One of the most difficult thing about setting up your planner is trying to forecast what your needs are for the coming year. I used to go from the Franklin Covey 2-page a day format back in the early 2000s, all the way to a condensed week in one A4 page (i.e. 2x A5 pages as a flat page) in my current layout. Your needs and your wants change over time and I am no exception. I print out 3 months worth at a time and then I find I don’t use something much or anymore.

What works for one person may not work for another person. I love reading how scrapbookers, creative people and planner loves out there decorate their planners. I just don’t have the time. It’s not to say I am not creative, but I am still trying to juggle family and running a small business and every minute spent on something else is something I do not have the time for what is actually important to me.

I print out the month overview from free printables from the internet. I have long despaired of being able to print the month-view from my Google calendar that doesn’t literally cut into the middle of Wednesday. Plus it’s not pretty, just functional. So if I can get any help I can by someone doing some designing for me, why not jump on their bandwagon?

Here are some of my favourite go-tos:

• Philofaxy – Without a doubt, this is my favourite stop.
• MissTiina – One post for each month’s worth of printables for something a little bit prettier.
• The Hand Made Home – with even prettier layouts, quotes and even homework sections for little people.
• Productive Flourishing – Digital momentum planners with great productivity worksheets.

One of the things I learned along the way is to invest in a good hole puncher, or I will be there all day trying to line it up trying to make it work. Surprisingly there are not a lot of 3-hole punches so I bought a 4-hole punch and removed the extra punching hole. It took a few trials and errors until I came up with the perfect alignment for the A5 planners I have.