Productivity & Time Management Tips (that actually work)

1. Set an alarm

I set alarms for a lot of things including:

• What time I wake up in the morning (including weekends)
• When completing tasks that are prone to dragging or which I don't want to do
• When checking social media - it's very easy to spend a lot of time on Instagram if you're not careful!

2. Always allow more time than you think to complete a task (at least 30% more!)

In an ideal world tasks would take as long as we'd like them to take. But this is rarely the case. I always add a buffer of a least 30% on top of the time I expect a task to take. For bigger tasks you may want to add extra time. I always under-estimate how long it takes to create an ecourse.

3. Use the Pomodoro technique

The Pomodoro technique works well with alarms. It's based on a focused 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break. The break is a good time to stretch - especially if you've been sitting at a computer all day, and also to get a quick social media fix if you need one.

4. Restrict when you check emails

Only check emails twice a day (the 1st time you check should be after completing your most important task for the day).

5. Find your power hour

My power hour is 10pm at night to 11pm. During the week this is when I've had a shower, dinner etc. and just before bedtime. Cramming things in before I go to bed actually makes me productive. When you realise you've gotten to the end of the day and haven't completed the things on your list, it's quite motivating to get on with it, stop procrastinating and just get them done. For me it''s usually a blog post I'm cramming to get done as it's due to go live first thing the next morning. I actually prefer to write blog posts the night before as otherwise the perfectionist in me takes a lot longer to draft posts.

Related: How to keep track of blog post ideas using sticky notes and a notebook

6. Eat that frog

'Eat that frog' otherwise known as 'do the thing you least want to do first' is a principal I adopt for tedious tasks such as bill paying, phoning insurance companies etc. I avoid scheduling a lot of these tasks close together and no more than one of these tasks per day. I find it much easier to do 1 per day as you feel like you've accomplished something. I tried moving all of these tasks to one day per week but ended up dreading that day, feeling overwhelmed and not wanting to do any of the tasks.

7. Set reminders on your phone

The reminders app that comes pre-installed on your iPhone is a handy tool. I don't take my planner with me as I use it for blogging / shop planning (it stays on my desk since I work a day job and have to use the company's planning system). Since I don't have my planner on me, I often set reminders (especially if it's calling a company that shuts at 5pm i.e. I have to call them during my lunch break). I have a recurring reminder set on my phone to clean my bathroom each week, at the same time every week. By assigning a set time to do things I find I procrastinate less - it just becomes part of my routine.

8. Use a different color for urgent tasks and due dates in your planner

Color coding is such an effective and efficient way to organize your life! Using a highlighter or simply drawing an asterisk next to priority tasks helps them stand out so you know to start with those tasks first.

Color coding is one of my favorite ways to plan! See these posts for color coding tips:

• 50 Category Ideas for Color Coding Your Planner
• Planner Organization: How to color-code your planner (so you’ll actually use it effectively)
• Favorite color coding planner supplies for less than $5
• Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding
• How to organize and color code your notes for school, college or university
• Color coded monthly meal planning using sticky notes
• 6 Ways to color code your planner to increase productivity
• Color coding your planner: how to choose which colors to use

9. Keep track of where your time goes

I used to waste a lot of time mindlessly watching tv and Googling random things. A few years back I recorded exactly where I spent my week (in 15 minute time increments) using one of the printables from this kit in my shop. I was spending at least 10 hours per week watching TV. That adds up to a lot of wasted time over a month (and a year!). I've cut TV out of my life completely (it's been 5 years now!) - honestly I don't miss it at all.

I'm not saying you should cut all the fun things from your life. What I'm saying is choose your priorities, set goals and make sure your weekly planning aligns with that.

10. Batch tasks

If there are bills to pay, do them all at the same time. To know what tasks you can batch, you need to know what tasks you have to do and this is where a weekly brain dump comes in handy. I do a brain dump, then color code and categorise the tasks. Maybe that's why the more planners I try, the more I tend to gravitate towards those that feature lists - I tend to plan by category rather than by day.

Related: Week 5: Planning by category and task, rather than by day

11. Remove distractions (close all those browser tabs)

This is one I'm still working on - closing down all the tabs you're not using. If you watch my tutorial videos you'll notice that I always have a lot of tabs open :/ Flicking back and forth between tabs all the time wastes a fair bit of time - especially when you have so many open that you can no longer read what that tab is for and end up guessing / clicking on all the tabs to find the one you need.

12. Turn off notifications on your phone...or turn the phone off completely

I don't have notifications on my phone for my Etsy shop and always turn my phone face down - especially at work. I always have my phone on silent so it's not distracting.

13. Make a detailed plan with due dates

Unless tasks have due dates, you won't be as motivated to get them done and you may never finish them. Stepping out all of the steps involved in a task, allocating an estimated time to complete them an adding a due date will make you much more productive.

14. Stop multi-tasking

It's easy to think you're being productive when doing 2 things at once but it's actually less effective as your brain needs to reset each time you switch tasks. That's why I always write a blog post then edit it afterwards, not as I go.

15. Create a routine

I like structure and I like routine. I tend to do the same things at the same time each week. For example, Saturday mornings are for recording videos for my YouTube channel and taking photos for this blog. When I get home from work the first thing I do is check emails for my shop.

Setting a routine also helps with tasks you don't want to do - like cleaning tasks. When I set a specific time each week that they need to get done it becomes auto-pilot and I'm less prone to procrastinating. I also schedule 'fun' tasks on either side of tasks I don't want to do to make it more bearable.

16. Automate as much as possible

Some of the things you can automate:

• Bill paying
• Social media posting
• Emails
• When blog posts are published

17. Write it down

If I don't write it down I'll forget it. A lot of people in the world seem to be in the same boat since paper planners are still very popular!

Related: 52 Planners in 52 Weeks

18. Keep your workspace tidy

If you're workspace is tidy you'll be less frazzled and waste less time trying to find things.

19. Plan at the same time each week

Every week, on a Sunday, I plan the week ahead. Read more about my process in this post: My weekly blog planning process (how I organize and plan for the week ahead every Sunday)

20. Break large projects into manageable chunks

If I'm working on a large project such as an ecourse it can be overwhelming when you think of everything that needs to get done. First I do a brain dump, then I cluster like tasks together and break them down into a series of smaller tasks (30 minutes is optimal).

Habit Tracking

Some of the things on this list are things you've probably heard a dozen times - but do you actually do them? Old habits are hard to break. If you need a habit tracker, click here to download the one I use (and access the free printables library!)

