Planning it out

I had wanted to do a post about the things that you can do while single that you can not do when you're in a long-term, committed relationship.  But I couldn't get it to sound the right way in my head.  Apparently, I can't make everything funny.  Well, shoot.

So, instead, I thought I would let you into my head a little bit today.  I am pretty organized when it comes to work.  I do everything a certain way, and I expect certain things, and I know exactly how things are supposed to be done, and by which date they need to be completed.  In my personal life, I go in phases.  Sometimes I am just as organized.  Everything is put together, quick, easy to manage, and it flows.  Other times, I just let things happen, and I pretend to be far more organized than I am, relying far to much on a good, but not idetic memory.

Currently, we are in one of those less organized times.  Which is a huge problem, considering how crazy busy these next 5 months and 3 days (but who's counting???) are going to be.  I am already feeling the overwhelm, and it's barely just begun.  It's time to get back on the organization train.

When I'm functioning at my most organized, everything has to be in one place.  That means that appointments, bills, budget, meal plan, shopping list, and to-do lists, monthly overview, and daily appointments must all be together.  They can't go in different places, or exist in disjointed spreadsheets, lists on the fridge, etc.

This is all great.  I know exactly what I need to do in order to get and stay organized.  The challenge comes in finding a cute, affordable, well-made planner that encompasses everything I want and need.  I know some of you are devoted to your Erin Condren life planner.  I know others of you are swearing by Maybooks.  While both can be customized to a certain extent, they do not offer a mix and match option of the inside content.  Maybooks would be the greatest thing since sliced bread if they allowed you to combine options.  Seriously, have you seen how great their layout options are?  And my big complaint about Eric Condren is that you can choose the Life Planner, or the Notebook.  And while you can use laminated tabs to mark different notes sections, you have to carve out spaces on your own for the items that you want, and they may not be convenient to the other parts of your life at that time.  I need to have my month, my weeks, my monthly budget, my meal planning, and my lists all being friends TOGETHER.



Are you starting to realize just how hard this is for me?  I used to love Covey planners, but those bad boys are expensive, and again, they don't offer the same level of customization.

So what is a girl to do?  I am seriously considering creating my own planner and having it bound through a local printing shop.  I'm lucky enough to have a graphic design student for a brother, and a little bit of know-how in publisher.  But let's be real... someone out there has to have faced the same issues that I am having.  There has to be someone out there creating planners that can be customized... doesn't there?  Am I the only person who sees where all of these other books fall flat?  Or am I seriously misjudging the worth of these other planners?  I know that they all offer blank pages for writing in whatever you want, but if I'm being perfectly honest here, unless it tells me to do something, like meal planning, or my budget, those blank pages will go unused.

Please consider this my cry for help.  If you know of the magic golden goose of planners, please tell me.  If you think that I'm actually on to something, and that we could actually make a business together selling 100% customized planners, please also tell me.  It would make me feel like I'm not crazy if someone else told me that they needed the same level of organization in their lives in order to feel successful.