5 Tips for Planning Beginners

◯ Dividers Are the Best Organizer

A common function for using a planner is to add simplicity and organization to your life. This can start falling apart if your planner itself is not organized! Adding some form of dividers is the first step to perfecting your dream planner. If you’re a planning beginner and can’t decide on a divider style, try our Blank Top or Side Tab Planner Dividers. These unlabelled dividers give endless styling and organizational options, so you can experiment with what works for you. For example, I typically only need to use three monthly tabs at a time, e.g, “Tasks”, “Notes”, and “Finance” tabs. The Blank Tab Dividers allow me to label these according to my needs, so I don’t feel like I need to commit to a full set of monthly dividers! This was an essential part of my planning as a beginner. The Blank Tab Dividers are best used with an oil-based pen like the Uni Pin Marking Pen.

◯ Account for General Note-Taking

I found that in the beginning of my planning journey, I was excited to start using my monthly inserts and fun lifestyle inserts, and forgot all about adding a note-taking option. While calendar inserts are the foundation to a planner, note-taking inserts are the backbone! These inserts serve as a catch-all, where I list tasks, project plan, journal, sketch, and include other various notes. The Executive Note Inserts | Graph Paper | 2nd Edition or Task Inserts are perfect as general note-taking options.

◯ Dashboards Can Be Functional

Dashboards have a multitude of creative uses: as decor, structure, and even functional use! Chic and functional, the One-Minute Habits Dashboard, Your Mind Believes Dashboard, and the Space Dashboard include dedicated space to add tentative plans and tasks for cohesive functional decor in your planning. Write an upcoming task or plan on a sticky note like the Circle Sticky Note Set | Palette Vol. 05, then add the sticky note to your dashboard to later be transferred to your calendar. Leave reminders for yourself on your dashboard for at-a-glance inspiration. This is especially useful with the One-Minute Habits Dashboard, as you can complete your habits throughout the day and mark each one off with a Circle Page Flag, such as our Vol. 09 colors.

◯ Sticky Notes are a Planning Life-Saver

Sticky notes are great for noting upcoming tasks and appointments, especially while on-the-go. I’m never without my Graph Sticky Notes and Zebra Sarasa Pen. Sticky notes will likely serve as your planning companion throughout your day-to-day routine. Our functional sets like the Inbox Sticky Notes | Arch and Note to Self Sticky Notes are ideal for noting tasks, errands, meetings and appointments. After writing a quick note, add the sticky note to a dashboard or notes page to be transferred within your planner later.

◯ Experiment with Calendar Inserts

One of my favorite aspects of building a new planner is choosing a new calendar layout! Your first choice of calendar inserts probably won’t be the same throughout your planning journey. Experiment with different calendar insert methods to find what works best for your planning routine. Our Undated Calendar Inserts collection includes many exciting choices: Weekly Admin, Weekly Schedule, Undated Daily, and Undated Horizontal Weekly. Many of these styles are also offered as Dated Calendar Planner Inserts, which are fan favorites!