A Blog Planner Review {Mosaic Reviews}

A Blog Planner Review {Mosaic Reviews}

I am planner … I love to make lists and check things off! Besides blogging, I homeschool our crew, work at home as an Accountant and previously planned events for national conventions. I understand the need for organization. Do I always follow the plan? No… in fact I have worked out of a spiral notebook with pages and pages of notes for years.

As a member of the Mosaic Reviews I was offered the opportunity of choosing a blogger planner to review.  Although there is a large selection available, I was drawn to Beckie’s from Infarrantly Creative.

My daily TO DO list is often more like a small book. Between homeschooling, working at home for clients on Accounting and Tax issues, writing for our homeschool group page, running a home with several children and often multiple grandchildren around…I need to keep things in front of me. My desk is usually a mound of papers that all need my attention. Sadly, most days the largest issue gets the most time and I find myself at the end of the day adding more things to my list than I am able to cross off.

The purpose of this review was to try one of the planners and then relate the experience with my readers. What I like about this planner is the large places to write my notes and the area to keep up with ongoing projects. I also found the block titled “Blogger to Encourage” sweet. It is a great reminder to send someone an email, text or just pop over to their site and leave a comment to let them know I appreciate their work.

The following is a basic page from the planner with notes on each section:

 

Section #1 Three areas for Post/Project Notes. I use one to repeat the weekly schedule of posts to have it in my face everyday. The other two, I make notes about the posts for the week that need to be completed. My page is broken down by Reviews Needed  and Articles to post.

Section #2 Weekly Stats: While I don’t track this per day, I do keep an eye on the numbers. If there is a significant drop or gain I am able to see it and respond. This is one area that bloggers tend to fret over. I have chosen to use this area to only monitor the numbers monthly and use the spot to make a tally mark every time I post a twitter, pinterest share or Facebook comment on a post. This helps me stay engaged with other bloggers.

Section #3 Blogger to encourage. Having a reminder to reach out and comfort someone else is a blessing. We get busy and often forget to be uplifting and encouraging.

Section #4 To Do List.  I often fill this area in weeks in advance. For example, my page for the week before the next blogging conference has listed packing, print boarding pass, etc. I fill in other items as they come to mind or when I am brainstorming for posts.

Section #5 Upcoming Ideas.  This area is where I fill in future events that haven’t been scheduled. As I think of them, I try to flip ahead and write them in on one of the Project areas several weeks before the event. Christmas posts for example are usually written and scheduled by Halloween.

Creating your own planner is easy:

First I printed out the weekly pages and 12 of the blank calendars.  Then I created a cover for the current year. I had dividers and pocket folders since we homeschool and placed it all in a 3 ring binder. I have clear cover pockets that I stuff – I mean neatly file papers, notes, pictures for upcoming projects.

It would be super simple to take all of the above to the office supply store and have them bind it for me. For now, the 3 ring binder works better but I am open to changing as the system grows.

Currently I am still tweaking my system and have come to understand that this will probably be an ongoing project. However, this planner does cover all the areas needed to stay on top of what needs to be done. The bonus to the planner was that it was free! Just click here to head over to her blog and download your own copy.

What a blessing this planner has been to me. Thank you Beckie from Infarrantly Creative for creating such a wonderful blogging tool and then being willing to share it.