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Hello Gorgeous,

Welcome back! As mentioned, this week’s topic is on planner routines.

I have to be honest with you, ever since the pandemic happened, my planning style and system has changed and continues to change. I went from being super busy, to only having a little bit of things to do. I went from using an A5 size planner, to pocket, and then now a personal wide! And that’s okay because our lives change, and our planners have to adjust to those changes as well. Because life happens, our planner routines can vary.

So, what is a planner routine? How do you get one?

To me, a planner routine is having a system set in place where you have specific tasks to do regarding your planner and its functionality.

Additionally, planner routines are great to have to help us stay on track on our planners and how we use them.

Your planner can be used however you like; whether it’s a daily planning routine, weekly planning routine, monthly planning routine, etc. and even a combination of all of them.

For example, maybe on Sundays you map out and plan out your week ahead. And because you like to plan on Sundays for the week ahead, this can be part of your weekly planner routine. Another example is, a day before a new month begins, you can take out the previous month’s inserts – and this can be part of your monthly planner routine.

As part of your daily routine, you can check your list of to-do’s and fill out your habit tracker.

Just like planning, while it’s tempting to copy someone else’s planner routine – it is ultimately up to you to figure out and decide what works for your planning style. For example, if someone’s monthly planner routine includes taking out old inserts (because they have a ring style agenda); but you have a coiled agenda – it won’t necessarily work for you.

This is why it’s important to note how you use your planners. For example, if you use your planner to track your fitness goals and other health information, you may need to update your health information daily (if you are taking medication for example).

Another example of a planner routine is checking your monthly calendar for any
meetings or birthdays, and then transferring those events into your weekly spread.

These planner routines serve as a gentle reminder as to how you will delegate your planning style in terms of the steps you will have to do in order to make your planner work for you.

Samantha from @ sammysplanner on IG, has a fantastic freebie for planner routines. (Click on her handle to head on over to her LinkTree account to download). She offers vertical and horizontal layouts, as well as some blank layouts so you can fill out the cards as you see fit.

Below is an example of the template she provides. You can choose to cut these into cards and put them inside the pockets of your planner or simply print the entire sheet out and use it as s reference as necessary.

Make sure to tag us and @sammysplanner if you use her template.

That's all for this week! Feel free to message or email me if you have any suggestions for blog posts or need help with anything. 

xoxo

Daisy Martinez

Hello Gorgeous,

Welcome to this week’s topic on planner funk. But, what is a “planner funk”?

Generally, a planner funk is a phase in which we are feeling like our planners, or our planning systems are no longer serving us in the ways in which they did before. (Definition is my own).

Once in a while, this happens to the best of us.

 For a while, maybe like a couple of weeks, I was feeling this planner funk. I enjoy planning, it’s one of my favorite hobbies. I love to plan. I love everything about my planners, using the available space I have to put cute deco cards, dashboards, dividers, stickers and sticky notes, among other stationery things, but something was missing. My planner wasn’t giving me what I needed to get out of it, and I suddenly felt unmotivated to use it.

But I wasn’t alone. Many of us felt it when COVID began and our lives were changing drastically and so too went our plans. Life slowed down. Being forced to stay home made me rethink my entire planner system, the planner size I grew accustomed to using, and no longer needing and EDC.

 And that’s okay. Planners are meant to help us stay on track and focused. They are supposed to work for us, not against us. They’re a tool to help us throughout the day, to keep lists, or jot down things to reference for later, to remind us to call our loved ones, to keep track of our finances, etc.

So, what should you do if you are also on the planner funk boat?

First of all, stay off social media, or at least your planner account for a week. This helps because in this way, you are not easily influenced by others. While it can be helpful to get ideas from others, your planner should tailor to your needs first.

Step 1

Take a moment to look through your current planning system and see what it is about this planner or planning system that is no longer working for you.

 For example, maybe the size is too big, because you are finding that you do not have as much to do. -In this case, you can try a smaller planner size. If you have an A5, you can try personal size.

