My lovely cousin, Sonia, recently sent me a note, asking if I could suggest the best organizer / planner for her to take with her everywhere to keep all of her families "stuff" in one place.
I’m going to suggest the "do it yourself" 3 ring binder.
No, it won't fit in your purse, but the positives outweigh the negatives. Nobody really wants to carry around a notebook, but once I get done giving you my idea of the perfect organizer, you will see why having everything in a binder, rather than one of those compact day planners just makes better sense.
1. You will need a three Ring Binder, divider tabs, clear page protectors – Pick out a notebook that you like. They come in all kinds of styles and looks these days. Everywhere from Office Depot to Michael’s has a selection to choose from. If you are crafty, personalize it with photos of your family and pets on the cover. While the cover may be cute and reflect your family’s personality, it’s all business on the inside!
2. Use the dividers smartly and according to your needs. Take for example: Calendar, To Do, Banking / Finance, Contacts, Home, Kids, Pets, Notes, Shopping.
3. In each of these sections, you can either make your own forms, or you can download some pretty useful forms online. Make sure on every page there is room for notes.
4. Put all of the pages in individual sheet protectors. The sheet protectors will not only hold the pages, but any information that goes along with it. Examples:
a. KIDS may have camp coming up. So you have a page in there with the email confirmation you received that has all of the basic info. But then while the kids are at camp, no doubt they start bringing home sheets of paper, permission slips, and other reminders. You can stick all of those in one place, in the page protector, behind the initial email.
b. SHOPPING may have a few pages in there. One for an ongoing grocery list that you can just slip out of the sleeve and add to as you think of things. Another sleeve may have receipies you have ripped out of a magazine or off the back of something. Maybe another sleeve (or pouch) has coupons.
c. SCHEDULE should have a basic calendar. It’s up to you if you want a month at a time, or a day at a time. But the nice thing about having the page in a sleeve is you can put supporting information in with the calendar. Say you have to get bloodwork on Monday July 28th, in the same sleeve as the calendar you have the appointment on, you can put the lab orders. Birthday party? Put “Meghan’s Birthday Party” on your calendar, but stick the invite with all of the other information in the sleeve to refer to.
d. HOME would probably be my favorite tab. I can see myself with a running tab of To Do’s, but filling the sleeve with ideas for paint colors and home furnishings from magazines.
These are just some ideas for the notebook. There are plenty of other great ideas to “furnish” the book. If you have a hole punch, the possibilities for pockets and other fun organizational tools are endless!
