5 Tips on Setting up your Planner FAST(er)

Thanks for joining me back here. We're going to talk about the five tips that I use regularly when I set up a planner to make it the process more streamlined and fast. We all know how long it takes to set up a planner.  It could be a mind numbing days, weeks, several hours, just to make sure it's exactly the way you want it to look. I, personally, want to speed up that process because I would love to have it done so I could have fun in it. So here are my tips on how I'm going to do that!

If you haven't checked out the video where I lay it all out, Here it is!

#1  List it out!

List out how many things you need for your planner. I have a permanent list section in the back of my work planner. It has a list of all the planners that I have currently and all of their sizes.  It lists not just the inserts sizes but the insert cover sizes and the dashboard inserts for my Foxy fix dashboards. All the measurement I need to put together a planner and make my paper cuts.

Those measurements and quantities are what you're going to use to build off of putting list together for putting together this planner. Now I would I do is go through my entire planner the way it was set up and I take out the things that I don't want. I make a pile and the things that I do want to keep and use again. I then count how many insert covers and dashboards I already have, want to keep in and that would work in this set up. If you want an insert cover but you also want an acetate and a vellum for each insert cover you'll have to do the math for that. Once you've written all of that stuff down onto a piece of paper next to you on your work surface it's going to be so much easier getting things organized to go get in your plan. 

 #2  Use a Collection 

I know all of us are getting boxes and boxes of delicious planner goodies. Use the entire collection as a jumping off point for your planner. It's going to make it so much easier for you to match things by using the maker or collaborator in the box. Now some boxes aren't big enough, I totally understand that. So what you'll do is hopefully have a different box from the same designer. Designers tend to use the same type of color palette and the same type of fonts and genre so it's going to be easier for you to match things.

Now if you want to go all over the board and pick out this studio and this maker and this design company and put it all together, all the power to you.Just make sure that you budget the time for that because it's going to take you longer to make sure everything works together.

#3  Pre-cut all of your insert paper

So it's a look at an assembly line process. You're going to do all of your answer covers, all of your acetates, all of your vellum bundled together.  This way you also have the same measurement in your mind each single time and it gets repetitive and kind of annoying but it also is a good thing!  You'll go faster! Sometimes my head gets a little loopy which is why I have the piece of paper next to me to help me get everything organized in my brain. 

#4 Recycle

I have a box and each box composed of items from each individual maker or style. I have a Mommy Lhey Box but I also have a small box that is for vintage looking items which is composed of different makers but all with the same style.  This is for a group of designers whom I don't have enough of just one single designer to justify a single box for just them. When I'm ready to set up, I go straight to that box and look for things I want to use again. I've made tags before, I've made dashboard inserts before.  Why not use what you've got.  I also use my insert covers again. All you have to do is trim just a smidge off the edges and voila you've made it into a dashboard insert. 

#5 Don't over analyze 

It make no sense to be stuck in analysis paralysis. Sometime I keep struggling, struggling and struggling and try to get something together. Maybe because I'm tired, I need to eat or my creativity is fried.   My advice is to put it aside that or turn it over or rotate it before punting to the side. You could always come back to it later.  Sometimes when I have a dashboard insert that isn't really working I just put it to a aside start on a new one and then all of a sudden the light bulb clicks and then all of a sudden you're back in business. That way you can keep going and keep moving forward. It may be not on the direction you are on, but at least your still moving in the next steps toward finishing. 

So I've got one last tip. Before you start putting things where they are supposed to go, do a dry run on your counter and then go ahead and insert everything into your planner  Putting them in the dashboard covers because that's the thing that takes the longest only to find out your flow isn't right is kind of depressing.  That way you can make adjustments on the fly easily! 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Kim 

xoxoxo