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Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

January 14, 2015

How to make a planner with a Moleskine Square Journal

January 14, 2015

I am a proud organization freak.  I love planners, Post Its (true story: I got a box of Post It How to make a planner with a Moleskine Square JournalNotes for Christmas one year) and just about all things organization.  Pins with pictures of other people’s planners is like..organization excitement.  Imagine my joy when Meghan @ Hayes Days reviewed the Emily Ley Simplified Planner, a piece I’ve had my eye on for about a year!

I haven’t settled on a blog planner that I like (please let me know what your favorite is!) but I do have yearly planners picked out in October (only slight hyperbole).

It’s no surprise that I made my own this year.

I love Moleskine and have used their Weekly Diary/Planner Horizontal for 3 years in a row.  That’s some serious commitment, people.  As with all relationships, I didn’t love everything about it.  I wanted a calendar view and more room to take notes so I didn’t have to carry around a separate notebook.

So when I was in Virginia visiting my mom, I picked up this Moleskine Square Journal.  Even the book itself has a memory attached to it!

I started out by listing month-at-a-glance.  This is where I put all-day events or after work plans – big things I don’t want to forget.  I also have a space to write monthly goals.  After I finish my Stratejoy Holiday Council worksheets (I know, I know, it’s a little late for that), I will have an easy place to write my goals for the month.

Monthly goals and days at a glaceI’ll be able to see them in front of me and more likely meet them or make plans to work towards them.  I can also say, “Hey will this commitment get me towards my BIG IGEA this year?” if I’m on the fence with something.

Then I have a calendar.  Here will go fun plans, dates, appointments, weekend coverage for work, etc so I can see everything easily in a calendar format.

Monthly view of my Moleskine homemade plannerI know, it seems a little redundant, but I really missed not having a calendar view in the past years.  It’s easier for me to visualize what’s happening in the month in this kind of layout.

Next is the week starting on Monday.  I have plenty of room to write to-do lists and actionable goal steps along with weekly plans.  I do the Rapid Logging / Bullet Journal method in a smaller scale.  It really helps to say, “Okay here’s the Big Thing, now what steps need to happen to complete the Big Thing.”  I learned that from Molly (of Stratejoy)!

Stamp dates in a Moleskine journal to make a plannerI just used an office stamp to get the dates in there.  I embraced “imperfectly perfect” and didn’t freak out when some ink bled through or it didn’t get stamped down all the way.  Not being perfect is a first for me.  It’s a daily struggle that affects millions (god, I hope you people get my humor).

I’ve been doing “The Three” aka the three things I must complete today and I write them out here, too.  I heard somewhere that three is the number to list when you’re writing a daily to-do list, so…that’s why I picked three.

Weekly view of my Moleskine homemade plannerAnd finally, I about a third of the book is blank.  I was hoping to have a page-per-day layout and be able to journal a bit more / write out more lists on a day-to-day format, but I didn’t have enough pages…oops.

So I have a notes section instead.  Rapid Logging / Bullet Journaling definitely happens here.  For example, I wrote the big things to focus on for the change to Gardening in High Heels and the small steps under neath that will reach that goal.  It was so overwhelming to think about the tasks I needed to complete for GIHH, but writing it down in bite-size steps made it much easier.

I was also thinking about blog planning in the blank part so everything is all in one place, but everyone talking about blog planners made me want one.  It’s only child syndrome.

I will jazz it up with some washi tape, color-coordinated pens, Project Life cards, etc, but that will come later.  Organically.  I want it to be used and have a record of the great things that happened this year.

Do you use a planner? What’s your favorite way to track your day?

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14 Comments · Labels: How To Tagged: bullet journal, moleskine, organization, planners, planning, rapid logging

  • Meghan Hayes

    My first comment was going to be if you had heard of Bullet Journaling. Of course you have! I love the way you laid this out. Having a day per page has been such a relief for me. I always have enough room in my EL simplified planner. I’m in love with it.

    • Angelica @GardeningInHighHeels

      Haha I not only have heard of it, I’ve written about it! I’m really interested in the Weekly SP coming out in May. She’s such a pro at creating buzz about her products.

      • Meghan Hayes

        The weekly one in May is also supposed to be a student style one, which there were tons of comments on my review post about how they wished that she did a student version. Have you seen the weekly layout? It’s so clean and perfect!

        • Angelica @GardeningInHighHeels

          Makes sense haha. And I have! I was heavily considering that one when she did her perfectly imperfect sale. That price is still like..ouch.

          • Meghan Hayes

            That was my biggest hesitation, but because I use it for blogging planning and reviewed it on the blog my mom said I can write it off as a hobby expense, so that eased my conscience. I totally get it though. I’m not allowing myself to get invested into any other planners though since I invested so much in this one.

          • Angelica @GardeningInHighHeels

            Good call! I didn’t think of that. Ugh, I’m kicking myself! Haha. I will definitely keep receipts for printing and binding printable blog planners if/when I find one I like now.

          • Angelica @GardeningInHighHeels

            Good call! I didn’t think of that. I
            will definitely keep receipts for printing and binding printable blog
            planners if/when I find one I like now.

  • Julie @ Artwork by JM

    I really love how you laid all of this out. Really creative. I started in sort of the same way. I had a small sketch book that I made calendars in and whatnot, but now I’m using a cheapo planner I bought from Wal Mart. Still not exactly what I’m looking for but it’s working for now.

    • Angelica @GardeningInHighHeels

      Thank you, Julie! I wanted more of a free-form planner, kind of like your sketchbook that evolved into a calendar. I used to love the DayTimer (or whatever the FranklinCovey brand is) from Target that was more like a Filofax, but I switched to a notebook style a few years ago and love it!

  • Sarah @ Sometimesphotojenik

    I actually really like this idea! I still haven’t gotten a planner for 2015, mostly because I can’t find one I really like. I think I may do this because then I can make it my own! Thanks!

    • Angelica @GardeningInHighHeels

      I’m glad you like this idea! If you end up making a planner, I’d love to see the finished process 🙂 thanks for stopping by!

      • Sarah @ Sometimesphotojenik

        I definitely will let you know how it turns out if I land up making one! 🙂

  • Nelle Monaco

    interesting post… great idea 🙂 thank you so much for sharing! i am new to your blog and am really enjoying it!

    • Angelica @GardeningInHighHeels

      Thanks for stopping by! I’m glad to hear you like it! 🙂

Who’s Angelica?

Life Un-styled Blogger, Gardener, Shoe Lover..among other things

I'm here to encourage and empower you to grow where you're planted and embrace the weeds that sometimes pop up. I'll share inspiration, products I like (and you may too), and stories from the garden.

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