How Becky Uses Her 2016 Planner January 28, 2016 08:00

Hi everyone!  This week it's my turn to give you guys some more information about how I've been using my 2016 Planner.  But first... a couple of reminders:

  • We really hope to see you all this Saturday from 12-5 at the West Elm pop up at Southpoint in Durham! Click here for specific location in the mall. If you bring us a donut we'll probably give you a discount. 
  • If you have purchased a 2016 Planner, we want you to give us your feedback!  Don't be intimidated by the length of these posts, we don't expect you to do the same thing we're doing... but we would LOVE some honest responses - what do you love about the planner?  What do you hate?  How can we make it better?  Don't sugar coat things - we're tough, we can take it!  Feel free to email hello@upstudionc.com with anything you want to tell us.

Ok, down to business.  I do love this planner, but I'm going to be up front about a couple of things I have in the back of my mind right now too:  the cover, while beautiful, is not sturdy enough for the wear and tear of going in to a bag to transport on a daily basis.  We knew this might be an issue, but we wanted the simplicity.  Don't worry, we're looking in to it for next year!  I am not using all the pages so far, probably for a couple of reasons: 1) I write really small, 2) I am super scatterbrained right now and sometimes forget to write things down (pregnancy brain is a real thing - just ask my husband), 3) am I the only one who is not in the swing of things after the holidays?  There have been holidays and snow days that are just throwing me off.  Ask me in a few weeks what my planner looks like and I'm sure it'll be a lot more full of sketches and lists (soooo many lists!)

I know a few people we've talked to have had plans to decorate their covers.  I've kept mine as designed, and have not been using a closure for it and it's worked well for me.  I do have one sticker on the inside cover opposite the folder to celebrate my alma mater (Go Hokies!)  The folder is well used with appointment cards, some random notes, and receipts for my 2 year old's swim and soccer lessons (I can't wait to see the hilarity of a bunch of toddlers 'learning' these sports).  

I'm using a few of the graph pages to keep running lists of things... quotes I like, books I want to read, movies or TV shows I want to watch, etc.  I'm finding that I shy away from the non-graph paper for anything list related.  I really love a straight line and so that's what I gravitate towards.  

The month layout highlights any all day events or special memories, and the weekly layout is what sees the most use.  I've been using the top section with the times in mind in order to lay out my day and keep my appointments or meetings.  I like that there is space at the top to still write an all day event, so I have a reminder on the pages that I refer to the most.  I use a clip between the current weekly layout and the month layout for quick reference too.  The 3 sections are divided into meal planning, UPstudio to-dos, and miscellaneous.  I love having a space for meal planning, and being able to divide up my UPstudio tasks from my day job tasks.  The bottom portion of graph paper is always my weekly to-do list.

I'm not using up every single portion of every single page, but I don't feel bad about it.  I like having extra space to be able to have an impromtu coloring book for my daughter, or take notes at a meeting, or layout sketches for new product ideas (sorry, can't post any here yet!).  I probably don't need all 5 pages of graph paper at the end of each month, but I love the idea that I can write my grocery list on one and tear it out to take to the store with me.  

I'm also testing different writing instruments to see what I like best.  I prefer a pen over a pencil, and my current favorite is the grey colored Le Pen as it doesn't bleed through but still is very easy to read.  I've used a few other colors too for organization of things... birthdays and events in purple or teal so they stand out more and I don't forget them!

As we continue to use the planners, we are constantly taking notes and making plans for the 2017 version.  We want you to be invested and feel 100% confident in the product that we are creating, because we are creating it for you.  Once again, we welcome any comments, good or bad (but we hope there are at least some good!) and look forward to hearing from you all!