How I Color Code in my Planner

Hi everyone!

This post will be about how I use color-coding in my planner to help me stay organized.

There are several ways I do it, some of which work, while others don't. 

1.  With colored ink
I've been doing this for years and it worked wel for me.  I see what I need to do instantly, and the important things, bills (LOL), stand out so I know not to forget to do them.

Lately though, and especially on busy days, my pages are just too colorful and confusing. So I decided to use just black ink and color-code only for the important things.  Again, usually bills.

I carry 4 colors and a pencil in my planner but also use a variety of multi pens.

I use a lot more color in my monthlies that I use as a mini journal.

2.  With highlighters
Now THIS was a disaster. They made my pages look crazy busy!

I love my soft color highlighters but they just don't work as much as I thought it would.  I use them very sparingly, usually for holidays and items that are left undone and need to be migrated to the next day.

3.  With Post-Its or sticky notes
I tried it, I do it sometimes, but really, it wasn't a must-do for me. 

4.  With stickers
Again, doesn't really help all that much for me.  I'd do it just so I don't waste what I have but I don't really need to do it.  I prefer actually writing in what needs to be done.  I'd probably continue to use them just for color on my pages.

5.  My Color-Coded section
I saved the best for last, and my favorite and most used section apart from the Diary.  I have been color-coding for years, and I know the colors I use by heart so that when I spot it, I instantly know what it means. In the last year or so, I put in an actual section that was color-coded by each category of my 'life'.

Pink is for Me
Brown is for Home/House
Blue is for Family/Dog
Green is for Financial
Light Blue is for Crafting
Purple is for Media

Six tabs for my six sections.

  

And here are the contents in each of the tabs.

And here's how they look from the top. 

This system is working amazingly for me. Whatever notes, papers, information I need to file or find, I look in that section and it never fails that it's there.  This section has gotten to be quite thick because I totally depend on it for everything.  In fact, the rest of my planner is just really the Diary, the heart of my system, and notes pages.

Here are a few examples:

My dog's vet schedule for the year. I use grid paper for easy 'encoding'. 

My crafting section. I use grid paper here again for easy sketching. 

Apart from grid paper, I use colored paper in this section. It's a great way for me to make good use of this paper and it makes each section stand out better. 

I have also tried the "filing cabinet" system and I'm using that in my Home Binder which has a lot more information - more for reference than for action. It works well there. For everyday use though, I love this system and, if I may so myself, it's quite perfect for me.  (:

Do let me now if you do something like this as well.

Thanks for visiting!

"I Love Multi Pens!" (and hack)

Hi everyone!

Ever since I started color-coding calendar entries in my Filofax years ago, I've been addicted to multi pens.  They're so much more convenient!  And I've gone through and used quite a few in my time.

The first one I got was this Franklin Covey ballpoint pen in coral.  It writes with 3 colors: black, red and blue, and has a pencil as well.  I have since replaced the refills, which write poorly by the way, with D1 gel refills from Zebra.

Franklin Covey multi-pen and extra refills.

Then I got the Pilot Coleto, whom I think pioneered the custom refill concept where you choose the color of the inks you want in your pen body.  It was the first one I tried and I loved it.  5 colors in one barrel!  And because I was using two, I had 8 colors, AND a pencil and eraser!  Lovely!

Muji multi-pens at the top made an appearance (:

I even found Little Twin Stars Coleto pens, my favorite Sanrio character growing up (bottom two of the picture above).

A Uni Style Fit 3-barrel Meister lives in my Slimline used as a wallet.  I interchange this with the Franklin Covey as they fit the Slimline's pen loop perfectly.

After a while, the Uni Style Fit was introduced to me by a friend.  She said the ink was water-resistant and the writing was smooth.  I tried and loved it even more than the Coleto.

5- and 3-barrel Uni Style fit barrels.

The Uni has a ballpoint-pen-like tip while the Coleto has a needle tip.  I prefer the former.

I hope you see the difference in this photo.
Uni (above), Coleto (below).

However, I didn't like the Style Fit barrels!  They felt clunky and slippery in my hand.  I couldn't write with them for an extended period of time because they made my fingers ache, which the Coleto never did.

I was crushed!  Then I started playing around with them and discovered that if I cut off the top part of the Uni refills and popped in the Coleto tops (they snap right off), they fit perfectly!

Coleto (above), is shorter than Uni (below).

Coleto (above), Pilot (below), both with Coleto tops.

I'm a happy camper now.  I had the Uni ink refills, which I prefer, in the Coleto barrels.  Again, best of both worlds, at least for me.

Thanks for visiting!