How I Got Out of My Planner Rut

We all go through ruts sometimes.  Recently for me it was my planner.  I rarely opened it, I didn't post any posts on here or social media, and I just felt stuck.  I tried to plan and motivate myself, but I would never follow through with my plans. I just kept thinking to myself: What am I going to do now?

All this was changed by a package of stickers,

My friend had gone to Japan earlier in the year and, knowing my love of planners and stationery, had brought me back some puffy stickers.  They were absolutely adorable!  The immediate thoughts that raced through my head were how I could put them in my Domino. I thought of dashboards, paper clips, weekly pages, and more!

Ever since I got those stickers, I have been using my planner a lot more. I have made paper clips, I have printed out inserts, I have been doing more decorated pages, and I have been way more productive. I have been posting more on Instagram, and now I am posting more on here!

The most important thing in that experience is that those stickers made me excited to use my planner again! I'm not saying you should go out and get stickers to make you more enthusiastic about your planner, but rather you do something that would encourage you to use your planner, whether it is new inserts, pens, or anything else for that matter, you should do it! One of the things that you want to get out of an organized life is happiness!

Thank you for reading! Let me know in the comments if you have ever been in a planner rut and how you got out of it. Feel free to tag me on Instagram using @live.love.planners or using the hashtag #planitwithbeth!

This Lovely Little Planner Set *FREEBIE*

Hey guys! Some exciting things have been going down here at Live Love Planner HQ! First off, the site has gotten quite the face lift if I do say so myself :) Secondly, the site is nearing almost 15,000 page views! It makes it so happy that since April, when I first started the site, you guys have helped me achieve this much, which I was I'd like to give you a little present from me to you.

Presenting...

This Lovely Little Planner Kit for both A5 personal Sized planners! This kit includes:

• A Cover page with areas to fill out your name, email address, phone number, and address
• Notes pages
• To Do list pages
• A Vertical weekly layout that fits Erin Condren Life Planner stickers
• An Expenses & Purchases tracker sheet
• Contact Lists
• Blog Post tracker
• A monthly calendar on 2 pages
• A menu planner

And all this lovely goodness for free! If you do download this kit and use it in your planner, please make sure to give it a share on social media or just mention it to a friend who you think would enjoy it.  Fill free to share this image on Pinterest!

Thanks again for all the support, I hope you enjoy this printable!  Click below to download yours!

This Lovely Little Planner Personal Size
This Lovely Little Planner A5 Size

Week of 7/13: Weekly Decoration Post!

Hey guys!  Sorry I haven't been blogging lately, but I thought I would catch up with the posts I haven't done this week, so I am going to be doing my weekly decoration post.

This week's theme is purple owls!  For this week, I used a lot of items from my Dollar Tree Haul, including the owl sticker and the purple crowns tape being used on the bottom border.  I also used tape from my giveaway haul from Miss Puff to use for the top border.  The page marker used for this week is actually the same one I used in in my weekly pages a while back!

All other stickers pictured, including the page marker, envelope, heart, and washi tape stickers, are from Plan to Play's Pretty in Pink Sticker Set.

I hope you liked this week's set-up!  Make sure to comment below and tell me what you think!  Also make sure to check out my giveaway on my Instagram here or a chance to win some of my favorite planner items!  Thanks for reading!

My New Color Coding System!

Hi guys!  If you read my last post, you'd know that I received color coding stickers in my giveaway haul package from Miss Puff, and I was extremely excited to receive them because lately I have feeling the need to put together a new system because I didn't feel like my old one was working for me.  So after sitting down and following my steps from My Thoughts & Tips on Color-Coding, I created a new color coding system for myself!

To help remember which color belongs to what, I took a index card and hole-punched it for easy reference in my weekly lay outs.  I also cut slits where the holes are for easy removal from week to week.

My code goes as followed:

• Pink- Blogging
• Reddish Orange- Kung Fu
• Orange- Family/Friends
• Yellow- Homework (for when I head back to school in the Fall)
• Green- Vacation/Holiday
• Blue- Shopping
• Indigo- Cleaning

All the topics I used for my color coding chart are the most general things that happen in my daily life, which is why I chose them as my general categories.  I like using the stickers because I can easily place them near the day of the week I am on without any hassle.  I also like the fact it provides an easy glance for me to use when I need to know the just of my day.

Thanks for reading!  Make sure to comment below and tell me what you think of my new color code and also if you have a color coding system as well.  Remember to enter my giveaway here!  Only a few days left!

My Planner Flip Through

Hi everyone!  As you know, I've officially reached planner peace in my Filofax (see How to Create a Divider System in Three Steps), so I thought I would do a planner flip through to show you what my planner looks like right now.  Just warning you now it's a very photo-heavy post.

So I am currently using my Duck Egg Blue Patent Filofax.  It's a compact size, so ring space is limited and I have to really think about what I actually want to include in the rings.

