I found some more printable forms from this site:
>http://www.pgjr.alpine.k12.ut.us/admin/policy/Planner.html

have fun! Jaime

thanks, and YES, it's organized home!!!! that's awesome, i've been racking my brains all day!
perfect!
~Dana

Okay, so it's only august, but as well as organisedhome.com there's http://organizedchristmas.com/
You need to register to get the forms, and lots of them are pointless in my opinion, but it's free!

Bloo

These are the categories I have in mine:

Goals (An idea from a site from the first thread, which I have on paper somewhere. The site was roughly based on the Franklin Covey method.)

To Do

Food (inlcudes menu plans, grocery lists, space to jot down recipes, etc.)

Lists (includes book list, stuff I want to buy, etc. I'm a compulsive list-maker. I try to keep it to a miniumum.)

Routines (I'm trying to follow the FlyLady system. This one is fairly new.)

Prices (a couple price comparison charts for things I buy often)

Ideas

Projects

Craft Fair (kind of an extension of Projects, but has its own tab)

Monthly Calendar

Weekly Calendar

Addresses

I work at a law firm, so I took some extra exhibit dividers & cut them to the size of my planner to make the dividers. Before I did that, I tried to cut out my own dividers with tabs and I didn't like the way it came out.

Something I have started doing recently is using little stickers & color coding dots on my weekly calendar pages when I do something that works toward a specific goal. It's cheesy, but it motivates me to get things done.

Not to harp on the FlyLady thing (I know it annoys some people), but there is a section on her site about using a calendar that I found very helpful.
>http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_UsingCalendar.asp

Other things I keep in my planner are a subway map, commuter train schedule, a couple envelopes & stamps, some reference stuff I tore out of another pocket calendar with shoe & clothings size equivalents and metric to English conversion tables, and some blank post-its.

I also have a blank Word document formatted to the size that fits my planner, which I can use to make lists, or to print out articles I want to keep in there. I seldom use it, though.

-Starr

I absolutely love this thread. I'm currently trying to work on my own planner.
I probably will have in mine:
calendar
class schedules
homework assign. plus projects
various to do lists

Since the Franklin Covey planners are so well known, I checked out their website. Amazing variety of planners (the colors are awesome), plus misc. items to go inside. The only problem is that the planners are quite expensive, some even being up to $100. Likely because they're leather. So, on the saving money front, are there any other places besides say Office Max where planners (besides the basic black) can be purchased? Maybe even a variety of colors or quirky designs. Or should I try my hand at just making one somehow?

Sprung: did you use Excell to do that? Or something else?

That looks super cute! how big is it?

Alicewonderland - Well, I tried making my forms on MS Word at first but it wasn't working out. I actually used Corel Draw 10, which let me see the entire page and worked very well for accurately spacing margins when I was printing 2 planner pages on each side of 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper.

Each planner page turns out to be 5.5" x 8.5" -- perfect for the 7" x 9" binder. Basically the problem I ran into with MS Word was I wanted to print my forms doublesided, but also needed some space to punch holes, but needed to cut the 8.5" x 11" papers in half. With Corel Draw I could maximize my printing keeping the 1/2 sheet size in mind.

[And thanks!]

i found a really great "day runner" one at staples for like 3 bucks. it's small and shaped like a checkbook with spiral binding... the coolest part about it though is that it has a clear pocket on the outside so you can decorate a piece of paper and slide it in there as your cover! seeing as though i'm going to college, i made a collage of all my friends from home on the computer and added a "emily's planner" title. its really sweet. if it helps in locating the planner, the cover is a picture of an ocean wave. kinda dumb, but you can cover it, which is cool!

There was a discussion (either here, earlier, or on the previous thread that got deleted) on shrinking 8 1/2x11 forms etc into a 5.5x8.5 format.

A hint to pass along: if you take a full-sized (8 1/2x11) sheet, put it on a copier and tell it to shrink from 11x15 to 8 1/2x11, voila: the copy is now sized to fit into your half-sized notebook. (got this from a guy at work who compulsively shrinks memos etc to fit onto 5x8 index cards).

