Fave new thing!

I have friends in the knitwear design world who ask, "How in the world do you keep it all together?!"

Working the way we do, with varying deadlines, constant knitting, keeping track of submission due dates, contract knitters, yarn arrival, etc, etc, it certainly can get hectic. Add in the fact that I am a stay-at-home mom, first and foremost, with two kidlets who are constantly demanding my attention and a household that always needs tending and mending, and it can be exceedingly difficult to find balance. I recently found a planner that has helped LOADS and I believe that I have literally fallen deeply in love. Enough that I want to hunt down the designer to propose (though I don't think my current husband would find the humor in the situation).

The Life Planner is my {almost} all-in-one-keep-track-of-my-entire-life-so-i-don't-end-up-in-the-loony-bin planner. I've tried ipad calendars and excel trackers, but have discovered that paper, with its crisp clean texture, bright colors, and "reality" appeal, works loads better.

It comes with note pages, monthly calendars, special date calendars, and large weekly calendars. Not to mention tabs, pockets, free labels, page holder, and all while crafted to the perfect size for my small purse! And did I mention the STICKERS?!

I'm a color-coding sort of gal, so I write upcoming submission deadlines in blue, project deadlines in red, and personal appts in black. With all of the room in the weekly view, I also write my to-do list in pencil - things such as my daily knitting quota (I take a project, estimated how many rows to knit over a certain number of days and turn that into a target row count for every day), chores, errands, etc. I constantly jot down notes while I am out and about and collect business cards (they go in the handy zippered pocket).

This little bad boy stays with me at all times - when out, it hops into my purse and when I am home, it sits open on my counter to the current day. Now, I don't keep EVERYTHING in it. I am also a "list" girl, so I keep a notepad of lists - things I have submitted, pending payments, organizational goals, project goals, etc, etc. My "chore" list is from my Motivated Moms Chore Calendar on my ipad. I'll get into more of how I organize my day in another blog post soon, though. :)

If you love the beauty of the Life Planner as much as I do, head on over to Erin Condren's site for her current 40% off special.