So when you first open up my planner, you'll see my Paris themed dashboard with a few binder clips and some Paris page flags.  In the top card slot, I have a few paper clips I made.  In the bottom card slot, I have a note pad where I write quick notes and lists.  In the flap in the front, I'm storing a small stack of large Project Life cards.

When you flip past my dashboard, you'll see a set of dividers I made.  The first divider holds my actual planner pages shown here:

This is just a random decorated page that I have in my planner section.

My second divider holds my To-Do Lists like the one here:

Look familiar?  It's my Bee To-Do List Freebie!

My next divider is my inspiration.  I do different collages and put anything that really inspires me for motivational tools.

An example of one of my collages.

My next divider is where I keep my general notes.  It's really only note and graph paper, so I'm not going to include a photo for it.

This divider is where I keep all my contacts and most of my personal info.  Here's what my contact sheets look like:

I used the standard contact sheets that come with Filofaxes, but I added a few stickers to add some pizazz.

Last but not least we have my budgeting divider.  This is where keep track of all my expenses and anything having to do with money.  Here's what some of the sheets in my budgeting section look like:

I primarily use my Expenses & Purchases Freebie for my budgeting section.  I also have an envelope I made stuck on the back of my divider as well which I use to hold cash.

At the back pocket of my planner I keep my smaller Project Life Cards.

Thanks for reading!  Make sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think and also remember to enter my giveaway here!

Finding the Practicality in Planner Decoration

It's one of the most controversial topics you'll see in the Wonderful World of Planner is Supplies:  To Decorate or Not to Decorate?  After reading the article Accessories and Planners: Do They Really go Together by The Fabulous Planner, I really thought to myself about whether I really should have accessories and decoration in my planners.  It took me a while to actually realize that one of my favorite parts about planning was being able to find practicality in decorating or finding uses for stationery that most people would find as a distraction or a waste of time in their planners.  For example, when most people would use page flags as decoration, I use them to write events that have pending date so I can move them around my planner.  Washi Tape?  I write on pieces of it as labels.  Project Life Cards?  I use them to write notes on.

My point is, certain aspects of planner decoration don't necessarily have to be just for eye candy.  Decoration in planners can be a motivator to make you actually want to take the time to plan as well for general uses in your planner.

Thanks for reading!  Make sure to comment and tell me what you think and also remember to enter my giveaway here!

Week of 6/8: Decorated Pages!

Hi everyone!  For this week's pages, I went with the theme "Pretty in Pink", and my mind set was anything and everything pink and sparkly!  Like my decorated pages post a couple weeks ago, I decided to recycle some old birthday cards I have been keeping to help decorate.  Here's my end result:

For the bookmark in this picture, I used a sparkly heart sticker I had on hand and the backing of an old card that was EXACTLY the perfect height for a personal sized bookmark, not trimming needed.  For the pink heading I used an old envelope in place of scrapbook paper.  The sparkly arrow is a sticker I hot glued onto a paper clip making a nifty little pointer for important events.  The sparkly deco at the bottom is sparkly washi tape that I was given to as a gift, so I'm actually not sure where that from.

That's it for today!  Thank you for reading and make sure to comment below for any requests for upcoming decorated pages.  Also make sure to enter my giveaway here!

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

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!

Week of 6/1: Decorated Pages!

Recently I entered a cute little flash giveaway for stickers on Instagram provided by the lovely Vanessa Glass of the new Etsy store Interroband Designs!  This site is absolutely PERFECT for any planner geek, and I absolutely LOVE the planner stickers she has!  After entering this great giveaway, I surprised to find I had won some of Vanessa's Citrus Planner Stickers, which are great considering that summer is almost here.  And what better to do with these stickers then to decorate this weeks planner pages with!

 Don't they look cute in my planner?  Plus, Vanessa was nice enough to include some adorable washi tape with the stickers that coordinates perfectly with the stickers.  To give you a better idea of what she included, here's a pic of all the goodies she sent over:

That's it for today!  Thank you so much Vanessa for sending this stuff over!  Thanks for reading!

A Hint to my Future Giveaway...

As most of you know, I have promised a giveaway when I reach 100 followers on bloglovin', and I felt to give ACTUAL some motivation to do so, I should definitely show you a little hint to what you'll be winning!

When I reach 100 followers, I will be giving away a Anchors Ahoy Pocket Organizer from Paperchase, not to mention a ton of other goodies along with it!  So if you'd like a chance to win this ADORABLE little planner, make sure to follow me below!

Follow me here!

Good luck and thanks for reading!

Week of 5/25: Decorated Pages!

Hey guys! Lately, I have been lower of stationery supplies than I'd like to be *tear falls down cheek*, so after trying to find an alternative to washi tape and sticker, I have been using old cards! That's right, birthday and holiday cards from brands like Hallmark.  I have found that most cards have very interesting edges and appliques, which makes great for my weekly planner page decoration. Here's my pages decorated with old cards:

I really love how it came out! One of the cards had this very lovely scalloped edge which I thought acted as a very nice trim for my pages.  I also used part of the card to make a bookmark and I thought this also added a nice touch and brought it together.  In place of stickers, I used appliques from the card (the butterfly and the flower).  I also used the remaining parts of the card to make borders on each day.  Overall, I am pretty happy with the idea, and I will be trying it again in the future.  Make sure to comment and tell me what you think as well as any ideas you may have for my planner pages (I love hearing from everyone!) Thanks for reading!

