Using stickers for planning, not for decorating

I love to spend lot of time with my planner, but what is too much, is too much. I'm always searching for solutions to automate things, or making it simpler.

Where and for what do I use stickers in my planner?

1. Monthly spread - recurring events
I have lot of thing what don't need to write, but it is good to remind me. I know, that I bring my smallest daughter to Hungarian School every Wednesday. I know, when to leave, when it is. But I have the sticker here, because when I make an appointment with someone, I might forget it.

2. Monthly spread - events, color coded, with icons
I just started to make my own stickers with my new Silhouette Portrait. I've chosen for all family member a color.

This way the sticker tells me without writing: who and where, and I have to write only the when. It spares me a lot of time and space.

3. Monthly spread - events, without icons
I don't have icon for any possible events, so I made a lot circle stickers too.

4. Recurring tasks not to forget
Like give pocket money to kids every first day of the month's.

5. Daily schedule - event sticker without icons
I love how the circle sticker pops out! More and more than only writing in, even if it is written with color.

6. Daily schedule - color coded with icons
There are events, what not influence my schedule, but I have to know, like one of my bigger daughter has an appointment. I place the sticker reminders on the right side of my schedule. Didn't found now one quick, but you can see above, how I placed such an event on my schedule.

7. Index page - type of the event

I try to write every important stuff, what I might have to remember later, when that happened. Here I have a different logic with the color coding. I have for all family members a separate sheet, and color codes mean different segment of life (like green is health, yellow is fun, etc.) This way is quick to find: when was my daughter last time by dentist? I don't need to read for that, only search the teeth icon.

This post is part of the planner experience link up party:

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The "Next Week" flyleaf

I have this flyleaf already for months ago in planner. It helps me in weekly planning. This is a laminated piece of paper, where I wrote with pen - Frixion users, attention: never write on a piece of paper you want laminate!!! I didn't wanted to spend too much time to designing an insert for this.

What all function the next week flyleaf has?

1. Keeping the weekly review checklist
Everything I have to do on my weekly review is listed here. I can use whiteboard marker to check the points off.

2. A list about our weekly routine

I didn't wrote this on the paper, because it can be change. It's on a post it note. As you can see some stuff is already added to it. Having the family routine by hand by weekly planning is very useful, I don't have think too much, what everything we have, only write them in. The are also recurring appointments and also tasks I have to do on a specific day on the week. 

3. Place for next week's tasks

Sometimes come something into my mind, and I don't want to add to my actual weekly tasks, because I have enough. I also don't want to write to my next week planning page, because I might use a different format (as before I tried so much options, or I just don't want to make it disorganized. I just jot it done here, and I can add to week, when I make the weekly planning. Sometimes works this post it as a master to do list, when I don't write next week something to my tasks, I just leave it here for later. While I have a page marker on the top, I can reach this place very quickly.

4. Pending items

On the back I keep waiting on stuff on post it's. I review them weekly, if it's finished, or have I something to do with that thing. I have also a don't forget post it here just in case :)

What do you think about this useful tool? Would you use something similar? If yes, what elements would you take?

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask in comment! Share your experiments in our Facebook group, and get more help!  

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What to do, if you didn't planned correctly and your plan is crashed?

Nothing serious: no accident, no new stuff, only not enough thinking, that happened with me yesterday. Very carefully written plan, which was wrong. Why? I planned a task for next Monday. But this task was a precondition for a task I planned for yesterday, what have a deadline for tomorrow. How silly. And? What can I do? Reschedule! Put off everything else and make the task planned for Monday, and what a task? A big one, of course.

This is how my yesterday turned out, a lot of tasks unfinished.

This was my original plan for today:

I took two post it notes to write a new list with the tasks I thought this morning I want to finish today. I don't care about the other things written originally here. If I'm done with the post its, I can move on to this.

I have no idea, what I will finish today, so I didn't wanted to schedule the unfinished tasks from yesterday (but I wanted to clean up that page), so I wrote everything only on an other post it. When I make my daily review tomorrow morning, I will decide, what I want to do. I will move that post it until I have on that any task.

Let's go back to my list on the two little post its! :)

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The greatest menu planner you have ever seen in Filofax - includes recipes

As every family, we have also usual meals. But sometimes we forget them. We also have recipe book - what is hard to use. 

When I wanted to try out a personal size planner, I bought a cheap used Filofax Domino, then I moved out to another planner, and this one stand on the shelf. Why couldn't be this one my recipe book combined with menu planner?

Purple Filofax Domino, personal size

Recipe book

I placed a-z dividers to the planner and I place recipes in this order. 

No categories, only first letter. I think this way is simpler to find the right one.

Menu planner

This is more interesting! I have here month on two pages "calendar". 

Page marker of course kitchen themed :)

And some laminated craft paper, with the names of the dishes. Here I use categories: the color of the flags means: meal, sweet, soup, vegetarian, etc. The dashboards are: quick dishes, complicated dishes, desserts, etc. 

Quick dishes for workdays

Time consuming recipes for the weekends

And we have also a wishlist dashboard, all family member can move here a flag he/she want to eat. It makes me also simpler to choose, first I go here! At Friday I plan for the whole next week and write a shopping list. I have some rules, what also helps, like we eat noodle on Wednesday, we eat chicken at Thursday... I leave the flags on their place for a month or longer for we eat variously enough.

