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Elyssa Nalani

Elyssa Nalani

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The Ultimate Guide to Paper Planning

March 31, 2022 · In: Featured, GOALS & PLANNING

How to Use Multiple Planners

It’s finally time to talk about multiple planners!

Using multiple planners isn’t about having a bunch of different books. It’s about staying organized. And sometimes staying organized means compartmentalizing things. Just like the cabinets in your kitchen to hold different items, sometimes we need more than one book to hold and organize different information.

(This post contains affiliate links. See disclosure here.)

Assemble Your Team

Cori (The Reset Girl) calls her multiple planners her planner team. So now it’s time to assemble your team.

You did most of your groundwork in the first and second steps . You made a list of categories that make up your life. You’ve tested methods in your notebooks. You’ve looked at the different kinds of planners. Now let’s put them together to make your team.

Maybe a project management planner just needs a lot of space so you choose a large notebook. Maybe your academic planner needs ready-made structure so you choose an academic Blue Sky, or Erin Condren. Maybe you need a run-of-the-mill 3-ring binder to take care of home management (like me!).

And do remember functionality. If you’re out and about a lot and don’t like carrying a big heavy bag, don’t choose a big book for your everyday planner. Maybe you need something compact like a passport Traveler’s Notebook with just your monthly agenda and a space for notes when you’re running errands. Maybe the bulk of your planning and scheduling stays on your desk or at your bedside so you choose a large disc-bound or coil-bound planner.

This is also trial and error. I still don’t recommend dropping big bucks on something expensive yet.

Now that you’ve got your planner team assembled, it’s time to add your your Master Planner.


Set Up Your Master Planner 

A Master Planner isn’t another agenda. A Master Planner is functions more like a journal or notebook. Corie (The Reset Girl) calls this the Master Notebook. She says that when it comes to planning, we need space to brainstorm and write out thoughts and ideas. I completely agree! We need lots of space and paper to work through projects, ideas, notes, and tasks.

Check out what she says about here Master Notebook in her video:

This book is your dashboard, your brain’s central command center, the place from which your planner team operates. You can use it to do some pretty important functions:

  • Your planner team master list
  • Real time information curation.
  • Brain dump
  • Brainstorming

Master List

Cori touches on this briefly in her video. This list is like the table of contents for your planning system. This not only keeps you organized but also gives you a framework that is ready to receive new information. When you have info that needs a place, you’ll find that you already have a space for it or it takes you a few moments to add a new space because your framework is already there.

Real Time Information Curation

No more looking for scrap paper to jot down an appointment, phone number, or meeting notes. You can curate information in real time in this notebook and have it ready to transfer it to the space it belongs.

Brain Dump

Carie Harling says that your brain is for thinking, not for storage (which I believe she got from Getting Things Done David Allen. Our noggins need a place where we dump out all the random thoughts, ideas, tasks, and items that we have floating around. And not only are they floating around, they’re not being acted upon. This is the stuff that oh yeah, we’ve been meaning to do for the past 3 months but keep forgetting to get around to it. These are the awesome ideas that we tell ourselves we’re going to remember but the next day are lost to us for forever. These are the questions you were going to ask at the planning meeting but forgot to write down and now you can’t think of it.

You and I both know how much we forget and lose on a regular basis. Brain dumping not only clears our mind but also catches the useful information we need in the future.

Here are a couple of brain dump videos for you to consider:

Brainstorm

This hardly needs explanation, it’s self-explanatory. Our brains need a space for us to write out ideas, draw pictures, work through problems, take notes and make long lists.


Don’t Discount Digital Tools

I never would have said this as a newbie planner girl but digital tools are definitely necessary to a planner set up. I turn to Google Calendar, Notes, Notion, and AnyList on my phone regularly. But the game-changer for keeping track of all my digital information and big projects is Notion. I will never not use Notion from now on.

Some people only plan and do task management with tools like Notion but I will always be a paper planner girl. So while I am keeping lots of information in my Notion databases, it’s a part of my whole planning system.