Some of the habits you may want to track are:

• Didn't hit the snooze button
• Didn't watch TV
• Tidied your workspace
• Completed an 'eat that frog' task
• Only checked emails twice today

I shared a list of 100 ideas of habits to track in this post.

Pin for later!

Related: Planner companies that will let you download, print and try their planner layout for free

Setting up the Week

The weekly spread features a lot of checkboxes - it won't come as a surprise that that was the reason I was keen to try this layout :)

I thought about color coding using pens but after seeing the difference doing a full week of highlighted color coding made in week 26, I opted to write in black pen and use highlighters to color code.

Before color coding...

....and after color coding

This is why I'm always harping on about color coding - such a big difference!

I switched up my color code this week so I could see where the time is being spent on projects (growth) versus maintenance tasks. I used:

• Pink = blogging
• Purple = Behind the scenes / maintenance tasks
• Blue = Europe trip planning (going next year!!)
• Green = Personal
• Orange = Products

Related: 50 Category Ideas for Color Coding Your Planner

I used the 'this week's goals' section of the spread to guide the tasks I scheduled for the week.

I used the 2 checklist columns for each day for daily tasks (routine habits / those little things that pop up) and the right side for 'projects'. So for my blog this was products and planning a limited time offer on my How to Make Printables ecourse.

Color coding helps me see how much time I'm spending on maintenance (publishing posts, backing up files, social media etc.) versus tasks focused on growth i.e. products. I decided to do this since I haven't launched a new product for a while (I'm releasing a new printable kit coming soon!)

Double color coding can be used when you have a task that fits into more than 1 category.

Stationery Used

I used a J Burrows ballpoint pen. It's a generic pen from Officeworks that comes in a pack of 10 for like $3 (i.e. super cheap!) it writes ok - it can sometimes skip but it does the job. I do prefer gel pens as they write smoother e.g. Papermate Inkjoy gel.

I used the Smiggle scented highlighters - they're the brightest highlighters I've found and one of my all time favorites!

Related: Smiggle Stationery Haul (worth the cost?)

Pros

• The weekly goals at the start is good for noting what you need / want to get done and use that to direct what things you schedule for the week in order to achieve those goals
• Full page size (although you could print at smaller size - see this post for printing instructions)
• Pre-printed checklists for each day (so you don't you have to hand-draw or stamp them yourself!)
• Horizontal weekly spread (I prefer horizontal to vertical as the writing space is longer so you can fit more in and your eyes aren't flicking back and forth across the page all the time)

Cons of using

• No habit tracking space
• No note taking space
• There was checkboxes for each day but nothing else - no space for reminders
• More checkboxes for each day would have been ideal (although I could have shortened the blog post workflow tasks to just letters to save space e.g. D instead of writing 'draft')
• No sidebar
• The colors of the planner are a bit dull - using a different color for each day or brighter color would add a nice POP of color!

Would I use this planner again?

I liked the main goals section and lots of checkists but I really need a sidebar or a little bit of extra space that isn't allocated to a day of the week for things like habit tracking.

I don't think there were enough checkboxes for each day. Because of this I didn't track the entire workflow of writing & marketing a blog post. While it has become a habit that I pin to Pinterest after publishing a blog post so I probably don't need to record it but I like to do it so it's one less thing to think about and so I can tick it off if I can't remember if I've done it or not.

I should've used a sticky note to track habits like I did in week 28.

I didn't think I would miss having a sidebar and a bit of extra space un-allocated to a day for those random things that pop up during the week, habit tracking, reminders etc. as much as I did. I definitely need some space for those little extra things.

Catch up on past weeks:

• Week 16: Minimalist 1 page categorised planning using black pen & highlighters
• Week 18: Making a DIY printable planner with a flexible layout
• Week 23: Using Limelife Planners Weekly Layout C
• Week 26: Using a weekly planner notepad to plan the week

Related Posts

• 5 Planner supplies you should never skimp on
• Arcing my Plum Paper Planner – everything you need to know if you’d like to try it yourself!
• How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens
• Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding 

Until at last, I found Bunbougo! (I've no idea how to actually pronounce it)

This is not a sponsored post, I’m just really excited that I found a place that sells hard to find pens in Australia :)

Related: How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens

Pilot Pens

I’d been wanting to try these for ages. I got the 6 pack in the 0.5mm pen tip size.

The colors are nice except for the green which is way too bright. Whenever I use the green I have to write over the top of the text twice :(

My favorite color is definitely the grape - it's a nice and bright purple!

Note that the pack doesn’t come with a black so I had to purchase that separately.

I also purchased this pen in the 0.38mm version. It was nice and didn’t feel like it was only 0.38mm which I normally find too thin.

These pens in come in tons of colors making them perfect for color coding.

They’re also my favorite style of pen: retractable. So there’s no pen lids to accidentally lose and then worry that the pen is going to dry out.

I also purchased this pen in the metallic ink color but I was a bit disappointed in the color which writes really dull.

Related: What type of pens write best on correction tape? (gel pens vs. ballpoint vs. marker pens)

Pentel Energel (0.5mm)

This pen is overrated. It was expensive at around $5 ( I think it's refillable though). It does have a comfort grip but the needle tip means if you write on an angle (like I do), that the ink will skip. There were also limited colors available.

Zebra Sarasa Clip

As soon as I saw the rainbow colors of these pens I added them to the cart. These are now my second favorite rainbow pens (after the PaperMate Inkjoy Gel 0.7mm pens) – I just wish there was a purple included in the pack instead of the navy blue (which is so dark it may as well be another black pen). You can buy them individually which is exactly what I did to make a complete rainbow set :) <3

Zebra Midliner Highlighters

I added these to the cart after seeing every second person using them for bullet journaling on Instagram (follow me if you aren’t already!)

I have to say… I don’t understand what all the fuss is about.

They are just like any other highlighter. The only thing that sets them apart would be the range of colors, including grey which I got for trying a minimalist spread later this year for the 52 planners in 52 weeks challenge.

These highlighters were pricey at $3,50 each – you can buy an entire pack of rainbow highlighters from a cheap shop for the same price and they’ll work just fine.

I found some that look very similar to the Midliners at Daiso (pack of 5 for $2.80 - less than the cost of 1 Midliner!)- the colors are basically the same e.g. I can't even see any difference between the red highlighters of both brands.

Related: 7 Planner supplies I don’t regret splurging on

Uniball Signo

After trying t the 0.7mm and hating it (too inky) I was hesitant to try the 0.5mm and 0.38mm. But after seeing so many people rave about them on Instagram (it’s seriously the worst place to enable you to spend money!) I decided to give them a try.

