With the new year upon us, it’s a fantastic time to start a new planner. There’s something incredibly inspiring and motivating about beginning fresh. A gorgeous planner with all blank pages sets the tone for a clean slate to start your year.
Whether you’re just now making the switch back from a digital calendar or you’re a seasoned veteran in the world of planners, we’re sharing our top tips to help you prepare for your best year yet.
1. Pick a Planner
To get started, if you don’t already have your planner, you’ll want to choose your favorite layout and cover style. Not attached to a particular format? Then you have a few decisions to make!
Do you want to plan and view your schedule on a monthly, weekly or daily basis—or perhaps a mix?
Do you like the idea of having everything in one place, all bound together? Or would you prefer the flexibility of a binder system so you can add and remove pages?
Think about what will work best for you.
We believe a daily planner is essential for making it all happen when it needs to—each and every day. Many of our planner friends prefer a combination of a monthly overview and daily pages. Our Flagship Day Designer offers two-page monthly spreads, our signature daily planning pages, and combined weekend pages.
However, planning styles vary and we get that! If you’re more into a weekly layout, take a look at our A5 Luxe Collection which allows you to create your own layout! Not only can you choose a weekly spread, but you can also mix in a monthly spread, daily pages, and many other insert options. You can come up with your own layout, add to it, remove pages, and switch it up as many times as you like. The idea here is to customize your planner to fit YOUR life.
If a flexible planner would work best–perhaps you have busier weeks or days than others–or you need a planner to keep track of a project such as wedding plans or homeschooling, then take a look at our Today & To-Do undated planner.
So many choices! Feeling confused on which path to take? Our advice: Don’t get hung up for too long on step one! Pick a planner, get started now, and begin to see the difference.
2. Gather Schedules
It’s time to gather your upcoming events. Think through everything you’re juggling and get the dates in front of you. Don’t forget:
• Holidays and Birthdays
• Trips and Vacations
• Health and Fitness
• Appointments: Doctor, Dentist, Specialist, Hair, etc.
• Social Events and Church Events
• Membership Schedules: Clubs, Groups, etc.
• Nonprofit Events and Volunteer Schedules
• School Schedule (yours or your kids’) and Events
• Sports Schedules and other After-School Activities
• Work Schedule
• Spouse’s Schedule
3. Select Favorite Supplies
Day Designer pages are simple in design yet many of our creatively passionate friends can give these pages some serious personality. We’re talking planner stickers, washi tape, colored pens, page markers, and darling dashboards! Within each of those categories, you’ll find an array of styles, colors, materials, and more. The options are endless! Planner sticker and accessory companies are so popular right now, which is super cool. We created this roundup of planner accessories that we love. There are some lovely sticker companies that design products specifically to fit Day Designer pages.
If you’re not the decorating type, don’t worry—you are not alone! You’ll love the simplicity of the pages, especially once you fill in your schedule and to-dos. Just select your pens (or pencils) and you’ll be set!
4. Set 2019 Goals
Think over the goals you set for yourself in 2018. Ideally, you have these written somewhere (perhaps your previous Day Designer!) so that you can pull them out and read back over them. Consider which activities, habits, relationships, etc. worked for you—and which didn’t. Take some time for personal reflection. As you begin to set your goals, start by simply asking yourself these questions:
• Who do I want to be in 2019?
• How do I want to feel in 2019?
• What are the goals that will get me there?
• What goals can best support my personal and professional development in 2019?
This process is not meant to make you feel bad about what you haven’t yet accomplished or what may not be going well in your life. Rather, it’s about reflecting and refreshing, to ensure you’re being intentional about the way you spend your time and the goals you’re pursuing. Aim now to live a well-designed life in 2019!
Looking for some inspiration on how to set goals? We are big believers in balanced goals—a flexible framework for goal-setting focused on five different life segments (as shown in the boxes above).
5. Review Priorities
In addition to setting your goals, you’ll also be reviewing your priorities. While things like family will always remain at the top of your priority list, you may find that other things may have shifted. At this point in your life, what’s most important? Where do you want to be focusing your time? When new projects, tasks and opportunities arise, you’ll want to think about where they fall on your own personal list of priorities.
6. Record Everything
Yay! It’s time to fill it all in—you have arrived at the most exciting part of the process! Get those events, birthdays, holidays, and trips onto paper and see how it all lays out. Incorporate your lists, tasks, and notes where needed! Visualize your upcoming days, weeks, and months.
Finally, admire your work, notice your clear mind, and get started! We can’t wait for you to see the difference in focus and productivity, allowing more time for what truly matters most. Don’t have a planner yet? View our collection!