Now that we are officially halfway through the year, I thought I would give you an update on how I have my Classic Happy Planner set up for success. If you remember my original setup for my Classic Happy Planner, this will be a little familiar!
This year, I have been using my Classic Happy Planner in a way that I had never used any of my planners before – frankenplanned. This catch-all system has been working out great for me, and I have loved the convenience of having everything I need all in one place. The name of the game here is simplicity and efficiency.
Without further ado, let’s get started in how I have updated my Classic Happy Planner for living on the road.
The Run-Down
Let me start off by giving you a brief run-down on how I use my catch-all planner. I keep only a handful of months in my planner at all times, and the rest of the pages get stored on their original discs with a spare cover. Once months are completed, I pop them back into the discs with all the other glorious planning pages awaiting their turn to be filled in.
I have combined my planning pages with a few extra sections, tucked behind clear dashboards and labeled with the Carpe Diem Planners clear labels. These extra sections include wellness, project planning, social media planning, doodles and notes. See, a catch-all frankenplanned planner in all its glory!
The Planner
I made the mid-year switch to the 18-month Farmhouse Classic Happy Planner, which is a beautiful neutral styled planner. I must tell you, I love neutral planners for two reasons: you are not stuck to a specific color scheme/theme that has been printed on the weekly pages and your stickers really pop, no matter what you decide to use.
Anyway, I love everything about this planner, and I am hoping that I can have enough self-control at the end of the year to stay in this one planner for some time!
The Planning Pages | Agenda
As mentioned before, I only keep three months of planning pages in my planner at all times. I keep all other months on their original set of discs with a spare cover. Whether I have completed a month or storing a month, they all go on the same set of discs to essentially rebuild the planner. I like to go back ever so often and flip through my pages, so this allows me to do that by keeping these pages together.
Within the weekly pages, I use a clear bookmark labeled Agenda. The bookmark moves from week to week as the month progresses. My monthly spreads are used for tracking key destinations by numbers over the course of the month. You can learn more about how I use my monthly spreads here. I use my weekly pages to track the state we are currently in, where are staying, activities the family is doing in each destination, lunch and dinner meal plans as well as daily step count. I love looking back to see where we were and what we did. It’s also a nice reference for the restaurants we chose to dine at while we were visiting.
Wellness Extension | I Deserve It
I keep my wellness extension pack behind a dashboard labeled I Deserve It! I break down my extension pack to only keep one month at a time behind the wellness tab. I find that using these extension packs one month at a time is more manageable than trying to plan for 3-6 months all at once. Goals are best attained when you are not overwhelmed, and by breaking your action steps into manageable pieces.
I use the monthly spread of my wellness extension to track moon phases, menstrual cycles, and daily exercise successes. The weekly pages are used to track daily tarot card draws, hydration, exercise and steps, as well as a daily reflection of the day. I use the sidebar as it was intended to keep things super simple!
Project Plans | Just Do It!
I have been loving the new project planning pages from The Happy Planner! I keep a handful of these pages behind a dashboard labeled Just Do It I love this label for my project planning pages because it reminds me to take action to schedule the project and not just tuck my ideas and planning steps away in my planner.
Remember, we are seeking action beyond intention. So, when you have planned out a project, be sure to schedule those action steps on your calendar to achieve the success of the project.
Social Media Planning | Camera Icons
Tucked behind a dashboard labeled with the camera icons lives my social media planner. For this, I use the Trendsetter monthly planner, one month at a time, to track and schedule plans, ideas, goals and to-dos for all of my social media accounts for A Wishful Plan. It has been a wonderful resource to use from month to month.
I use the monthly spread as an overview of my editorial calendar, assigning ideas to each day that I have scheduled social media work to be completed. I have color-coded each using the Colorful Boxes sticker book from The Happy Planner to make viewing these items quick and easy.
I use the monthly goals pages to create achievable tasks for each platform of my social media. Here, I also re-write my editorial schedule, and I use the habit trackers to track successful uploads and such over the course of the month. How well am I being consistent? The habit taker will remind me of that
I have converted the Daily To-Do pages for idea pages, listing out blog and video ideas, that then can be scheduled into my monthly view. I have also used these check sheets to list out my YouTube upload process as well as my blog publishing process. These pages can then be moved from month to month.
Dot Grid Paper | Doodles
I keep some extra dot grid paper behind a dashboard labeled Doodles. I loved the idea from Alicia Michelle of keeping extra paper paper for lettering practice or doodling. I was just using my note filler paper, but I found that it was wasting my good note paper. The dot grid is a really nice addition to my planner!
Note Filler Paper | Jot It Down
Nestled in the back of my catch-all planner, I keep several types of note filler paper to use whenever I need to jot down an idea, a note, some to-dos, etc. I keep the Notes tab from the Trendsetter Happy Planner as a little extra organization.
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Like I said before, this system has been working out great for me, and it allows me to keep all of my essentials in a single place. I love my frankenplanned planner, and it goes with me everywhere! How do you utilize your go-to planner? If you don’t have a go-to planner, how are you maximizing productivity in the planner(s) you are using? Drop a comment below to let me know what you think!
Wishful Planning!
