How To: Perfectly Organize Your 2015 Planner

We’re so excited to have Marissa, founder Design Love Co and designer of the amazing Design Love Planner, share her expert tips on getting the most perfectly organized planner to kick your 2015 off right!…

Hey PBteen, it’s Marissa from Design Love Co! It’s a new year and everyone is looking for a fresh, shiny new beginning. Here at Design Love Co. we are all about staying organized and doing it in a fashionable & fabulous way. I wanted to help you all get your planner in tip top shape for the new year and new spring semester, so I thought I would give you my top 4 planner organizing tips to get you started…

Tip 1: BE PREPARED AND ORGANIZED.

Friends let me tell you, the number one thing about staying organized is planning your months and weeks ahead of time so you know what you’ve got coming up. On the first Sunday of every month sit down with a cup of hot chocolate, put on some fuzzy socks and add in all your birthdays, all the weekly appointments that are already booked, and any other important dates like midterms and papers you’ve got coming in the next four weeks. (Pro tip: I use a gold sparkly pen for all these so they stand out and sparkle!)

Tip 2: MAKE LISTS AND CHECK THEM.

I suggest making monthly and on-going to do lists. (The “List of To Do’s” and “List by Categories” in my Design Love Planner are perfect for that!) Whether you’re planning a party or prepping for a big exam, title your monthly category and start your to do list! I am also using my new ‘Organized Me’ Notepad to help me write down a few extra things for the day or even the week and I stick the sheets into the pocket of the planner or pin them to the wall. My best trick here? Pick out stationery that makes you excited and you’ll be more likely to use it and stay organized!

Tip 3: TASKS AND APPOINTMENTS.

Each week in my planner is divided into a task-based and a time-based schedule so you can keep all your to-do lists separate from your weekly appointments. Combined they will help you stay on track in style. For my weekly scheduling I use fun and colourful washi tape as a way to mark appointments as “busy”. This gives me a really nice overview of how busy certain parts of my week are and when I have openings to make plans. I have also been using my new ‘Classic Planner Pad’ to add extra notes and appointments to my week and I have been keeping it stationed next to my laptop so I can see it at all times.

Tip 4: HAVE GOALS AND HAVE FUN.

Writing out your goals is the most fun part! List a few goals on the first page of every month after you’ve filled in your whole schedule for the month. Set realistic goals that you know you can stick to. Also, find inspiring quotes and prints and paste them on your wall or bulletin board to stay motivated all month! (In my planner, each monthly page has a really cute print next to it that you can remove and stick on your wall to help keep you going with your organized schedule!)

Happy Planning! Be sure to tell me how you stay organized by commenting below!

xo, Marissa

(Pssst… we’ll be launching our new notepads shortly so we can get you organized for 2015…stay tuned!)