Hello my friend!  Welcome to TIDBITS Planners!

Whether you have a day planner from me, or if you are still researching to see if this is the planner for you, I want to talk about the functionality of The TIDBITS Day Planner and how to use the specially designed format of the pages inside the planner to make the most of your days.  The layout I designed has been key to helping me:

• make the most of my days
• reduce my stress levels by setting realistic expectations for myself
• schedule in time for rest and rejuvenation
• crush my goals
• create a roadmap to pursue my dreams

Worry not, the layout is so simple, yet extremely effective for planning your days, weeks, months and even year.  I’ll show you how there is space to accommodate all your planning needs and how it is so easily customizable to your unique life.  

Please note: you can also shop all my planning products on Etsy!

Watch this post in the video player below:

I purposefully didn’t make any assumptions on how you like to plan the areas of your life, and left plenty of heading space for you to include the topics that need your planning attention.

Keep in mind, whether you opt to purchase the digital or physical day planner – or both (which is extremely handy) the layouts are the same and these instructions apply to both.

Let’s open it up and take a look!

INSIDE THE PAGES OF THE TIDBITS DAY PLANNER

Following the title page, you get right into an overview of the calendar years for 2020 and 2021, with some space to make notes if needed.

This is a great reference page, and you might think about including a bucket list here, general goals, or as important longer term things come up that you need to record and remember – this would be a good place for that.

Then we flip to a little inspiration . . . 

. . . followed by a big picture view of each month of the year. 

I plan to use these spots to organize the big projects that will need to be the focus of each month, map out personal development growth I hope to work on, and even throw in plans for family trips and other big events that I need to project for the year.

Ok, turn the page and we get right into January – can you tell we mean business here?  

I call this the monthly overview page. You have a full lined note page, and a page with sections and headings.  This layout with empty heading space gives you total freedom to plan as needed, but let me tell you why I love these pages and how I use them.  

I view the note page as my brain dump page.  With the start of each new month, I like to sit down and think over all the main things that I’d like to get accomplished and jot it down with really no rhyme or reason.  Just somewhere to get things out of my head. You don’t have to do that, it can just be there if you find you need a space to write things down.

Then I look at this sectioned page and plan out the specific areas of my life that need planning. 

Generally speaking, I usually always include a heading for work, home, family, and personal.  I might also include a to-buy list, or spiritual, physical, social goals. You could record some affirmations to focus on that month, habits to work on developing . . . really – skies the limit!  I left some bigger columns and smaller ones, because I find we usually have an area of our life that has more tasks, whether that is work or family, and other areas that might not need as much space.  These pages are really just wonderful to sit down and do before each month begins.  

Next up is the monthly spread, where you can actually calendar in deadlines, meetings, activities, etc.  Again, I’ve left some note space in the side margin to break down certain areas of your life.  

Turn the page to my favorite pages – the ones that help me get things out of my busy head and into actionable, realistic expectations – the weekly and daily spread. 

Now most DAILY planners – not all – but most have a page per day.  I have found that to lead to a lot of page flipping and missed deadlines.  And WEEKLY planners, don’t often have space to record enough daily details.  The TIDBITS Day planner includes both daily and weekly planning, all in one. It is very useful to see your week all in a glance, with the added bonus of time blocking your days. 

What I like to do is sit down on Sunday evening and I use the sectioned note area to break down my week into the main areas.  For me, that is usually, “work, home, personal”.  

It can also be something like, “to do, to buy, to contact”, or whatever works best for you.

Then, I can look at all those main items and figure out what day I will likely do them.  There is an area under each day to write these “to-do’s”, which give you a very realistic expectation for each day and thus avoiding overwhelm. 

As the week goes on and things come up, you can add them to the days they need to be done, and let it go from your brain until that day.  Then each night or early morning when I plan my day, I can transfer those essential items into the time blocking section and feel so much more organized and clear on what I will be doing that day.

You’ll notice 2 lines under each hour which will allow you to schedule on the half hour if needed, or you can be more general with your hours.

I have to tell you, this method works so good.  I get asked all the time how I accomplish so many things being a mom and blogger.  Planning my days and weeks this way is absolutely key!

On each weekly spread you’ll also notice a little calendar overview of the month for reference, a nice motivational quote, and a handy habit tracker which can aid you in your personal growth in a really simple way. 

Those pages are the bulk of the planner – rightfully so.  Near the back I’ve included some note pages with options for lined, graph or dot grid paper.  You may have a purpose for that right away, but for me, I just never know when I’m going to need a place to jot something down really quick – and my planner is almost always handy.

Lastly, the remind section is meant to help you reflect and remember important dates and milestones.  You have a place to record events from 2020, as well as a place to jot down things for the next year when they come up.

I love this section for perpetual dates to remember. 

It’s a great place to write down birthdays so you remember to record them year after year.  Any special milestones or events that you want to celebrate every year can go here. I also like to record things like a loss for a loved one so that I remember to call or visit the following year when they will certainly appreciate the kind gesture.  If your family likes to observe something like, “national donut day” you can remember to do that as a tradition each year.

Finally, in the back you have a handy envelope to slip in information that you like to keep close to your day planner for reference.  Something like your kids school calendar, lunch menu, or your favorite teams game day schedule. 

And that’s a wrap!  I love this planner so much, and I am certain it will be a wonderful tool to help you live your life to its fullest, and most importantly – be so lovely to look at . . . yes – that is very important to me.

TRY THE PLANNER PAGES FOR FREE

If you want to try out the pages first, I have undated pages that you can print for FREE, through the sign up form on THIS PAGE.

If you feel I’ve missed something you would like in your dream planner – let me know! 

I’m just getting started.