I’ve loved stationary and planners ever since I was in elementary school and I received my first school planner in second grade (I used to adore Erin Condren planners in high school). I find so much pleasure in writing down tasks, due dates, and fun events to look forward to in the most aesthetically pleasing way. Unfortunately, I haven’t always been consistent with my planner usage and I would often purchase beautiful agendas at the beginning of the calendar or academic year without so much as a thought put into them 2-3 months later. I only began routinely filling out my monthly and weekly spreads when I started working as Community Outreach Court Coordinator because I had too many tasks and important dates to forget. I used a May Designs Monthly Notebook for the last year, which suited my job perfectly at the time. When I switched jobs, however, I needed a new planner where I could note my endless list of meetings to attend that fit better in a daily format. After much stationary scouring, I settled on creating my perfect Agendio that I customized with my important dates, notes, and a budgeting section. With so much customization, my Agendio cost a pretty penny, but I find the planner is so helpful that its cost was worth it.
When I initially tried to calendar my meeting times on the monthly spread, I listed them chronologically. I hated how the days looked when I wrote the meeting times and had another meeting scheduled prior to one of the original ones (ie initial meetings at 9 am and 2 pm with a 12 pm one scheduled after the others), so I now keep track of my meetings by sectioning off “a” for am and “p” for pm. I fill in those rows horizontally with just the hour so if someone schedules a meeting with me I can easily fill in the blanks. I color code my Agendio as much as possible to separate the different aspects of my life and I note that key on the right side of my monthly spread. On the weekly/daily area, I write down my meetings in the hours they’re hosted and I use a red pen to note any rescheduled ones. At the bottom of the page I’ll note the most important tasks I have to accomplish that day and check off each one when they’re complete. I’ve also recently planned my dinners at the top of the weekly page so it’s easier to communicate with my partner what ingredients we need each day.
Arguably my favorite and least favorite part of my Agendio is the budgeting section in the back. I don’t like budgeting or knowing how much money I’ve spent over the past month, but I find it’s actually helpful to know where my paychecks go. My desire is to retire by the time I’m 40 (it might be unrealistic but a girl can dream!!!) so saving is especially crucial to my daily life. On the left side of the page (not shown) I write my paycheck amounts for the month along with the totals of my monthly bills and essentials so I have an idea of how much I’ll be able to save after 401k contributions and regular bill payments. And now you all can see how much I spend on a regular month too!