You may find other uses for your Master Notebook. Do what works for your brain! This will change and morph as time goes by. I’ve been at this over two years (still a newbie) and I’m still tweaking my system. Life changes and so will your planning. You’ll want to try new books and products. You’ll want to try a new method after watching someone’s YouTube video or seeing an Instagram post. That’s okay! Try new things but don’t get too distracted 🙂

Now wrap it up with some dos and don’ts of paper planning!

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

By: Elyssa Nalani · In: Featured, GOALS & PLANNING · Tagged: full focus planner, goals, planner, planning

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February 2024 will come before you know it. What a February 2024 will come before you know it. What are you willing to try and possibly fail at in order to be in a different, might I say better, place that you are now? I don't know about you but I don't want to be the same person, doing the same things, and struggling with the same mess I am now. I want to have grown and matured. I want to have taken risks. I want to have learned a thing or two. But I can't do any of those things if I'm not willing to try. ⁠
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Happy Tending List Tuesday 🎉 This post is later Happy Tending List Tuesday 🎉 This post is later than I planned but better late than never! 

The best way I can describe January is cattywampus. I was equal parts catching my breath, checking items off my list, and trying to establish rhythm & balance that never quite happened. Even so, it was actually a good month and I’m satisfied with what I managed to accomplish. 

Now it’s time for a new Tending List. Even though February is a shorter month, I’m determined to get really focused and accomplish even more. 

How about you? How was your January? And what do you have on your February list? Let me know! And if you want to check out my full January Review and February Tending List post, you can find my blog post linked in my bio! 
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When you haven’t posted anything on your feed al When you haven’t posted anything on your feed all week so now you have two charcuterie boards side by side 😆 Welp whatever - I’m documenting this beauty! 
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In case you need a reminder to slow down this weekend, here it is. And if you haven’t yet, take time to create rituals and family traditions that will help you refresh, gain perspective, and realign you with what’s most important in life. Be present, be thankful, be a blessing 💕
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Our 2nd Friday night charcuterie in the bag! I’m Our 2nd Friday night charcuterie in the bag! I’m loving the berries and pears on this one! It’s making me look forward to summer produce 😋 (and there isn’t a whole lot that makes me look forward to summer 🥵). Also, this time I included my husband’s charcuterie board without the food so you could see it ☺️ I want him to make us some more 😁
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My 2023 vision board. That’s all ☺️ . . . #v My 2023 vision board. That’s all ☺️
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I finally posted my 2023 Resolutions & Goals on th I finally posted my 2023 Resolutions & Goals on the blog today. It took me a lot longer to process my goal setting needs this year. Even though it was unexpected, it was good and I needed it! 
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If you’re still trying to wrap your mind around goal setting for 2023, it’s not too late to check out my goal setting course, Build a Better Year! Link in my bio 😎
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Happy Tending List Tuesday! This year, I want to Happy Tending List Tuesday! 

This year, I want to be more intentional about sharing what I’m working on, both personally & professionally so I’ll be posting my Tending Lists here and on the blog every month. I’m a bit tardy with January’s list but better late than never! 
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My husband made a gorgeous charcuterie board durin My husband made a gorgeous charcuterie board during his time off for the holidays and I’m so excited to serve dinner on it tonight 😋 

We’re going to be more intentional about rhythms and rituals in our home in 2023 and as part of our Friday night ritual, we’ve decided to make it charcuterie night! I’d say this first one is a huge success 🎉 

(Next time I’ll get a shot of the board without food 😆)
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My resolutions for 2023. One for each of the Live My resolutions for 2023. One for each of the Live Well 6.⁠
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Some people write resolutions and others write goals - I write both. A resolution tells me WHAT I want to accomplish and WHY I want to accomplish it and a goal tells me HOW I'm going to get it done. Sometimes a goal needs to change because life changes. Not so much with resolutions because they are based on the kind of person I want to be regardless of what's happening around me and what I have or don't have control over. ⁠
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Do you write goals or resolutions? Do they tell you your what, why, and how? Let me know how you set intentions for the new year!⁠
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Happy New Year!⁠
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