Step 2

Reflect on the things you have to do throughout your day that are important and any other priorities you may have.

For example, (school) classes, making dinner, working, etc.

Step 3

Print freebies! Try before you buy! There are a ton of amazing freebies that you can print and test out the size before you fully commit to buying a new planner.

 Schedule the things from Step #2 in a mock-up version of your planner in a new size and see how they fit. In this way, you can see if going down a planner size is the right choice for you.

There is no one-size fits all answer. Sometimes all we have  to do is change the rings in our planners because 19 mm is too small, so we add 25- or 30-mm rings. Maybe the solution is to not downsize but change the cover. Maybe we want to try dated inserts versus undated. Or maybe all we need is different deco and washi tapes. Maybe spiral-bound will work for a work planner.

Whatever it is, make sure your planner works for you and your lifestyle.

Hello Gorgeous,

Welcome back! For this week’s topic of conversation, we are talking about organization.

While organizing might not seem like the most fun activity in the world, it can help make you feel like one of the most put-together person in the world. All you need is a good attitude, some music, and a plan to attack the mess, oh, and maybe a second cup of coffee. Nespresso, anyone?

Have you ever heard of the saying, “A place for everything, [and] everything in its place,” by Benjamin Franklin? That’s one of the philosophies in organization that I use to help keep me stay organized. Essentially, all of the possessions you have, have a “home” and are stored in a place where it belongs. For example, planners are kept on top of your planner cart and stickers are stored in a sticker album.

Let’s begin! Put on some lo-fi hip hop music (for that calming effect), grab a couple sticky notes, a pen, and some boxes.

On the sticky notes, we are going to label each with:

- Keep
- Donate
- Recycle
- Toss

Then, we are going to stick each sticky note onto a box, so we know what goes where and makes for an easier clean-up process.

I know what you’re thinking, organizing can be tedious and such a taxing chore, or you don’t know where to get started. However, once you start, it just gets easier.

Maybe you prefer the Marie Kondo method, where you gather all of your belongings together by categories (ex. books, clothes, toys, etc.) and place them in one pile, then go through each item and ask yourself whether it sparks joy. If the item does spark joy, you keep it. However, if it does not spark joy, then you put it in a separate pile.

While the Marie Kondo method can be time consuming, you can simply start by going through the dreaded junk drawer, and then gradually move on to each room in the house as you are singing to your favorite song. And before you know it, it’s an organization party!

Also, is it just me, but I feel like there's something calming and therapeutic about cleaning. It’s this process that helps us feel good. I enjoy organizing everything in my home. You need a wrench, I got you. You need a band-aid, I got you. Or how about some tape? I have that too. I love knowing where things are in my home so that I can access them faster. And it saves you from having that mini panic attack when you can’t find your keys lol.

And to take it a step further, we can also add labels to our boxes or containers. This way, we know what is in the containers, and makes it easier to find the items we need. (And you won’t mistake the salt for your sugar – yes, that happens when you buy clear containers and have no labels) If you need labels, we offer them, which you can also customize. You can find our labels HERE. 

And Happy Spring Cleaning!

Until nex time! 

xoxo

Flavia

Hello Gorgeous,

Let’s take it back to a much simpler time; back when the internet was new and we had dial-up and we got yelled at to get off because mom or dad needed to use the phone, when our biggest concern was choosing which lip smacker to use (Dr. Pepper, anyone?), listening to our favorite Spice Girl’s song super loud in our cd player, dancing to La Macarena, being spooked after watching an episode of Goosebumps, and fighting over which boy band was better #TeamNsync or #TeamBackStreetBoys – we’re talking about the 90’s baby!

The 90’s was da bomb! Blockbuster and Hollywood Video had all of the movies you could ever dream of, and you had to convince your mom to let you watch that one scary movie! But she didn’t let you, so you settled on Matilda. And then, you thought you had magic powers! But it turns out that when you tried to move things around with your hands, it just didn’t work. Good times. Were you shocked to find out that Lindsay Lohan was in fact NOT a twin in the movie “The Parent Trap”? And, did you also watch all of the (actual) Olsen Twins’ movies?