I was pleasantly surprised and actually really liked the thinner tips of these pens. The 0.5mm was great to write with. The 0.38mm was a bit too small for my liking.

Related: How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens

Sakura Aqualip

This pen was awful! It’s way to inky and liquidy. I’m not really sure what to do with this pen now and regret buying it. Oh well, I suppose that’s one good thing about having a pen addiction – at least they’re cheap!

Frixion Erasable Meal Planning stamp

I’ve been using the Frixion erasable stamps for a while (I have the present for birthdays and use the star and heart for creating checklists).

I’d only seen them at Officeworks and they didn’t have a meal planning stamp so when I saw it at Bunbougu I quickly added it to the cart.

I love this stamp - quick and easy to use - it's self inking so there's no mess! I used it for week 18 of the 52 planner in 52 weeks challenge.

Frixon ball erasable pen 0.38mm

If you’re a regular blog reader, you’ll be familiar with me mentioning this pen brand :) After having tried various styles of these erasable pens including:

• 5mm 3 colors in 1
• 5mm
• 7mm retractable
• 7mm with a pen lid

I wanted to try out the 0.38mm size because I’d seen it come in way more colors than any of the other Frixion styles. After trying it out I've found the 0.38mm tip too thin for my liking and will be sticking with the 0.7mm retractable pens.

Related: My all time favorite planner pens: Pilot Frixion Erasable Pens Review

Pentel Fude Touch Sign

I bought this pen to try for hand lettering. I'd been using the Marvy Le Pen and the Tombow but they're quite large and I've found them harder to get the hang of than the much smaller Pentel Fude Touch Sign. Plus this pen being smaller, is better for writing headings for lists. Double plus - the pen is about half the cost of a Tombow brush pen.

Related: Favorite pens for writing headings in my planner

Hi Tec Maica – C

These pens are expensive and the pack doesn't include purple - one of my favorite colors that I use for color coding! I’ll admit these pens were a bit of a disappointment. I wanted to try a needle tip pen - they don't write well on an angle these pens don't come in wide enough range of colors.

I later found these at Officeworks for sale individually if you want to try them.

If there are any places you frequent to buy planner pens, please comment below – I’d love to know!

Fellow pen addict? These posts will be of interest to you :)

• How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens
• Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding
• Best pens for writing on washi tape
• Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner
• My all time favorite planner pens: Pilot Frixion Erasable Pens Review
• How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens
• Favorite places to buy planner pens (online)

Related: Plum Paper Planners Haul & Review (better than the Erin Condren?)

I requested Plum Paper leave the planner unpunched so I could punch it with my Arc. More on that in this post: Arcing my Plum Paper Planner – everything you need to know if you’d like to try it yourself!

Setting up the week

I was a bit slack and forgot to take a photo until Monday. Never mind, it's a good thing to point out that once I start crossing those checkboxes off during the week that it becomes obvious which things I didn't get time for (i.e. the 'if I have time' task I allocated on the Monday) which is why I'm always adding checkboxes to my planner.

Related: 50 Tips for writing a better to do list that will make you more productive

I created a top 3 section and in instances where I had more than 1 if I have time task I ordered those as well. Numbering things in order of priority really helps as I'm not wondering what project I should work on next.

Related

Pens & Highlighters used

This week I wanted to experiment color coding using both highlighters and colored pens. I really like how the spread turned out! I think it would've been a bit busy to highlight all of the text and the space to write your planning categories is a bit tight in this planner.

So instead I used the Staedtler Triplus Color 1.0mm marker pen in black to cover the 'notes' title box so I could convert it into my planner key. I used the 'Sakura gelly roll' pen in white over the top of the black. Looking at it now I wish I'd used green instead so it blended with the rest of the green already on the page.

I liked having 7 categories to plan the week. I ended up choosing:

• Blog posts
• Maintenance Tasks
• Top 3
• If I have time
• Melbourne trip planning
• Europe trip planning
• Meal Planning

Related: 50 Category Ideas for Color Coding Your Planner

Most planners only have 5 or 6 categories which ia normally sufficient, but given I'm in the process of planning 2 trips (there'll be blog posts on how I plan a vacation soon!) 7 categories was just the right amount for this week.

I'm finding myself liking categorised planners more and more - I really like that you can clearly see what you have going on for each category and where you're scheduling too much.

This planner had just the write amount of space for the weekdays. The space was a bit tight for the weekend. I'm wondering if using a 5 day per week spread and then another page with Saturday and Sunday combined could be the right planner layout. I shall have to try it in the coming weeks!

Pens Used:

• Paper Mate Flair Ultra Fine for daily planning
• Staedtler Triplus Color 1.0mm marker pen in black to cover the 'notes' title box
• Sakura gelly roll' pen in white (for over the top of the black)

Related: How to choose the right planner pens: what to look for when buying planner pens

The Papermate Flair come in lots of colors (including the teal I used to plan blog posts) but note that because they're a fine tip, they don't write well over correction tape:

Related: What type of pens write best on correction tape? (gel pens vs. ballpoint vs. marker pens)

I always add a checkbox beside each task so I can see what has / hasn't been done. The P's and I' next to the boxes in the top row are for Pinterest and Instagram (to save space and time by not having to write out the entire words). You could also use letter abbreviations for routine tasks that happen every week (e.g. cleaning) or for each family member.

Highlighters Used

I used a different brand of highlighters to show you guys that the brand of highlighters doesn't really make much difference to the 'quality' of the ink.

• Teal = Zebra Just Fit (this brand also has a red highlighter but the ink comes out closer to pink than red)

• Red = Daiso 'Soft' Marker pen (it's hard to find a red highlighter - most of them look pink. Note that I tested this against the Zebra Midliner Red highlighter which looks very similar to the Daiso ones and there was literally no difference in the color)

• Green - Staples Hype (cheap but work really well)

• Blue = Smiggle Scented Smiggle highlighters are the brightest I own!)

• Purple = Uni Propus Window (nice but a bit pricey)

• Orange = Sharpie smear guard retractable (The sharpie is my least favorite orange as it's a bit dull, other than that the colors used are much the same between highlighter brands)

• Pink = Tombow (this one is expensive but it has a very thin end of the chisel tip making it really smooth to highlight with - love it!)

Related: 6 Useful ways to efficiently plan your week using highlighters

So while Instagram is going crazy over the Zebra Midliner highlighters... they're not necessary. I bought them to compare with cheap ones I found at Daiso and the Daiso ones work just as well - the shades of colors are very close - e.g. the red is almost exactly the same.

