spring cleaning – blog planning
It’s never too late in the year to get organized – why not scratch the spring cleaning itch by discovering the planning system that works best for you?
My annual spring cleaning itch usually focuses on organizing my calendar which is totally inconvenient when you’re trying to start a new paper calendar in March. Yes, I said paper. I am 100% reliant on my digital calendar and contacts for work so I make it a point to keep my personal agenda organized on paper. Partially because everybody needs to step away from the electronics once in a while and mostly because it is an excuse to use pretty pens, paper and washi tape.
I have some exciting blog projects in the works which require actual deadlines to be met on a regular basis. No more thinking it would be nice to get some pictures edited and posted before the next holiday smacks me in the face – I’ll actually be planning posts months in advance. Since putting together a new calendar in the middle of the year is never an easy task, I went with the Circa planning system by Levenger. The weekly planning pages also came with monthly calendars, monthly to do pages and a yearly events overview that is perfect for tracking expenses. As an added bonus, I was able to start my weekly calendar pages on the month that I selected. I added some awesome project planning sheets to keep my blog on track and I am beyond thrilled with the results.
Inspired by the Blog Buddy Planner, I created a template in Excel of the daily post reminders that I like to check off. I included space to check off social sharing, food porn site sharing and a few other community tasks like remembering to comment on other blogs and pin their content. The Circa system was perfect for printing over their calendar and then snapping into my binder.
It wouldn’t be a new year of planning without a new set of pens. The Pilot FriXion Color-Pencil-Like Eraseable Pens are a paper planner must! I have tried several versions of Pilot’s erasable FriXion pens and these by far erase the cleanest and write the smoothest. I can’t stand not being able to erase items in my calendar, but hate the smudging of pencils. Problem solved!
Other planner must haves include coordinating sticky notes, flags and Washi Tape for notating deadlines and special events. Do you keep a paper planner? I’d love to hear your favorite pretty organizational tips!