On another yet related note, on of the best homemade planners I saw was owned/made by a girl in my bachelor's program. It was color-coded, used full-sized paper, was bound (she made one every year at Kinko's), and kept EVERYTHING in there (pages for class notes, personal journaling, her artwork, etc). It was fanTAStic. I wish I'd had her make me one LOL

peace
monstergirl

One of the people who posted on the organized home site made an extremely good suggestion for something to put in your planner:

"After the black out, even tho I like in Texas. I am wondering if anyone has a emergency notebook for things like this. And if so what do you have or would suggest in such a note book.

I would think one of the things I will put in mine will be how long to boil water, to make it safe to drink. Or water purfication info. And a list of all my emergency supplies."

**edited to add**
Forgot to mention one thing I have in my planner is a list of the last time I sent someone a letter, and the last time I received one from people, so that I know whose turn it is to write, esp. with penpals.

**edited again to add*
I found this great page:>http://www.tsbrown.com/sizevisualizer.htm
It's full size, but I'm sure you could break it down to smaller size (not resize the page, that would defeat the purpose, but divide the page into smaller sizes). It's fantastic...My sister was looking on eBay for some small studs for her 3 holes in her ears, but couldn't figure out how small (or big) 4 mm was. I did a search on the internet, and came across this fantastic page.
I'm going to be putting it in my planner, but I thought I'd share because it looks like a handy thing, esp. if you don't have a ruler that says mm, only cm.

I made a really simple planner a few years ago out of a small blank book. It didn't have all the sections, it was just for a calender. I decorated every other page, & then wrote a date on the opposite side, where I would write my plans. So it was a very arty planner, & I got SO many compliments on it! If the book was big enough, you can divide the page to have two (or more) dates on it. I have a Palm now, which I ADORE, but I actually made one of these as a little diary, where I just write the important events of the day, & make a little piece of art to go along w/ it. Or... that's the GOAL anyway, I don't really do it every day. I end up going back & writing stuff for the whole week. & my art almost never relates to anything on the page... but it would be REALLY rad if it did, huh??
Lists that I have in my palm that I use ALL THE TIME, which would be great sections for a paper planner, are:
-music that I want to buy (or um, download!)
-movies to see
-books to read
-internet sites
These are great so I don't get to the store/library & go blank about everything I want to see!
-Craft ideas (naturally!)
-gift ideas- general gifts, & ideas for specific people
-Possible names for my possible future children/dogs

-Morgan

I love this thread! It has inspired me to completely re-organize my current planner for when I go to university this Fall. You've all got great ideas. I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this stuff but I'm also adding:

*a map with timezones
*pages describing each of my classes (with prof & TA contact info, test/exam dates, assignments, locations etc)
*pages with free/very cheap entertainment ideas
*a spot to keep track of things that I can put on my resume, and a list of people to use as references (I'm always forgetting to mention my volunteer work, or training courses I've taken)

I also found miniature scissors, glue, a stapler, and measuring tape at the dollar store which I'm sticking in under one of the flaps.

i had bought a planner one year from a local independent record store. it was made by slingshot newspaper and it was so great. it was a quarter-page size so you could slip it in yr back pocket if you really needed to.
it was a weekly planner so you'd have 3 days on one side of thepage and 4 on the other. and each day had activist history on it and that was pretty cool and inspiring to read each day.
it had an address section and a notes section. if it had been just a bit thicker, for more notes and lists and stuff, i think it would have been perfect.

i actually considered making my own to distribute somehow. from the way this thread goes, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea . . .

