Planner Organization 101

Yikes! It's been over a month since I've written a post...sorry everyone! You would not even begin to believe how busy my life is now that school is in full session and nearly every hour of my day is planned. It's finally starting to feel like fall (despite the 80-degree forecast for the next couple of days) and my birthday is 6 days away! yippee!
These days, my life is kind of a whirlwind. My roommates always joke that they never see me. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever have time to get a full night's sleep or work out at all this semester. I'm taking 16 credit hours this fall, working about 25 hours a week at my internship, volunteering, I have weekly meetings for three different organizations I'm in, sorority commitments, and I'm trying to have some semblance of a social life. If that wasn't enough, I just applied to another Greek honors society and I'm nominated for Homecoming Queen. Whew-just thinking about my life wears me out.
I don't know where I would be without my trusted planner, however. We all know my obsession for Lilly and my beloved agenda. I've promised a glimpse inside this sacred territory, and it's your lucky day! Here it is, ladies and gentleman...A Look Inside Kira's Agenda:


If you've never seen the inside of a Lilly agenda (you're missing out) but every one comes with these adorable stickers on the first page. I've only used one so far, but they're fun little additions to the already cute pages inside!


Another great feature of the Lilly agenda that is a new update this year is the laminated tabs for each month. They make flipping from month to month easier and they don't bend like the ones in last year's version did.

I really like how they have a full month calendar before each of the weeks. It helps me outline my month and all the big things I have to do, but I can write individual assignments and plans on the daily/weekly sheets.

The planners have a great section for notes. Inside mine, I've written my color-coding system. Color-coding is HUGE for me. More in a minute...I also included my class schedule, which was more for the first week of class so I would remember the room numbers and instructors.

On color-coding: I cannot stress to you enough how important color-coding is when writing in an agenda. I use brightly colored pens to distinguish between events. For example, homework assignments are written in light green, work is in red, and so on. The markers I've been using are pictured here, but unfortunately, I bought them in Spain when I studied abroad and I can't find them anywhere in the U.S. or online. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! I've also been using Sharpie Pens which are great too because they are really fine tip but won't bleed through paper.

Now that I've ranted about school supplies and things that are probably boring to everyone but me, please just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful the month pages are in this planner: