I love planners and I’m really into the crafty aspect of decorative planning but I had a hard time finding a planner to meet my needs as my planning style evolved. A typical weekly layout was not large enough to keep up with all the things I wanted to but I didn’t like the idea of devoting a page to each day either. While many people may enjoy having all aspects of their life on one planner layout I really craved something to allow me to focus on my life a week at a time but also gave me the space for long term planning. I also wanted a system that would allow me to keep all the aspects of my life in one neat place. So when I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for I made my own.
While any ring agenda would give me the customization I was looking for I decided I really wanted my planner to be something special that would stand the test of time. It took a few months of patience but I was able to grab a Louis Vuitton Agenda GM in the LV resale group. I realize that these are hard to come by and pricey so know that you could follow my process for making your own custom planner with any ring bound agenda.
If you like the LV aesthetic you can get a similar agenda in the brown or white check pattern here.
I don’t consider myself tech savvy nor was I looking to impress anyone with cool graphic design so I created all my templates in a word document. If you know how to add watermarks, tables, text boxes, pictures and shapes than you too can design your own planner layouts to meet your specific needs. I would also recommend purchasing some digital designs you love off etsy, using premium printer paper, a hole punch and a paper trimmer.
When it came to monthly and weekly layouts I didn’t feel the need to re-invent the wheel. I like a calendar view at the start of each month and they a layout for each week where I can keep up with what all I have going on that week and my to-dos for the week. The one thing making my own layouts did give me is the freedom to play around with the design. Each month has a different digital paper used for both the monthly and weekly layouts and I used balloon letters for each month.
Once I had the basics of my planner set up it was time to add the custom sections. I knew I wanted a health tracker that would give me a wholelistic view of my wellness; this is where I had the biggest struggle in finding what I needed and this pushed me to create my own. Because I suffer from chronic migraines I do like to track how often they occur and what I used to treat them. Hormones are a big migraine trigger for me so I also keep up with where I am in my cycle. Tracking my migraines helped me establish a pattern of increasing frequency which allowed me to work with my dr on alternative treatments – I’ve actually been able to significantly reduce my occurrences this past year! I also have a column for weight but I tend to weigh myself every few days vs everyday.
One the other side of the page I like to keep up with how many days I got a workout in and which days where I met my water intake goal. I also left myself a section to write down my wellness goals for the month. I’m sure there’s many other things that would be good to track but these are the things that I keep up with the most.
Next I created a layout that put my grocery list along with a meal planner. We do have a Hello Fresh subscription so I don’t meal plan out every week but I do find it helpful, especially for weeks when we are traveling, to think about what we need for a week’s worth of meals. This helps me so I don’t end up with a bunch of random snacks but no real food or worse, getting ready to make dinner and realizing a crucial ingredient is missing.
As a blogger what I need most from a planner is a way to organize my social media posts and partnerships, my layout here is super simple but it works for me. There are several brands that I work with on a regular basis and others that are one time partnerships but regardless as soon as I commit to posting for a brand I write it down to reserve the space. I also use this space to brainstorm ideas for posts and list out the things I know I want to share. Having this list right next to my calendar is very helpful for when it comes to scheduling when I am going to post what.
I also have a tracker to help me keep up with important partnership dates and invoice status – I have definitely been guilty of forgetting to send invoices in the past. I also like to track my social media audience, that’s mostly because it’s fun to see growth over time.
With my blogger section I also keep some note paper for brainstorming ideas for blog posts, reels and whatnot.
In the very back of the agenda I keep extra note pages and personal info. I find the pouches are great for holding pens and stickers as well as other items I don’t want to hole punch like gift cards and other personal items.
I hope this post has showed you how it’s possible to have a planner customized to your specific needs if you’re willing to put in a little bit of time.
Although my health and blog trackers were designed with my specific needs in mind I’m happy to share my monthly and weekly layouts with you if you would find them helpful. Just shoot me a DM on instagram or email me at memphismandysue@gmail.com
Happy Planning!