Organized Chaos

So the other day I swung by Staples and picked up some organizing stuff.  It is, after all, a new year and the perfect excuse to buy cute (over-priced) office supplies. Plus, I really did need a new planner.

I had previously found some cute printable calendars on Pinterest, so I decided to assemble my own planner this year.  I posted the above pic on Instagram and Facebook and ended up with several email inquiries so I thought I'd put together a blogpost. Because why not.

I will preface by saying this is not the cheapest route to go for planners.  That Martha Stewart is pricey...and cute.  But it was one-stop-shopping for me and that my friends is priceless.  

The genius of this planner is that you can assemble it however best for you.  It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted, and I'm still tweaking it as I go.  (Also, I *may* have 3 hole punched the wrong side of some paper sheets because I was watching Safe Haven on Netflix while "planning")

I've been using this basket to hold everything.  It helps in locating where I stuck my planner.  It also holds a bunch of stick-it notes, and pens.  The red spiral notebook is what I use for various notes and my grocery list.

It's kind of hard to see, but on the left inside of the binder I glued a Martha Steward plastic folder that can hold misc. loose paper.  On the right side, is a zip pocket that holds little stickers that I can place in the calendar to label events or whatever.  Also some washi tape to mark off weeks of vacation or stuff like that on the calendar.

The green thing I got at Target for $5.00.  It's a year long monthly calendar.  Originally I bought Martha Stewart pages that were kind of expensive, only to find out that I bought them for the year 2013.  Yeah.  Staples better give me my $ back. ;)  

And this is what the calendar looks like on the inside.

The next sheets are ones I printed that I found on Pinterest.  I paid$7.95 (I think) for the download.  You can go HERE to see it.  Also, the cute color tabs: Martha.

Daily checklist and then you will see below that it also has weekly and beyond.  I haven't filled mine out yet.  Irony.

 A weekly Menu planner (which I then use to make my grocery list)

The red tab holds a "Blog Idea" print out that I have not filled out yet.  Of course.

These calendars are from the download that I linked to above.  Yes, I have 2 sets of calendars in one notebook. :) This one is to keep track of daycare hours. 

That's it.  Now I just have to remember to keep using it.  I know from previous experience that the more I use it, the less scattered and full my brain is.  There is something calming about writing down the chaos. 

I didn't take a picture of it, but I also have a big desk-top calendar that hangs on the wall.  It's the go-to one for our family.  The notebook/binder one is more for organizing my every-day life of activity and things I need to get done.  

Organized chaos.  

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