My View on Using Multiple Planners

Whether it is blogs, social media, or from other planner geeks themselves, you'll see an abundance of people with more than one planner.  Some will interchange them, using them one at a time, while others will them all at a time.  As a person with multiple planners (my Filo and my Fauxdori), I believe in using multiple planners at one time. Here's why:

One planner equals limited space.

When I first received my Filofax, since I had no other planners I had tried my best to include all important parts of my daily life in my planner.  Even then, the space of my compact planner limited the options of my planning and I hated having to be contained in a way like that.  That's why I chose to make a Fauxdori for my blog planning to help open my space.  Even though now I have two planners, I'd still like to open up my options by getting more planners.  Do I believe in using to many planners at once?  Yes, even though it helps to "opening up" my planner, I think that it can be hard to manage them all at once.

Thank you for reading! Make sure to check out tomorrow's post!

Week of 5/18: Decorated Pages!

Hey guys! Over the weekend, I took a trip over to Hobby Lobby with my friend Stefanie and we went all out and got a planner haul!  I bought quite a few things, including a Pocket Pages kit, a Heidi Swapp kit (*drools*), and a We R Memory Keepers Journaling Card Pad.  With all these supplies, I decorated my pages for this week, are here they are!

This week, I used the following supplies:

• Stickers from this Heidi Swapp kit
• Paperclip made from stickers from this Pocket Pages kit
• We R Memory Keepers cards from the Albums Made Easy Collection in cut out Pocket Pages sleeve from this kit
• Washi tape accents from here

I hope you enjoyed this post! Thank you for reading!

My Thoughts & Tips on Color-Coding

A very controversal subject in planner world is -you guessed it- color coding.  Some people love it and make it the most important part of their planner, others view it as a waste of time and avoid it as much as possible.  I myself have color coding in my planner, but I believe it is a very testy part of planning.  Some people over do it to the point were they have 15 different colors existing within their planner for the most explicit details in their daily life, meanwhile, I only have 5 at the moment.  Why I do this? Here's why:

Color coding is glance-at only

What I mean by this is that I believe the purpose of color coding is to be able to see what type of events will be on my schedule without having to read into the details of the event itself. When you go ahead and go color crazy, you'll constantly have to go back and look at your code to see what type of event it is. This defeats the purpose of color coding because you prevent yourself from "glancing" properly.  When you have only the five colors, it makes it easier to "glance" at your events.

How do I start my own color coding system?

Simply brainstorm the most general thing you do in your everyday life.  After that, choose a few that you think you need the most and assign them a color. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy!


That's it for today! Thank you for reading and make sure to comment below!

The Front of my Planner

Since my planner is in shambles, (see my article, An Update on my Planner...), I have been constantly adjusting and tidying and organizing. During this process, I have been able to perfect the front of my planner, which to me is one of the most important parts of a planner to have organized. Here's why:

Imagine your next week is going to be a total chaos of events and errands, (but who knows, it might already be like that) and the first thing you do is open up your planner, only to find a mess in the front. After this, you feel discouraged to continue on further in the rest of your planner, and instead you just write down your schedule on a stray notepad just laying around.

To conclude: the front of your planner has to be pleasing to you, or else you will be discouraged from continuing on in your planner. Think of the front of your planner like the beginning of a book, if you don't like the way it starts, you may not want to finish it. That's why I have decided to perfect the front of my planner, and here it is:

Ta da! What do you think? Now just in case you were interested in anything that I have in the front of my planner, here's what I used:

1. Bow Paper Clip- Made by me, using the tutorial here
2. Notepad- Flip Notes Refill pad
3. Layered Pocket- Made by me, using the tutorial here
4. Washi Tape on Layered Pocket- HeroNeo? Click here
5. Eiffel Tower Sticker Flake- World of Kawaii Etsy Shop (click here)
6. Fish Sticker- Unknown

So that wraps up today's post! Make sure to comment below and tell me what you think!

An Update On My Planner...

Now I'm not gonna sugar coat this: right now my planner is in shambles.  Now this is not because I have not formed a system for my planner, because I have, but it is because I am taking the risk to make an entirely new one. I know, I know, why create a new system when you spent all this time and dedication to making one that's perfect for me?

Well here's your answer: times change. Needs change. I change. Because of this, my planner needs to change with me.  This is why I am making a new system for myself, one that I can change along with me. Now this will definitely take me a while to accomplish, but I am looking forward to sharing my experience with everyone :).

So that wraps up my short lil' update.  Make sure to check for tomorrow's post!