Organizationally Challenged

I have to admit... I am organizationally challenged. While I do understand the concept behind planning, I simply have trouble with the execution.

I have tried every type of planner and organizer I can find but still find myself struggling to keep it together.

I have come to the conclusion that the people who are designing these planners are very organized themselves. I need an organizer  that is designed for the organizationally inept. I need something super simple that's not complicated to follow. I don't need to record every detail of my day. If I do, I forget to look at what I have written down. So I end up not doing half or even a third of what I had "planned" on doing. And then I feel guilty for not "staying on task". It's a vicious cycle!

But I do understand that planning is important. "He who fails to plan is planning to fail" - Winston Churchill

So I decided to design my own planner. I wanted it as simple as possible. My biggest problem is that I tend to not check my planner after I have done the planning. So I decided that I needed to make something that I would be sure to see.

And the Wall Planner was born!

 

I painted a sheet of poster board red. You could simply use colored poster board and skip this step. I wanted a red background and I didn't have any red poster board... so, time to break out the paint.

 

Then I used sticky notes to make the calender. I recommend that you use the ones that say "super sticky". They are a little more expensive than the generic ones but, unless you want the days falling off of your calender, they are a much better choice.

 

If you wanted to get really organized, you could use a different color of sticky note for each member of the family. Stick them right on top of each other. I, myself,  have no desire to be that organized. But sometimes I do stick multiple sticky notes for a day that I need extra writing space.

I used foam letters to add the days of the week across the top.

Long sticky notes worked great for my extra planning section. I had just enough room to stick a row of these down the side.

I use the top one to record library books and due dates. I hate paying library fines. I mean, you might as well just buy the book! I also write the due dates onto the calender to make sure I don't overlook them. Trust me, I need all of the help that I can get when it comes to remembering stuff.  

 

I use the second one for notes.

 

The last one is for upcoming events - not in the current month.

 

The great thing about sticky notes is that if you need more room you can always stick another one on top. They're stackable!

 

I wanted to reuse the same sheet of poster board for each month, so I laminated (contact paper) the month labels and used velcro to stick them to the calender. So, for each month, I can simply pull off the old month and put on the new one.

I laminated a strip of scrapbook paper and then I stuck 3D stickers (Dollar Store) on top of the laminated strip.

 

I stuck it to the wall using mounting putty. You can find it on the office supply isle. It reminds me of chewed, chewing gum. But it's really easy to use and it's removable/repositionable. You could also use Command strips - LOVE them.

 

I do still use a three ring binder for my lesson plans. I will post my lesson planning printables and ideas later on.

 

Questions and comments are always welcome. You can also email me at adventuresofahomeschoolmama@gmail.com.

 

Thanks for stopping by! Please make sure to check back. I'm just getting started but I will be adding new stuff daily.