Stickers Used

I used printable stickers from my shop.

• Weekly hydrate tracker (more hydrate stickers in my shop)
• Weekly habit tracker (more hydrate stickers in my shop)

These stickers were the perfect size to cover up the checklist sidebar of the Me Planner!

Related: How to make your own custom Erin Condren (or any planner) header title section planner stickers (step by step video tutorial)

Would I use this planner spread again?

Yes! This was my favorite weekly spread so far in this challenge! It was similar to the week I converted the Erin Condren lesson planner into a weekly planner, but with the additional sidebar that could be used for habit tracking.

It had a good mix of a pop of color with my favorite planning supplies: stickers, pens and highlighters!

Disclaimer: If you purchase something from Plum Paper using my referral link I’ll receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) I only recommend products I would recommend even if I wasn’t receiving compensation for referring you.

Liked this post? Pin it!

Catch Up on Past Week's of the Challenge:

• Week 25: Using the Erin Condren Teacher Planner for weekly planner
• Week 26: Using a weekly planner notepad to plan the week
• Week 27: Using the Frank Horizontal Weekly Planner
• Week 28: Planning the entire week using only sticky notes

Related Posts:

• 5 Ways to use sticky notes for school or college
• How to store planner pens (5 ways – and my favorite method!)
• How to make planner stickers (ecourse with step by step tutorials, favorite resources, worksheets etc.!)
• Why I plan my day using planner stickers (and why you should too!) 

Quick Facts

• Hardbound cover
• A5 size
• Spiral binding
• 16 months (from September 2017 to December 2018)
• Monthly calendar starts on a Sunday
• Weekly spread starts on a Monday
• Weekly spread is horizontal, lined with notes section
• Ample notes pages at the back of the planner
• USA national holidays pre-printed in the monthly spread
• Gold metal corners on the cover
• Tabs for each month
• Pocket
• Sheet of stickers

Let's take a closer look!

To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more planner related videos & graphic design tutorials!

The Cover

The cover is hardbound and very sturdy - it also had gold corners <3

Gold spiral binding. As the planner runs for 16 months it's quite thick (about 1 inch)

This belongs to page

Love that hand lettering! So pretty

Dates at a glance

For the previous year and the current year of the planner

Annual Planning

Same style as the monthly planning pages of most calendars - an open-ended layout you can use for anything you like!

Monthly Planning & Dividers

Each month features a different design on the dividers.

The monthly planning page is very functional - love how there's so many lists for: birthday's, important dates, don't forget, to do and goals.

2 Page Monthly Calendar

For whatever weird reason lots of planner companies start the monthly spread on a Sunday but the weekly spread starts on a Monday. The Carpe Diem planner is the same unfortunately :(

See how the 31st and the 24th of December are combined in the photo below? The monthly boxes on the calendars are combined, rather than starting on the top row - this is my #1 pet hate - such as waste of functional planning space!

The dates are in the top right corner of the box (which most planners don't do) meaning you should be able to fit more plans into the boxes.

Colorful tabs

The tabs are fat so it's easy to flip to the month you need. They're also laminated.

2 Page Weekly Spread

Simple 2 page horizontal lined weekly spread. The boxes could be be split into 2 or 3 - perfect for list making!

Week starts on a Monday

There are 2 styles of this planner - colorful and neutral. The photo below is the neutral.

Planner Stickers

Bright functional stickers!

Pocket Folder

This pocket folder is smaller than most planners - you won't be able to fit many papers in it.

Pros of the Carpe Diem A5 Planner

• Hardcover won't get damaged easily
• 2 page spread for each week which is lined i.e. super functional!
• Very functional monthly planning page with lots of checklists! <3
• More notes pages than most planners include
• 2 styles - a colorful version and a neutral black and white version
• Pocket folder at the back of the planner
• Different designs for each monthly divider so you won't get bored looking at the same pattern / design every month
• The tabs are fat so it's easy to flip to the month you need. They're also laminated

Cons of the Carpe Diem A5 Planner

• The monthly boxes on calendars are combined, rather than starting on the top row - this is my #1 pet hate - such as waste of functional planning space!
• There is a pocket at the back of the planner but it's not very fat and would fill up quickly
• The weekly spread is functional but rather plain - the kind of layout you can find at almost any planner company or could quickly DIY yourself

Would I use this planner?

No. While I prefer horizontal planner layouts, this planner is a bit too simple for me. There's nothing special enough about it that makes me excited to want to use it. It has the same horizontal layout you can find at almost any planner company.

The main thing I like the layout of the monthly planning page with all the checklists.

The planners feature a lot of floral accents - I'm not a fan of anything floral.

Overall this planner doesn't suit me but if you want to try out my sister has the planner in her shop (along with 1,000+ other planner supplies!)

Want more planner reviews?

For all my planner reviews (there are many!) click here.

Part 1: Create a Template

1. What sort of stickers do you want to make?

Usually I’ll have an idea of planner stickers I want to make based on a need. If I find myself re-writing things out multiple times, or if I’m running short on space, then I’ll make a sticker to save time and space in my planner. I much prefer to use functional stickers for planning. While kits are pretty they just don’t work for me.

Related: Week 24: Using Erin Condren Size Planner Stickers in MAMBI Classic Happy Planner

Another source of inspiration is taking a design you already have and tweaking it. For example, I like using checklist stickers so I made a ton with lots of different images e.g. squares, circles, pineapples (I shared a free download of these here!) Christmas themed etc. I tend to stick to the same rainbow colors but taking an existing design and using a new color scheme is another option.

If you’re tired of using the same sticker kit this is usually an indication it’s time to create something new! If you've purchased sticker kits there are usually some still left on the sheet that never get used (or are 1 off occasion type stickers that rarely get used) - keep these in mind when deciding what stickers you want to make that will work for you.

Related: Which planner stickers are right for you?

2. What size do the stickers need to be?

Rather than guessing, grab your planner and measure up the space you want the sticker to fit. The Silhouette Studio software I use to make stickers can take inches, mm or cm as the unit of measurement. I prefer to work in cm and mm, not only because that's what we use here in Australia, but because it's easier to get an exact dimension. 3.4cm is easier to measure than 1.33" (in my opinion).

