Category: Collaborations

     I know it’s not Tuesday, but today I’m sharing a “bonus post” in my Back to School series this week, and it’s a collaboration!  I’m collaborating with Cayleigh from CNPrepster to show you how we organize our planners!  I’m so excited to be doing my third collaboration with Cayleigh, be sure to check out her post here!  I don’t know about you, but my life would be a train wreck if I didn’t have my planner to remind me of homework, practices, club meetings, my work schedule, and Bible studies.  While the planner I’m showing you today is the one I used last year, the way I’ve begun to organize my planner this year is pretty much exactly the same!  I’ve divided my post into a few areas of depth; what I use, how I lay out my months, how I organize my daily sections, and how I utilize the “notes” area.  Enjoy!

What I Use

     I use a large Kate Spade agenda.  I’ve found the size, layout, and style to be perfect for me.  I used to use Lilly Pulitzer agendas, but I just love the simplicity of the Kate Spade agendas so I bought another one this year!  Shop all of Kate Spade’s agendas here (the one I purchased for this school year is linked here!).  I use a set of colorful gel ink pens that was gifted to me about a year ago to color code everything I write in based on class or activity.  I was unable to find this exact set online but I’ve linked a similar set here.

Month Overlook

     The monthly overlook in Kate Spade agendas provides squares for every day in the month as well as a small “notes” section on the lefthand side.  I typically use the “notes” section to write in exciting things that are happening that month such as spring break, a big concert, the beginning of lacrosse season, holidays, etc.  As you probably already know from reading my blog, I love faux calligraphy and it’s no surprise that I use it in my planner too!  When I write in events and due dates in the monthly sections’ daily squares I like to have a variety of “fonts” if you will, so sometimes I write in faux calligraphy, sometimes I write in all caps, sometimes I just use my regular handwriting, it’s really just whatever I feel like doing.  I typically write my major classwork due dates in using colors that somewhat coincide with that class’ binder.  The pen colors I have that aren’t similar to any of my binder colors (in last year’s case red and orange) are used for writing in extracurricular events such as lacrosse games, YoungLife clubs, Bible studies, choir concerts, major blog posts, and dinner dates with friends.  For the sake of keeping my monthly calendar looking color balanced I will occasionally use a color that actually belongs to a class to write in an extracurricular (take the photoshoot on Saturday the 4th for example), but that doesn’t usually throw me off.

Weekly Sections

     Kate Spade agendas provide a full spread for each week and seven lines per day.  I have seven school periods each day (two of which last year were choir and a study hall), so this is perfect for me to use a line per class.  I mentioned I had choir and study hall because I never had homework for either of those classes, so I usually had two extra lines in which I wrote in due dates and extracurriculars that take place on that particular day.  I write in each class’ homework in colors that correspond to their binder colors and use the extra pen colors for extracurriculars, just like in the month overview section.  If something big is happening one weekend and it’s planned more than a week or so ahead of time (like a wedding, friend’s birthday party, or anchor club fundraiser) I will write it in, but I usually don’t write anything in on Saturday and Sunday because most of my weekend plans are made pretty last minute.  I usually use Saturday’s seven line allotment to write in a little weekend To Do list for myself.  These typically include completing some long term assignments, studying for assessments the following week, and shooting/writing specific blog posts (all of which gets written down in its usual color coded pen color).

“Notes” Section

     I’ve never been one to truly use the “notes” sections in any agenda for the purpose of actually taking any type of notes.  However, last year I started using these pages in my agenda to brainstorm blog post ideas and I’ve absolutely loved it.  You can see several of my past ideas in the picture above, some of which I went on to write (the “Steal Her Style” idea went on to become my “An Outfit Inspired by…” series) and some of which I’m still working on.  I organize these ideas into a few categories; “Style,” “Christianity,” and “Life, DIY, Etc.”  I think this is a great way to utilize your agenda’s “notes” pages if you’re any type of content creator, whether that means you’re a blogger, YouTuber, Instagrammer, etc.

Thanks for reading!  Don’t forget to check out Cayleigh’s post here to see how she organizes her planner!