty all color coordinated.
7. It's sturdy and still looks great after carrying it essentially everywhere and shoving it in my backpack multiple times each day.
8. There is a whole section at the beginning of it just for goal setting.
9. You get endless satisfaction from checking off something on your to-do list (ok, this works with any planner but still…)
10. It definitely keeps me sane and is a whole lot cheaper than a therapist would cost after constantly being overwhelmed trying to think about what you may have going on next.

So a quick side note/funny story for you that has made me an even more loyal Day Designer user. I got this new Day Designer back in October and kept it in its box until the new year approached. I took it home over Christmas break but didn’t really start using it until I arrived back at school. That’s when I realized I was missing over half of the daily pages for January in it. It was the most bizarre team and after flipping through it perplexed for a bit I emailed Day Designer’s customer service team. I heard back the next day after explaining what happened and after a quick phone call a new one was on its way to me that same day. I am seriously impressed! Not only does the planner help to organize your day but Day Designer’s customer service team was so sweet to ensure that I didn’t have to go long without my favorite organizational companion!




So now for how I keep my Day Designer organized:

I have always been a huge fan of color coordinating my agendas and I knew that I wanted to do that with my DayDesigner again this year as well. I swear by  Le Pens and have used the same ones for about 3 years now (worth the investment!) and the best part is that in addition to writing really smoothly they don't bleed through the pages! At the start of each semester I take a post-it note (these cute ones are from Sugar Paper and match my planners exterior perfectly) and assign each class and activity a different color pen! I use this color coating both on the daily pages and on the calendar overview. After a week or two I automatically start associating each color with its class and don't even have to reference the post-it note.




The daily pages are set up in a really user friendly way with lines to fill in what you are doing during specific times of the day from 5 am to 9 pm on the left hand side and check boxes for your ever growing to do list on the right side of the page. Above those are a place to write down your top three things to do on a given day, what you have due, dinner plans, and a don't forget section. While I don't always utilize each of those boxes it is nice to have them on especially busy days! Also, at the top of each page is a quote and as silly as it sounds I love flipping the page to see which quote will be next!



When filling out the hourly lines I like to write in generally what I'll be doing at that given time whether it be class, the library, laundry, meetings, or even the errands I need to run. If I have a test or big assignment due in a given class I also include that in the hourly section just as an extra reminder! The to-do list section is definitely what I utilize most as I write down just about everything I need to accomplish. In my opinion, with organizing an agenda, there is nothing more satisfying than crossing off something on your to-do list!



For the weekends the agenda is organized so that both weekend days are on the same page which is useful since I usually have less going on on Saturday and Sunday than I do during the rest of the week! I don't typically actually use the hour times on these pages and instead write down generally what I need to get done over the weekend. My favorite part of the weekend pages are the overview boxes at the bottom of the page to fill in what all I have going on the following week. This is a great way for me to get an idea of how hectic my next week will be before the weekend is over so that I can prepare accordingly! I keep this part color coordinated as well and try my best to include meetings, assignments, and tests as well as any other exciting events for the week to come.



I know that the way in which I organize my agenda may change a bit this semester as I am student teaching (aka the to-do lists will probably continue to expand) but for the most part this is the system I’ve found that works best for me currently! I’d love to hear if you have any suggestions when it comes to agenda organization!

10 comments :

  1. I love how colourful you made your planner! I wish I'd organised myself better when I was in university - but now that I'm working, I've finally gotten the heck of things.

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
    http://charmainenyw.com

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  2. I love my Day Designer but I really loved how you used colors for each type of event, it's so aesthetically pleasing!

    Ashley // MyWellDressedLife.com

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  3. Can you do an updated one once you start full-time student teaching or a post about how you organize and write lesson plans???

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  4. when do you usually put all your homework down? in college it can be hard because they don't discuss it in class. how do you make sure you write it down regularly and always remember to look?

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  5. I do love the Day Designer or daily planners in general. I love how you organize by color!

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  6. I love your agenda organization posts, Dorothy! You have definitely convinced me to get a Day Designer for my freshman year of college this fall!

    xoxo,
    Katie
    chicincarolina.blogspot.com

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  7. What type of pens do you use for your Day Designer?

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