If you are making stickers to sell and don’t want to buy the planner to get the dimensions, I shared dimensions for the MAMBI happy planner. The dimensions for popular planners such as all of the Erin Condren, Limelife and most of the Plum Paper spreads are in my ecourse: How to Make Planner Stickers

3. Create a template

I've used both Photoshop and Silhouette Studio to make stickers over the past couple of years. If you want a machine to cut them for you rather than hand-cutting, use a Silhouette machine. The machine is a bit pricey and you need to purchase accessories that go with it such as blades and cutting mats, but it's ideal for stickers that don't have a straight edge such as circles.

Related: 4 Tools for cutting printable planner stickers (and my favorite method)

I have 1 file in Silhouette Studio which has 1 copy of each sticker template e.g. squares at various sizes such as 0.25", 0.5" , rectangle stickers, rectangle stickers with rounded corners etc. I always have this document open when making stickers so I can copy and paste them into new sticker sheet templates rather than wasting time re-creating them.

Related: How to make your own custom Erin Condren (or any planner) header title section planner stickers (step by step video tutorial)

There are a couple of options for creating sticker sheets:

1. One design replicated across the entire sheet
2. Multiple designs on the same sheet e.g. 5 different icon stickers
3. A sticker kit with a mixture of different types of stickers (usually all different)

Make sure you save the templates somewhere you can easily find them on your computer. I use separate folders to organize stickers by type / size:

• Icon stickers (0.5" round)
• Icon stickers (0.5" square)
• Mini icon stickers (0.25" round)
• Quarter box labels
• Sidebar stickers
• Half box Stickers
• Checklist sticker
• etc.

Tip: Don't have Photoshop and Silhouette Studio running at the same time - it will likely cause your computer to crash (well mine did when I tried it) - both programs are heavy usage.

I shared a tutorial on how I set up a template and make a header sticker from start to finish using Silhouette Studio in this post.

More helpful tutorials:

• How to make planner stickers for free using Silhouette Studio (Introduction – Video Tutorial)
• How to make planner stickers – creating perfectly proportioned shapes in Silhouette Studio (video tutorial)

4. Add an offset & Cut Lines

Now that you have the dimensions you want the sticker to be, it’s time to add an offset. By this I mean extra space around the sticker. This means if the blade slips when cutting white won’t appear on the sticker, there’ll be color – it looks much more neater and professional and means you don’t have to re-cut an entire sheet if you’re selling them,

You can add whatever size offset you like, I tend to use between 0.03 and 0.05". I use a larger offset for stickers that don't have straight edges as the blades are more prone to slipping (i.e. round stickers).

I share the cut settings I use in my ecourse: How to Make Planner Stickers

Part 2: Add design elements

4. Choose Colors

Colors will typically comprise 50% of the overall design so make sure you choose wisely - especially if you're going to be using the same color scheme for all of your stickers. I use the same 8 colors to create a rainbow for all of my stickers. I spent hours choosing these colors - I'm so glad I did - I'd rather spend a lot of time and be 100% happy with how the colors look individually and how they come together to create the rainbow.

If I'm making a sticker kit, color tools are my go-to resources for finding color schemes - they pair together colors you probably wouldn't normally think look good together.

My favorite color tools are:

1. Design Seeds
2. Pinterest
3. Photocopa
4. 0 to 255 (my favorite tool for ombre colors schemes)
5. Color Picker

I shared more about each of these color tools in this post: My 5 Favourite Color Tools for Graphic Design

5. Choose Fonts

Like colors, fonts are a large portion of the design, especially if you're creating header stickers (where the font may be the only part of the design apart from the color), so make sure you choose wisely!

Don't use the same fonts everyone else is using, it's so important to take the time to choose fonts that will make your stickers look different to everyone elses.

Cursive fonts are ok for headings - just make sure the font is easy to read. I don't recommend using cursive fonts for all of the text on the stickers as it makes it look busy. Cursive fonts usually take up more space than simple sans serif fonts as the letters 'bounce' (like hand lettering).

While choosing colors & fonts, you may want to do a test print (more on that in part 3 later in this post)

Related: How to download and install custom fonts on your computer

When deciding which font I want to use, I open up a word document and type the phrase the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog it's a phrase that uses every letter of the alphabet and makes it easy to compare which fonts I like the best!

I wouldn't use the first or last font in the image below for making stickers as they're hard to read. I would use the second font from the top and the second font from the bottom as they're easy to read.

6. Add graphics

Graphics could be:

• Clipart
• Icons
• Something simple such as adding lines such as -- to either side of text such as -- to do -- to make it look a bit more unique

Other options to make your stickers look different include:

• Creating an ombre effect i.e. light to dark (this is my favorite style for checklist stickers)
• Adding a border e.g. a thin white border around a circle or square sticker - especially icons
• Using different fonts e.g. one font for the title and a different font for the rest of the text on a sticker
• Using different shapes or graphics for checklist and habit tracking stickers rather than just a simple circle or square (although stickers with these shapes still look good!)

Part 3: Printing the stickers

7. Choose your label paper type

There are 2 main types of label paper: matte and glossy.

Use matte if you want to write on the stickers using gel pens as the ink will smear off of glossy label paper.

I prefer to use matte label paper as both ballpoint and gel pens will work well. Matte label paper tends to be thinner - I find thinner label papers work best with the Silhouette machines and the blades tend to last longer than glossy label paper.

I have found that the ‘unofficial’ label paper (i.e. anything but Avery) is cheaper and works just as good!

Related: Where to buy label paper

8. Do a test print

I do a test print on normal copy paper to see how the colors look. I tend to do test prints when choosing colors and fonts so I can see how colors look together. Colors can print differently to how they look your screen so always do a test print before printing dozens of sticker sheets!

Related: How to Choose a Printer (Including the best printer for printing printables and planner stickers)

See this post for tips on how to make sure your stickers are nice and bright! 7 Ways to make colors POP when printing using an Inkjet printer

Adjust the template until you're happy with it then...

9. Make more stickers!

Once you start making stickers it can become a bit of an addiction. Experiment with different shapes, colors, fonts, graphics - you can make stickers for anything and everything!

Some stickers you could make:

• Habit tracking
• Checklists
• Reminders (flag shape stickers are good for this)
• Stickers for school (teachers & students)
• Cleaning routine
• Monthly / Weekly / Daily routine tasks (so you don't have to keep re-writing them out)
• Bill due
• Pet stickers e.g. vet appointments
• Months of the years, days of the week and date dots (these are ideal for bullet journalling)
• Work (vacation, meetings etc.)
• Appointments (hair, dentist, doctor etc.)
• Spending
• Hydrate tracking
• Debt repayments - mortgage, credit card etc.
• Blogging workflow - stickers for editing, drafting, recording videos, making images, social media etc.
• Due dates (for assessment, product launches if you have a business, conferences etc.)
• Countdown stickers (to vacation, to a special event such as Christmas etc.)
• Etc.!