I found A cute Calendar to print at Sanrio.com but they only put up one month at a time! :<(
>http://www.sanrio.com/main/calendar/calindex.html

Have Fun, Jaime

We can't let this thread die! Not after I've completed my dayplanner :) I'll post pics soon, but here's the gist:

-Month by month grouped sections, with 2 page calender spread, then week by week pages (2, opening on each other, sort of hard to explain, will take pictures)

-Addresses on palm pilot...but also a list in the day planner

-Numbers of book stores, restaurants, emergency numbers (considering our 911 routes to a town 30 miles away) and school numbers..oh craft stores, too

-Recipes, acid-alkaline food lists, nutritional information

-Prayer journal/religious information

-companies that test, that don't test...etc.

Anything else I need to include? :) I'll post pics soon, on shiny crafty people.

Bye now...off to make more pages!

This may be a stupid question, but oh well, How are you all binding these? Are you using purchased binders, or are they being sewn together? Just wondering.

It's in a little half-size binder. You can buy these at most office supply stores...although my original day planner was found in the street :)

I also saw some half-sized binders in the Scrapbooking section of Michael's.

You can by the half-sized binders (7" x 9") at Wal-Mart even. I got my second one from Wal-Mart, it's one of those "heavy duty" style binders with the cover printed to look kind of leathery. My first one was from Staples. It had the clear plastic over it so you can stick photos or whatever in it.

***ETA: I also have a 3-hole punch that I adjusted to match the spacings on the half-pint binder.

I'm thinking about making a planner for my boyfriend too. It will be different from mine though, because he has different organizational problems than I do... ;)

GOALS - lately he's been getting really down because he hasn't met any of his goals...I think he just needs to write them down so he remembers them!
WEEKLY CALENDAR - so he can copy his work schedule and rehearsal schedules, note when bills are due
WANTS/NEEDS - he will keep in mind to save up for the Game Cube, but he won't forget to buy the flea medicine
TO DO - just to reiterate his priorities
ASSIGNMENT LIST - description, date assigned, date due, date completed, date turned in
PURCHASES - to make him a little more money conscious...then again I might just get him a copy of Quicken
RECEIPTS - a pocket for him to store receipts of recent purchases, in case he wants to make a return
JOURNAL - just blank notepaper so he can write down his thoughts. :)

Now my *question* to you ladies is...do you think this would be too impersonal for part of an anniversary gift? I want to help him out to be more organized but I'm not sure if it has a hint of rudeness in it...do you know what I mean?

I think that would make a great gift! I was thinking of making one for my other half, because he has a pretty hectic life but isnt good at staying on top of things.
Im sure he will appreciate all of your hard work :)
Ica xxx

Ica - Thanks for responding. I guess I'm just kind of worried he might be like "This is my anniversary gift?" because I don't want him to see it as me trying to make him over in some way... I'm not sure what I mean, I guess I just don't want it to seem impersonal somehow for an anniversary gift. Ahh, well I'm going to search around for more gift ideas anyway. ;)

what a great thread! i'm totally going to have to do this. i got a great little notebook at urban outfitters for like $5 (super super super sale, i could never buy anything full price there... ick) that's just a notebook with graph paper inside a beautiful leather cover. i think i'll get a mini binder and cut it down so it fits in the cover. awesome!

all these ideas are fantastic! my high school gives everyone a planner the first day of school, but it only has room for like hw assignments. i have so much other stuff i need to keep track of! i really like the idea of using colored paper rather than just the sections... genius! i think i'm probably gonna put a good karma/bad karma page and keep track. hopefully i can fill out the good first!

i'm gonna have to get started on this before school starts. super smart! you gals are fantastic!

here's another site that has tons of lists: http://www.listorganizer.com.

Sprung, it's interesting that you didn't like using Word because that is all I am using and I love it. Since I don't ever have to worry about a two page spread it's working great for me.

lilyblue -- Well, the problem was basically that I was printing two planner pages per 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper, and also wanted to print them doublesided. I also needed to leave enough of a margin so I could holepunch the sheets after I'd cut the paper in half.

I ended up making two templates for each 8.5" x 11" piece of paper (one for the front side and one for the back side). It was just to ensure that after the paper was printed on, the margin for the hole puncher would be correctly spaced on both sides.