On a stationery related note, who remembers Lisa Frank? Those super colorful, bright and glittery goodies that were seen all over school. The folders, pencils/pens, stickers, backpacks, and lunchboxes – it was stationery heaven. Chances are, if you loved these stationery items, then it’s safe to say you’re still a planner lover.

Let’s not forget about the cute Sanrio: Hello Kitty stationery items too! They had everything as well! Bookbags, stuffed animals, coloring books, pens/pencils, and many more stationery items. Fun Fact: at the Hello Kitty Store, they used to have a box filled with little Hello Kitty goody mystery bags, and you would pay to use a stick that had a piece of tape on it, and “fish” out a random bag. They also had a large pin wheel where you could choose a prize from wherever it landed. *images from Pinterest & Sanrio.com

Other popular stationery items included gel pens! (Which are still used today). Not only were they used in planners, but they were also used to write notes to friends (and your crush) as a form of communication, and to (ahem, pretend that you were taking down science notes), you know, because phones were still new and so was texting. Bonus points if you had the neon ones.

There were also those pens that had multi-colored inks, (basically the whole rainbow), and you could choose which color you wanted to try on.

This one is a major throwback… blow pens!

You get a gold star if you remember the commercial. And who could forget the Mr. Sketch scented markers! They were so bold in color and richly scented and helped make coloring  Scooby-Doo so much easier.                                            

Last but not least, I would like to invite you to join us in continuing to share the love for the 90’s. You can shop our sub box that features items from one of our fave 90’s show, F.R.I.E.N.D.’s.

xoxo

Flavia

Hello Gorgeous,

I hope you are doing amazing.

Can you believe we are already in month 2 of 2021? Time is going by so fast. Speaking of this month, Happy Black History Month!

To start things off, I think it’s worth mentioning some African American women who have made history and are leading such an incredible path. 

Today I wanted to share with you some famous and maybe not so known African American women who have made history.

1). OPRAH WINFREY – who is an iconic woman; is an “American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist” ¹; she made history in 1986 when she became the first African American woman television host on her own show; which was very successful.² Oprah has been very successful in that she has her own network called OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

2). KAMALA HARRIS – is an American politician and attorney, who was born in Oakland, California – she recently made history being the United States’ first female vice president, and the first African American and first Asian American vice president.¹ Upon hearing the news that she and Biden won the presidency and vice-presidency, her infamous words were, “We did it Joe!”

3). VIOLA DAVIS – is an American actress and producer who has won several

awards, such an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy award, and two Tony Awards and is the first African American person to achieve the ‘Triple Crown of Acting.’ She has also been named as one of the most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017.¹

4). HENRIETTA LACKS – was an African American women whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. Henrietta’s cells have made many scientific discoveries and continue to do so. (Fun fact: Oprah Winfrey made a movie about Henrietta’s life, which is definitely a must-see). P.S.
there is a book written about Henrietta’s life as well, and it is amazing! The author, Rebecca Skloot truly outdid herself in combining history and science into one.

5). WENDY WILLIAMS – is an American personality television star. She began her career in the 1980’s as a radio DJ in the east coast. However, her bigger-than-life personality allowed her to shine in her own show by 2008, called,
‘The Wendy Williams Show’, where she talks about the hottest celebrity gossip. Her show has been very successful, as it has been running for 13 seasons, and
this past month in January, Ms. Wendy Williams held a special event on Lifetime, which featured her movie and documentary about her life.

Congratulations to these women on their success!

It’s truly amazing to see the things these women have accomplished. It was an absolute honor to have witnessed Kamala Harris being sworn in and making an oath to protect this country. Most importantly, representation matters, having these women make history matters, Black Lives Matter!

I hope you enjoyed reading about these powerful women and feel inspired as well. While the women on this list are obviously not all-inclusive, as there are way too many amazing African American women who have made history, the women on this list have been chosen to highlight success in different areas of their respective careers.


¹ – source: Wikipedia
² –source: Clarionledger.com