Click here to learn how to make your own planner stickers.

The process behind making planner stickers is similar to the process I use for making planner printables which you can read more about in this post: How to make planner printables (advice from a planner addict that’s made over 4000 printables)

Prices current as of September 2017.

1. Plum Planner

Plum Paper (affiliate link) is my favorite planner company. They have tons of different layouts - all of which are highly functional. I particularly like their notes + list layout and the Me Planner layout which has 7 different sections to compartmentalise your plans.

Planners start at around $30 USD and can increase up to around $40 USD if you choose to add extra pages. They are the only planner company I've found that has affordable shipping to Australia (and it's still affordable even if you buy a lot of planners in one go!)

Related: Plum Paper Planners Haul & Review (better than the Erin Condren?)

Plum Paper Planners

• 7 Weekly planner layouts to choose from including student planners, teacher planners and more unusual planner layouts you can't find anywhere else!
• You choose your cover from their designs - you can even choose the type of frame, the font, if you prefer a monogram, name or other text
• Can personalise the cover with a photo
• Lined writing space in the weekly spread
• Start planner in ANY month
• Choose from 12-18 months
• Month & Year-at-a-Glance Pages
• Monthly Highlights Pages
• Monthly Notes Pages (2/mo)
• Double Sided Pocket Folder
• Durable Aluminum Binding Coil
• Durable Mylar Coated Tabs
• Paper Weight: 70lb text
• Paper Size: 7" x 9" or 8 ½” x 11”
• Tear proof & water resistant cover with a clear plastic protective sheet

The paper feels so nice and pens don't bleed through the page

Related: Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner

My favorite of their layouts is the Me Planner - I used it for week 29 of the 52 Planners in 52 Weeks challenge.

2. Blue Sky

Blue Sky do lots of collaborations with other planner companies such as the Day Designer, Dabney Lee and most recently, May Designs.

Their planners are very affordable at around $20USD.

Unfortunately they don't ship to Australia :( You can get them via Amazon but shipping will be expensive.

One of the unique things about Blue Sky Planners are that they have horizontal planners i.e. some of their planners have the page oriented to landscape format rather than portrait to give you extra wide columns for writing - something very few planner companies do!

Blue Sky Planner Features:

• Lots of cover designs to choose from
• The inside pattern matches the front cover
• Start mid year (academic year) or calendar year (January)
• Format: Daily, Weekly or Monthly
• Binding: Wire
• Cover: Plenty of options to choose from!
• Horizontal weekly planner layout
• Page Size: 5" x 8" or 8 ½” x 11”

Related: Printing Tips (including how to resize printables)

3. Mi Goals Planner

One of my favorite Aussie planner companies, the Mi Goals Planner recently launched their 2018 planner on Kickstarter. Love the improvements they've made to the weekly layout adding an in-built to do list for each week and more habit tracking spaces - I'll definitely be testing out the new layout next year!

This company also has a Goals Book and Get Shit Done notebooks.

Related: Mi Goals Planners Haul & Review (Planners made in Australia)

Price: $30AUD

Features of the Mi Goals Planner

• Sections for purpose and vision planning
• 10 goal worksheets (much more space for goal setting than most planners offer)
• Quarterly review section to track your progress
• Week to two-page spread with habits tracker
• Monthly view for priorities at a glance
• Budget planner to track financial goals
• A5 hardcover notebook
• 100gsm inside pages
• 208 pages
• 2 divider ribbons

Week 19: Mi Goals Weekly Planner

One of my favorite features of the Mi Goals planner is the non-traditional layout of the monthly planner - you can fit so much more into the 3 lines than you can in calendar boxes.

Using the Mi Goals planner for monthly blog post content planning

4. Sugar Paper Agenda

Sugar Paper Planners are sophisticated, simple and feature pops of gold foil (my favorite part!)

Price: $30USD

• Gold foil accents - need I say more?!
• Choose between book binding and spiral binding
• 12 month planners
• Calendar year
• Extras pages - birthday and thank you note tracker + a notes section
• Medium Size - 7.25 x 8 inches

Related: Ultimate planner page size guide (with printable reference cheat sheet)

5. Passion Planner

For all my hourly layout planner girls, this one's for you. The passion planner features a compact and comprehensive planner layout. It's minimalist black and white layout means you can plan using colored pens without worrying it'll clash with the colors of the planner.

This planner is very goal oriented and would ideal for students or those that are easily distracted and need hourly scheduling to keep them accountable!

Price: $30 (they usually do a Kickstarter to launch each year's planner which is sometimes cheaper)

Passion Planner Features

● Passion RoadMap: Exercise that helps you define your short and long-term goals and create a step-by-step game plan to reach them
● Weekly layouts (Sunday - Monday) that run from August 2017 - July 2018
● Annual and monthly overview calendars
● Monthly reflection questions to keep you focused on your progress
● 20 additional blank pages
● 20 additional gridded pages
● Weekly and daily focuses to keep your attention on the most important tasks.
● Weekly plans from Sunday - Saturday, 6 AM – 11 PM. Every day, broken down into 30 minute sections to help you manage your time.
● “Good Things That Happened” section to keep you focused on the positive.
● A motivational quote and challenge to inspire positive action.
● Personal and work to-do lists organized by priority to encourage work-life balance, because very often we forget to take care of ourselves.
● “Space of Infinite Possibility” where you can take notes, draw, create, write, brainstorm or customize to fit your needs.

● Soft and durable faux leather cover; animal and vegan friendly!
● Super smooth high quality 100gsm thick paper, about twice as thick as a standard sheet of printer paper.
● A4 size 8.5”x11” (about the size of a sheet of printer paper)
● About 212 pages

6. Otto Weekly

This planner popped up on the Officeworks website a few months ago so of course I went and bought it! They've released 3 versions of the Otto Weekly planner - the Goals Planner, Business Planner and Wellbeing Planner.

These planners are very similar to the Erin Condren only way better - a much more functional layout and lots more extra pages such as project planning worksheets.

These planners are very affordable at $30AUD each - and if you buy them in store you don't have to pay shipping!

