Make Your Own Daily Planner

Now that Christmas is officially over, it’s time to focus on the upcoming new year and get organized with a new 2015 planner.  Do you have trouble finding the right daily planner for you?  I usually do, so this year I decided to make my own. You can, too!

Every year I go through the agony of finding the right planner to keep me organized throughout the year.  If you’re like me, it’s so hard to find one that has all the features you need.  You like the cover of one, but the tabs on the other, the note section in one, but the tracking charts in another.  After looking online for a new planner for 2015, I gave up and decided to make my very own planner that would be personalized for me.  I am so happy I made this choice, and I’m here to tell you that you can do it, too!

The first step is finding printable planner pages that work for you.  After searching the web, I finally found a planner that really fit my needs.  Nina from Everyday Enchanting created an awesome 2015 Printable Planner that I purchased and printed out at home.  What I love most about her planner is that you can totally customize it.  I was even able to type in birthdays and important dates before printing the calendar pages!  The weekly planning pages have a section for meal planning and blog post planning, which was perfect for me.  But if you don’t need those, it’s OK…just change it.  It really is that simple!  If you’re interested in purchasing a planner, be sure to check out The 2015 Printable Daily Planner.

You don’t have to purchase a planner if you don’t want to, though.  There are so many free printable planners on the web.  Kathy at Cornerstone Confessions has a great set of free printables to get your life organized, plus she’s rounded up over 100 places where you can find other free planner printables online.  Her list includes various types of calendars, goal trackers, meal planners, blog planners, budget planners, you name it!  Be sure to check out her awesome post here.

The reason I decided to make this planner was so I could include sections that aren’t found in your typical planners.  For example, I wanted to a goal setting section in my planner.  I believe that goal setting is very important to have a successful year, but if you’re goals aren’t visible you often forget about them.  This goal planner is perfect for keeping track of monthly goals and planning future projects, and now my 2015 goals will always be at my fingertips so I can stay focused on them.

I also included sections in my planner to keep some of my blogging tasks organized.  Remember this is your personalized planner, so add any sections you need to keep your life efficient.  You can add budget forms, vehicle maintenance logs, weekly menu pages, the sky’s the limit.   Make this planner unique to your needs!

Once I had all my pages printed and ready for binding, I headed to my local Office Depot to have it bound.  Most people think it is expensive to do this, but it actually only cost me $3.  Isn’t that a steal?  

Did you notice my pretty pink planner  cover?  Well, when I got to Office Dept I headed over to the notebook section of the store and found a pretty pink 3-ring poly binder for only $3.   I decided it would make an excellent cover for my planner.  All you have to do is cut the spine off of the binder and you’re left with the front and back pieces to use as an excellent planner cover that is extremely durable.  The ladies at my Office Depot, Noelle and Erica, totally hooked me up and even did this part for me before binding the pages together!

I’ll be honest.  I didn’t notice the clear inside pockets when I first picked out the poly binder, but I sure was happy when I discovered them!  Now I have a place to hold other items I may need to keep with my planner, like my weekly cleaning schedule.  If you don’t have a weekly cleaning schedule, find out how to create one here.

I purchased some self-adhesive tabs with printable inserts and added them to the planner so I can find each month and section easily. 

Now I’m ready to tackle the new year in style!  I love my new 2015 Planner, and can’t wait to start using it to plan a successful year.  Lucky for you, there’s still time for you to make your own planner before 2015 arrives.  Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

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