I remember the very first planner I ever received. I was still in elementary school and at the beginning of the school year, our teachers would give us these assignment books and at the end of each school day, we would fill them in as a class, so the teacher could make sure we didn't forget to write down any homework for the next day. Of course when I was eight, I didn't put a lot of thought into it. I just filled it out because we were supposed to, but it wouldn't be until years later that I would actually start to enjoy planning. 

In the fall of my sophomore year of college, I made the decision to add another activity to my already full school and work schedule. I decided to join a sorority. Push any and all Hollywood images you have of Greek Life from your mind. I'm here to tell you it's all (mostly) crap. I wasn't hazed or anything like that and I definitely didn't pay for my friends. What I did get was an amazing group of women who would all teach me different things about womanhood, good and bad.

But where Hollywood gets it right is showing how big of a time commitment it can actually be. Here I was adding a weekly chapter meeting, social events, fundraisers, and more to my already packed schedule. I was going to have to become way better at organizing my life, but how to start? I went to the Walmart in my hometown and looked at planners. I found a $10 Blue Sky planner and a pack of five colored BIC pens. It seemed as good a place to start as any. At first I would just write in different colors, but I slowly branched out to decorating my planner with washi and a few stickers. 

Since then, I've upgraded to a vertical Erin Condren Life Planner and my Oh, Hello Co. Traveler's Notebook, and I mostly stick to weekly kits when it comes to decorating, but the reasons why I plan are mostly still the same. I currently juggle two jobs and as active of a social life as my boyfriend and I can manage. It seems like I've still got just as much, if not more, on my plate.

Sometimes that can get a little overwhelming, and that's when the other reason why I plan kicks in. I've been consciously aware of my anxiety for about four years now. I'm not sure if you or anyone you know has anxiety, so let me tell you this: it sucks. It can make you feel like everything in your life is scary, overwhelming, and out of your control. So for me, that's where planning comes in. When I start to have anxious thoughts about an upcoming project at work or if I will be able to see my friends on the weekend, I can go to my planner and find the answer. Plus, decorating my planner and making sure I am placing all of the stickers just so is a great way to distract my mind.

Why did you start planning?

In My Planner: July Monthly Page and Week of July 2 - 8

Good morning, Planner Nerds! Thanks for checking out our blog today! I've finally gotten back into the groove of things planning-wise and this month I decided to try some new things!

I wanted to actually give this whole monthly page thing a try. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty obsessed with it now. I used some discontinued bullet journal stickers from Oh, Hello Co. to keep track of monthly memories and goals. Under that, in the left-hand column, I am tracking my monthly bills and birthdays (July has lots of birthdays, as you can see!). In the right, I am going to track the books I read!

In the box below that I've decided to do a quote each month. July's quote comes from the ABC show Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. The quote is said by SHIELD Agent Jemma Simmons at a time when she needs to motivate the people around her into action, even though the problem seems too big.

She says:

"The steps you take don't need to be big; they just need to take you in the right direction."

Don't you feel inspired now?

I decided to break my goals down into two different categories: tangible and emotional. I've found that it is important to make sure that we are setting healthy goals in all aspects of our lives. My tangible goals for July are to read at least three books, to blog more here and on my personal blog, and to start writing a story! My emotional goals are to be more loving, to be more forgiving, and to be grateful for what I have in life!

For my spread this week, I used the Mermaid Weekly Kit from Oh, Hello Co. Even though it is the week of the Fourth of July, I didn't want to just do a red, white, and blue spread. This kit had the perfect color combination for summertime and it's adorable, too!

Before the pen:

After the pen (with some added stickers):

What was your favorite thing about this week?