Otto Goals Planner Review

Related: Otto 2018 Business Planner Review (from Officeworks)

Features

● Size: 7.75″ wide x 9″ high
● Coil bound
● Cover can be removed (inter-changeable like the Erin Condren)
● Month starts on a Monday
● 2 page vertical weekly spread starts on a Monday
● Very functional layout – lots of checklists!
● Plenty of goal setting worksheets
● Weekends get their own day (not combined)
● Laminated tabs with the months printed on the front and back
● 1 color per month (ideal for color coding)

What's your favorite planner under $50?

Found this post helpful? Pin it!

Related Posts:

• Ultimate Comparison: Erin Condren Life Planner versus Plum Paper Planners – Which planner is better?
• 5 Ways to use sticky notes for school or college
• Planner companies that will let you download, print and try their planner layout for free

Disclaimer: If you purchase something from Plum Paper using my referral link I’ll receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) I only recommend products I would recommend even if I wasn’t receiving compensation for referring you.

Prices current as of September 2017.

1. Plum Planner

Plum Paper (affiliate link) is my favorite planner company. They have tons of different layouts - all of which are highly functional. I particularly like their notes + list layout and the Me Planner layout which has 7 different sections to compartmentalise your plans.

Planners start at around $30 USD and can increase up to around $40 USD if you choose to add extra pages. They are the only planner company I've found that has affordable shipping to Australia (and it's still affordable even if you buy a lot of planners in one go!)

Related: Plum Paper Planners Haul & Review (better than the Erin Condren?)

Plum Paper Planners

• 7 Weekly planner layouts to choose from including student planners, teacher planners and more unusual planner layouts you can't find anywhere else!
• You choose your cover from their designs - you can even choose the type of frame, the font, if you prefer a monogram, name or other text
• Can personalise the cover with a photo
• Lined writing space in the weekly spread
• Start planner in ANY month
• Choose from 12-18 months
• Month & Year-at-a-Glance Pages
• Monthly Highlights Pages
• Monthly Notes Pages (2/mo)
• Double Sided Pocket Folder
• Durable Aluminum Binding Coil
• Durable Mylar Coated Tabs
• Paper Weight: 70lb text
• Paper Size: 7" x 9" or 8 ½” x 11”
• Tear proof & water resistant cover with a clear plastic protective sheet

The paper feels so nice and pens don't bleed through the page

Related: Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner

My favorite of their layouts is the Me Planner - I used it for week 29 of the 52 Planners in 52 Weeks challenge.

2. Blue Sky

Blue Sky do lots of collaborations with other planner companies such as the Day Designer, Dabney Lee and most recently, May Designs.

Their planners are very affordable at around $20USD.

Unfortunately they don't ship to Australia :( You can get them via Amazon but shipping will be expensive.

One of the unique things about Blue Sky Planners are that they have horizontal planners i.e. some of their planners have the page oriented to landscape format rather than portrait to give you extra wide columns for writing - something very few planner companies do!

Blue Sky Planner Features:

• Lots of cover designs to choose from
• The inside pattern matches the front cover
• Start mid year (academic year) or calendar year (January)
• Format: Daily, Weekly or Monthly
• Binding: Wire
• Cover: Plenty of options to choose from!
• Horizontal weekly planner layout
• Page Size: 5" x 8" or 8 ½” x 11”

Related: Printing Tips (including how to resize printables)

3. Mi Goals Planner

One of my favorite Aussie planner companies, the Mi Goals Planner recently launched their 2018 planner on Kickstarter. Love the improvements they've made to the weekly layout adding an in-built to do list for each week and more habit tracking spaces - I'll definitely be testing out the new layout next year!

This company also has a Goals Book and Get Shit Done notebooks.

Related: Mi Goals Planners Haul & Review (Planners made in Australia)

Price: $30AUD

Features of the Mi Goals Planner

• Sections for purpose and vision planning
• 10 goal worksheets (much more space for goal setting than most planners offer)
• Quarterly review section to track your progress
• Week to two-page spread with habits tracker
• Monthly view for priorities at a glance
• Budget planner to track financial goals
• A5 hardcover notebook
• 100gsm inside pages
• 208 pages
• 2 divider ribbons

Week 19: Mi Goals Weekly Planner

One of my favorite features of the Mi Goals planner is the non-traditional layout of the monthly planner - you can fit so much more into the 3 lines than you can in calendar boxes.

Using the Mi Goals planner for monthly blog post content planning

4. Sugar Paper Agenda

Sugar Paper Planners are sophisticated, simple and feature pops of gold foil (my favorite part!)

Price: $30USD

• Gold foil accents - need I say more?!
• Choose between book binding and spiral binding
• 12 month planners
• Calendar year
• Extras pages - birthday and thank you note tracker + a notes section
• Medium Size - 7.25 x 8 inches

Related: Ultimate planner page size guide (with printable reference cheat sheet)

5. Passion Planner

For all my hourly layout planner girls, this one's for you. The passion planner features a compact and comprehensive planner layout. It's minimalist black and white layout means you can plan using colored pens without worrying it'll clash with the colors of the planner.

This planner is very goal oriented and would ideal for students or those that are easily distracted and need hourly scheduling to keep them accountable!

Price: $30 (they usually do a Kickstarter to launch each year's planner which is sometimes cheaper)

Passion Planner Features

● Passion RoadMap: Exercise that helps you define your short and long-term goals and create a step-by-step game plan to reach them
● Weekly layouts (Sunday - Monday) that run from August 2017 - July 2018
● Annual and monthly overview calendars
● Monthly reflection questions to keep you focused on your progress
● 20 additional blank pages
● 20 additional gridded pages
● Weekly and daily focuses to keep your attention on the most important tasks.
● Weekly plans from Sunday - Saturday, 6 AM – 11 PM. Every day, broken down into 30 minute sections to help you manage your time.
● “Good Things That Happened” section to keep you focused on the positive.
● A motivational quote and challenge to inspire positive action.
● Personal and work to-do lists organized by priority to encourage work-life balance, because very often we forget to take care of ourselves.
● “Space of Infinite Possibility” where you can take notes, draw, create, write, brainstorm or customize to fit your needs.

● Soft and durable faux leather cover; animal and vegan friendly!
● Super smooth high quality 100gsm thick paper, about twice as thick as a standard sheet of printer paper.
● A4 size 8.5”x11” (about the size of a sheet of printer paper)
● About 212 pages

6. Otto Weekly

This planner popped up on the Officeworks website a few months ago so of course I went and bought it! They've released 3 versions of the Otto Weekly planner - the Goals Planner, Business Planner and Wellbeing Planner.

These planners are very similar to the Erin Condren only way better - a much more functional layout and lots more extra pages such as project planning worksheets.

