My Paper Calendar

Yesterday I shared with you guys how I meal plan and I mentioned that I still use a paper planner! I sort of did an internal (okay maybe external) chuckle because I realized how old that made me sound but ya’ll I literally cannot function without my paper calendar.

So today I thought I would share what I use it for and how I use it — mainly to be helpful but also to show you that I am not 90 years old carrying around a day planner with all my appointments, lol. Any other millenials like me stuck between a paper and digital calendar?

Okay so first, let’s get the digital calendar out of the way. I use Google calendar like most people and I color code it so I know at a glance what is happening. All of our appointments, activities, plans, etc are on this calendar including when I drop the kids off to church or cheer or camp or whatever so that I can plan my day around those things that I can’t move.

This is literally a snapshot of my week. It’s the last week of summer so it is really light during the day but next week it will all pick up back with back to school craziness and regular work schedules. Anyways, pretty much everything goes on here that would be in your normal calendar.

I love Google Calendar because I can keep up with it on my phone easily and most people use it so as I have meetings and such I can send invites.

But…I also know that I need a weekly to do list and way to keep track of everything I need to do in a week around the scheduled stuff and that is where my paper calendar comes into play.

Here is a snapshot of this week…

As you can see, I have our meal plans and both my personal to-do list and everything I need to do for business on there too. Again, it’s the last week of summer and the first week of cheer so my work schedule and to-do’s are light so we can prep for all the back to school stuff without a million other things on my plate.

I love this layout because it is big enough to hold everything and spread apart on days. I use the weekdays to write down everything I need to do that day including what social media content I will be getting out there. I try to keep that stuff flexible like if I have a blog post planned for Wednesday that I feel like writing Tuesday instead I just switch it up no big deal.

Because Saturday and Sunday we have scheduled things like pop ups or sports or free for family time, I just use those two days to list out my personal to do list and meal plan. I love this set up because it helps me have a clear vision for what I need to do for the week and while some stuff has to be done on a certain day I also have flexibility too if needed.

I will mention that I don’t really leave the house with this so the larger size doesn’t matter. I work from home and leave it home so the size is perfectly fine and when I do bring it with me its thin enough to throw in my bag which I love too.

I just usually grab a cheap, cute calendar every year from Target, Walmart or Amazon and I love starting in August with the new school year because with 2 young kids that is usually how my brain works…in school year terms versus calendar year. For a few years I ordered the fancy expensive calendars and truthfully, they do the same thing so I now opt for the affordable ones.

Anyways, that’s it. Super practical and something I can’t live without but something that makes me sound ancient if I say it out loud, lol.

Do you use a paper calendar? Only digital? I would love to hear your system since I am always up for improving mine too.