During the second half of 2014, I started to be very intentional about planning blog posts and getting them ready for the blog.

Then things started getting overwhelming and I realized that I needed to get organized.

Enter: the Pretty Documented blog planner

Like I shared last week, I’m already using the Pretty Documented planner for my daily organization and scheduling (which I love!). So it was quite a natural decision for me to use the Pretty Documented blog add-on for blog organization.

As I tried to figure out how I should plan out my blog planner, I read Andrea’s post and really like how she organized everything, so my planner is loosely based on her structure. After all, if the Queen of Organization has it all figured out, why not take a cue from her instead of reinventing the wheel, right?

Similar to the Pretty Documented planner, Caylee provides a ton of options in the blog planner so you have plenty of formats to choose from to make something that works for you.

Tip: Figure out your blogging process and decide which pages you will use from there.

You can also use the steps listed here to customize your blog planner.

Here’s brief overview of how my blog planner is currently set-up:

2015 blog planner set-up

After the blog cover, I have an index of pages in my planner.

Then the details of my blog, elements, sketches, and blog planning. This is the “big picture” stuff – the overall of my blog.

On the editorial calendar page, I list all the various events and holidays that I want to plan blog posts for.

This is followed by a monthly section.

I have a calendar view and list view that help me to plan blog posts for the month. I like having both formats because it gives me a different idea of how that month’s blog posts look like. Not sure if that makes sense; I guess that is just how my brain works.

After the monthly overview, I have the posts and social media pages where I write the blog post titles for that month and get a good overview of what I need to work on, what is complete, etc., and where I’ve shared my posts. This page is especially helpful when I need to figure out what I should do when blogging hour comes around.

This is repeated for all the months until December.

Then I have three pages of ideas and features.

And a stack of post planning pages.

I use the post planner pages to write down initial ideas and thoughts when my phone or computer aren’t close by or easily accessible. It also gives me a tangible way of recording and staying organized for all the blog posts I write, instead of having random post-its or digital notes scattered everywhere.

Note: This part of the blogging process differs for everyone. My fellow bloggers Andrea and Caylee like to hand write their posts and leave pages for those, while I like typing mine out in Evernote (or emailing a draft to myself) because I edit a lot and my hands just can’t keep up with my brain sometimes.

There’s no “better” way to write your posts, just the right way for you.

The last section is for guest posts and everything related to that.

So there you have it! My blog planner for 2015.

If you want to be intentional in blogging this year, now is a good time to organize and get started since we are only a couple of weeks into the new year – definitely better sooner than later!

P.S. Caylee and Andrea also have great posts on how they use their blog planners.

All words, photos and enthusiasm are my own. I am in no way compensated for this post. I just love what Caylee and Vanessa did so much that I wanted to share it with you!

Welcome to the first official work week of 2015!

I didn’t plan on starting the year with being sick. But since I’m battling the flu bug, I might as well rest while I can. C‘est la vie, friends. 

On the bright side, school doesn’t start until next week so I still have time to get my act together and start being organized, instead of having the typical post-holiday havoc.

Last year, I used three (!!!) notebooks to help me stay organized. I had one for school assignments, one for my weekly schedule, and one for my daily to-do lists. I found a system that worked for me, but I could definitely do with fewer notebooks.

Then in October of 2014, I was super excited to find out that two of my creative friends Caylee and Vanessa had collaborated to come up with a beautiful planner for 2015. You can be sure that I hopped on that bandwagon quickly!

So this year, I’m happy to be using the Pretty Documented planner to help me stay organized and sane when life gets busy (and it will, soon!). While I won’t deny the immense convenience of digital calendars (we use Google calendars for all our family events), in the end, I still love pen and paper for my weekly and daily planning.

Not only is the Pretty Documented planner pretty to look at, but I love how flexible and customizable it is, which was a big reason for me when I purchased it.

And now, I get to combine those three notebooks into one this year. Whew!

After purchasing and downloading the planner, it’s time to put everything together. I love that there are so many options, which makes things truly customizable for you.

How to customize your planner:

1. Look at the options available.

2. Plan and decide on what you need.

(Do you need daily, weekly, or monthly pages? Or a combination of everything?).

3. Note which pages you need to print.

4. Trim your paper.

(I used A5 paper with my laser printer.)

5. Adjust your printer settings.

6. Print away!

7. Punch holes and insert pages into binder.

Those are the steps that I took to put my planner together.

This year, I am housing my planner in a Muji two-ring binder in A5 size. I love the clean look and the binder is thick enough for all the pages I have.

And here’s an overview of how everything looks.

2015 Planner Set-up:

I basically have my planner divided into four sections.

1. Yearly section

After the 2015 cover, I have a year at a glance, followed by birthdays and holidays.

2. School section

The School section comes next, which is where I will have a list of all my school readings and assignments once school starts (no photos of those yet).

3. Daily Section

The Daily section is for my daily to-do list and a breakdown of that day’s schedule.

4. Monthly and weekly section

On the back of the January cover page is a monthly overview, with a page for that month’s goals.

I actually like the monthly double sheets (like what Vanessa and Caylee did). But since mine are already all printed until the end of the year, I’m just sticking with what I already have.

After the monthly overview is a weekly section, where I have four or five weekly pages (depending on the number of weeks) for that particular month. I printed the monthly and weekly sections in correspondence with the remaining months, all the way until the end of the year.

I haven’t fully figured out the tab situation yet because I wanted my planner to be printed and functional before the year started, so at least I already have that settled. But I’ll definitely put in an update once I figure out what I’m doing for that.

I’m excited to use my planner and make 2015 super organized, with lots of efficiency and productivity!

Let me know, how are you staying organized in 2015?

P.S. You can also see how Caylee and Vanessa set up their Pretty Documented planners.

All words, photos and enthusiasm are my own. I am in no way compensated for this post. I just love what Caylee and Vanessa did so much that I wanted to share it with you!