These planners are very affordable at $30AUD each - and if you buy them in store you don't have to pay shipping!

Otto Goals Planner Review

Related: Otto 2018 Business Planner Review (from Officeworks)

Features

● Size: 7.75″ wide x 9″ high
● Coil bound
● Cover can be removed (inter-changeable like the Erin Condren)
● Month starts on a Monday
● 2 page vertical weekly spread starts on a Monday
● Very functional layout – lots of checklists!
● Plenty of goal setting worksheets
● Weekends get their own day (not combined)
● Laminated tabs with the months printed on the front and back
● 1 color per month (ideal for color coding)

What's your favorite planner under $50?

Found this post helpful? Pin it!

Related Posts:

• Ultimate Comparison: Erin Condren Life Planner versus Plum Paper Planners – Which planner is better?
• 5 Ways to use sticky notes for school or college
• Planner companies that will let you download, print and try their planner layout for free

Disclaimer: If you purchase something from Plum Paper using my referral link I’ll receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you!) I only recommend products I would recommend even if I wasn’t receiving compensation for referring you.

Disclaimer: I was going to buy the planner and reached out to Ashley to see if she wanted to collaborate. She was nice enough to send me the planner for free (I paid for shipping). All opinions are my own.

Related: Ashley Shelly Planner Review – Weekly Planner (pros, cons and a walkthrough)

Setting up the Week

The Ashley Shelly Planner features a horizontal layout with checklists for each day, as well as a due dates section, dinner and a space that can be used for appointments / hourly planning.

Because I don’t have many appointments or things that need to be done at a set time, I opted to use the time section for priority tasks. I listed the tasks, then allocated a number / order to do them in on the left and drew a checkbox on the right. I put tasks that don't change from week to week e.g. 'backup the blog' in the checklist column on the right of each daily planning space.

I would have preferred a larger 'due today' section. The space is big enough for noting when bills are due or if you’re a student and had an exam – but it’s only large enough for 1 due date. I tend to use this type of space in planners for writing that day's blog posts so a bit of extra room would have been ideal.

This planner would be ideal for a student, or someone that likes to compartmentalise their planner. The planner space on the left could be used for work appointments with personal tasks on the right.

Overall, I'd reduce the amount of appointment / hourly style space on the left side of each day and add blank space underneath that could be used for anything - but that's just my personal preference!

One of my favorite features of the planner are the corners that can be torn off each week to keep track of where you're up to without worry about a bookmark falling out of the planner!

Pros of the Ashley Shelly Planner

• Just the right amount of space to plan your day without feeling like you’re leaving too much white space and have the tendency to over plan
• The planner itself is a good size – not too big and not too small
• The perforated corners on the page to keep your place in the planner – much easier than using a bookmark – this is the only planner I’ve come across that does this
• Love the colors and how they follow through the entire planner - from the cover, to the tabs to the planning spread - I love when things are co-ordinated :)

Cons of the Ashley Shelly Planner

• The coil is too fat – I’m right handed – the large size of the coil made it hard to write on the left page
• The space between the lines for writing is quite small – if you have big hand-writing this planner may not be a good fit for you
• The width of the lines in the writing space is a bit too small – an extra half an inch for each line would have been ideal – I had to use abbreviations such as ‘tom’ instead of tomorrow to make the task fit
• No space for habit tracking unless you use the notes space (although you could add a printable habit tracking planner sticker)

Pens Used

Since Ashley sells the Marvy Le Pen pens on her site, I opted to use that pen brand as well. The pen is ok but it is a bit inky. The colors of these pens are really nice, especially the green (which can be a bit of a hit and miss color when it comes to pens). Note that I don't recommend the neon Le pens – they’re on my list of planner pens I don’t recommend (way too bright).

I decided not to color code this week. I thought with all of the colors already on the page that the spread might end up being a bit too busy. It worked out find - I was actually surprised I didn't really miss color coding.

Related: Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding

Would I use this planner again?

I really liked this planner. It has a simple layout that is very functional. If I used it again I'd add habit tracking stickers to the notes section (similar to what I did in week 8 when I used the Plum Paper Memory Keeper's Book).

Related: Week 8: Weekly Planning using the Plum Paper Memory Keeper Book

I'd move the recurring / day to day tasks such as 'backup blog' to the left column and used the right for blog post workflow. I only ended up tracking the main things such as 'upload video' and 'finalise blog post' rather than the entire workflow:

• Outline
• Draft
• Rename & upload images
• Pinterest optomised image
• Etc.

This planner would be ideal for a student, or someone that likes to compartmentalise their planner. The planner space on the left could be used for work appointments with personal tasks on the right.

Related Posts:

• 5 Planner supplies you should never skimp on
• 7 Planner supplies I don’t regret splurging on
• Arcing my Plum Paper Planner – everything you need to know if you’d like to try it yourself!
• How to store planner pens (5 ways – and my favorite method!)

Found this post helpful? Pin it!

1. After your purchase, download the digital paper. Open the file of one of the papers you would like to print.

2. Go to ‘Print’ and select ‘print’

3. The menu below will open. Yours may look a little different (I am on a PC/laptop)

4. Select the printer you want to use from the ‘printer’ menu.

5. Then change the ‘paper size’ to A4 or letter paper or any size you like! (that is equal to or smaller than A4 or letter size paper unless you are lucky enough to have a wide format printer!)

6. Select ‘high’ in the quality menu. In case you were wondering, I haven’t noticed a significant difference in how fast I go through printer ink when I select ‘high’ compared to ‘standard’ quality.

7. Change the ‘paper type.’ I usually print into plain printer paper. You can also use photo paper but I find this too expensive.

8. Make sure ‘Full page photo’ from the menu on the right is selected.

9. Make sure the box beside ‘fit picture to frame’ is ticked.

10. Change the number of copies if needed.

11. Print!

You can enter custom paper sizes in the ‘paper size menu’. You can also choose to print, for example, two copies of the one paper per page (see the second image on the menu on the right of the screenshot above where is says ’13 x 18cm (2)’. If you scroll down this menu it will give you more options such as business card size images.

If you have purchased a binder cover such as this one and want to frame the desktop background/wallpaper or binder cover for some cheap and easy decoration, you can select whatever size you like from the ‘paper size menu’ e.g. 8″ x 10″ 5″ x 7″ ect. Or enter custom dimensions in the ‘paper size menu’

These instructions will work for any jpg image file!

If you get stuck, click on the question mark shown in the screenshot above, or send me a convo on Etsy

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