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ADD style planning

I posted this picture on Facebook last week. And here some more explanation, what happened here?

I don't know why, but the last two weeks was extreme chaotic for me. More appointment, less concentration maybe... The week before I started with big hope and hard resolution: I will keep the plan! I made a 3 hours section for daily "must" or routine, or what, what included daily routine (started with brushing teeth, and work stuff as reading emails, etc), my little steps (for declutter, learning, and some other goal-related "I-do-every-day-a-little-something" tasks), social media. I made it Monday,  and I had so much emails to answer, that I couldn't finish this purple section until evening. Despite I shutted off Facebook and Skype and so on. I work concentrated and at 16:30 I was shutted off. My brain stopped to work. I was disappointed: if I leave myself to distracted with FB and things I WANT to do, than I don't finish with my plan. If I don't let it for me, that I can't finish, because it is so exhausting for my ADD brain to stay on the way... What was the outcome? I did not do anything on Tuesday. Really. I striked, and spent my time with I wanted. Don't say I am lazy, or I should have more willpower. I am not lazy, and I don't have willpower. I have ADD. It is really frustrating, when I loose the control so much. Fortunately on Wednesday I had a consultation with my psychiater what brought me back to life :)
Rest of the week? Try to save what you can... On the picture you can see Friday. Planning was more what I DON'T do, not what I do... I had to choose, what I leave. I didn't wanted to print new daily page, so I wrote on the green post it the most important tasks and covered the original plan with it. I worked from that list with the help of the little orange square post it. That is a great technique to stay concentrated and motivate yourself. How it works: pick from your list the 3 items you want to make. Choose the 3 most important, or what you have mood, or the first 3 one, take one with physical activity, one with sitting or something like this to work more balanced... After you are done this 3 tasks, reward yourself! Take a break, or do something for you (I make mostly some planner related stuff :D)
Extra chaotic stuff there: post its for tracking items (waiting on package :)) Note for myself, what to do, when I have headache. Procrastinated tasks, on post its, with a hope that I will do it at least. (They are still there...)

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Tutorial: How to make a foldable sticky note holder?

I have some sticky notes what I like, but they are not too sticky. I use for it glue. Keeping them on a divider as usual is not an option. I created this holder to my personal size planner.

Step 1: 

I used cardstock paper for it, I cutted to size. For A5 size, you should have 21x29.6 cm paper - which is exactly A4 size :) Cut the stripes for the same with and the wished high.

Step 2: 

Fold all pieces to half

Step 3: 

Punch it

Step 4:

Fasten the stripes to the holder with the help of washi tape. (As you can see, I kept the stripes on place with some little piece of washis.) Cut the unnecessary washi.

Step 5:

Strengthen the holes by using washi tape on the other side too.

Step 6:

Hole punch again.

Step 7:

Cut to the holes on the right side: it will allows you to open the holder without open the rings.

Step 8:

Enjoy!

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What I learned/found this week? Week 22

You don't want something to do? The hardest part to start and the task is not so hard as you thought before. - http://timemanagementninja.com/2015/05/4-tips-on-doing-what-you-dont-want-to-do/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TimeManagementNinja+%28Time+Management+Ninja%29

Create storage for your Filofax from Project Life pockets! - http://happie-scrappie.blogspot.ch/2015/05/planners-from-project-life-pockets-to.html

What you have to know about planner fanatics - http://www.justhappy.me/?p=406

Break the rules! - http://homemakersdaily.com/planner-use-its-okay-to-break-the-rules/

If you decided to start a new habit, write the action in your planner as an appointment! http://zenhabits.net/determined/

The organizer blogger are unorganized! http://www.giftieetcetera.com/2015/05/how-to-become-organizing-blogger.html
O, how real! I think if you write stuff in the blog, it helps to make it clear in your mind, and simpler to make and not break (of course you will break, but not so much as you wouldn't blog...)

Schedule time in your day to deal with your "mosquitos". http://quovadisblog.com/2015/05/time-management-monday-dealing-with-mosquitoes/

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Page marker with daily routine

I made this page marker after the idea from Kent from Oz. 

How it is built: I laminated a paper, same width as the inserts, and a little bit taller (6mm). I laminated a protector page without paper, and cut to the same height, and 6 cm wide. I took wash tape, and first I glued the two piece together, when the smaller was on the top of the larger (that leaves enough space between the two pieces). then I opened it, and used an other stripe of wash tape on the other side. My addition to it: I cut a piece  from the notepaper of the daily insert. I wrote my daily routine, and glued on the leaf that way, when I fold the marker, it matches to the notepaper insert. I can draw now my checkboxes there.

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What I learned this week? - Week 19

I read such nice ideas every week in blogs, from now on I want to share with you the best!

Make an anti procrastination training every morning for 5-10 minutes. - by Leo Babatua
http://zenhabits.net/unprocrastination-sessions/

Use eraser as a stamp. Use stamp templates. - By Pam Perreault
http://pamperreault.blogspot.ca/2015/05/decorated-planner-series-stamped.html

Write your menu on a sticky note.
http://www.giftieetcetera.com/2015/05/stop-wasting-valuable-planner-space-on.html

Don't procrastinate when you change your system, make it ASAP!
http://homemakersdaily.com/how-to-successfully-switch-planning-systems/

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