How to Create a Divider System for Your Planner in 3 Easy Steps

June 07, 2015

In the Wonderful World of Planners, you'll constantly be seeing tutorials for decorating or making your own dividers to utilize as a design tool, but also as a big key to functionality in planners.  Dividers can add another dimension of organization in planners, making them a key part of your planner.  One of the reasons I said my planner was a mess (see An Update on My Planner...), was because I had outgrown my previous divider system, making it hard for me to reach Planner Peace.  Now I think it is safe to say that planner is officially out of shambles (Woo hoo!), and this is because I have recreated my divider system, which brings us to today's topic on how to create a divider system for your planner.  Here are the steps I used to recreate my divider system:

1.  Take a good look at what's in your planner.

  • As simple as it sounds, it is one of the most crucial parts of recreating (or creating) your system.  Start by asking yourself this:  "What is really in my planner?".  Do you have pages of notes. To-Do Lists, agenda pages?  When I did I noticed that I had a lot of note pages, inspiration collages I had made, To-Do lists, agenda pages, contacts, personal info, and budgeting sheets.  Once you have done this, take everything out of your rings and put them into piles according to what they are (at this point you can see the categories for your dividers start to form!)
2. Think about your lucky divider number.
  • A lucky divider number is how many dividers you feel comfortable with.  For some, this could mean as little as three dividers or even as many as twelve!  For me, I have always felt the most comfortable with six dividers, which is pretty standard.  Try not to make your lucky divider number exceed the number of piles you have too much, but also don't make it too little.  For example,  I have seven parts that I've made from my planner, but my lucky divider number is six.  With this number, I'll still be able to contain everything properly, but I won't be all over the place trying to make everything fit in three dividers, and I won't be trying to stretch everything into twelve
3.  Put everything together!
  • Now that we've done all the dirty work, we can put everything together!  Since in this case I had had seven parts established but my lucky divider number is six,  I decided to combine my personal info and contacts together in one divider, since they are similar.  Everything else received its own divider, making the final categories for my dividers become agenda pages, contacts and personal info, notes, inspiration, budgeting, and to-do lists!
Reminder:  Don't be discouraged to make new divider systems even when you've already established one.  Remember that everyone's world is always changing, and you have to change your planner along with you and make your planner work for YOU!

Thanks for reading!  Comment below to let me know what your divider system is like! Remember to enter my giveaway here!

1 comment :

  1. Thank you Leslie! I'm glad you like my post. Hope you'll be visiting soon :)

    ReplyDelete