A few thoughts on making a beautiful calendar

Um, the biggest talent I seem to have missed out on is artistic, so for somewhat attractive pages (though I do aim for beautiful it doesn't always happen so far) I get inexpensive bordered pages to print out on from the computer, or just to hand-letter, or some not-too-thick papers with seasonal backgrounds used in the same way. If I find appropriate inexpensive stickers – though I rarely do – I'll use them to decorate sometimes. Sometimes I find beautiful magazine pages that can be taken out (if, of course, I don't actually want the entire magazine) and hole-punched and placed where it's most appropriate. For example, around my own birthday I have some gorgeous pages from a magazine about thinking through what one wants to do and be…

Of the Use of Cards in Planning

As I mentioned earlier, I've been experimenting with choosing cards that represent my projects, and just lining them up in the order in which I wanted to work on the chosen projects, in place of a planner. I've come to the conclusion that I myself am happier also writing some stuff down on some sort of planner page -- I find I both enjoy my day more and get more done if I've written down whatever steps or reminders or schedule or whatever I want for the day. I think the specific planner stuff helps me both think and remember.

Cards, I find, are fabulous for IDEAS for myself, for what to do on a day and also ideas for relaxing. More on that later.

Again, choose your own approach! and of course feel free to change it whenever you wish!

Not every day has to be an assigned holiday

I posted a page today (you can click on My Own Holidays near the top of this page, or just https://ofholidayscalendarsandplanners.blogspot.com/p/my-own-holidays.html )  of all the holidays other than say family birthdays that I celebrate. It's obvious that some days so far are not holidays for me, and that's fine – a break is refreshing, and of course it's lovely just to celebrate being alive! They still have their page in my own page-a-day calendar looseleaf notebook, often a page in a seasonal color or other design, but just with the date. Who knows, I very well may discover another holiday next year to add to that page!

Of Planners

Re planners:
     1.    Sometimes I tuck hole-punched planner pages into my calendar notebooks. PLANNERS are a whole big subject unto themselves! I have the "problem" that no one planner has ever met my interests or other needs (though Passion Planner has definitely come the closest; they are extremely generous with downloadable samples, at https://passionplanner.com/ ), so I almost always end up creating my own or at least using a different premade planner each week. Sometimes I tuck them in, often I just have them out on my desk. I've played with bullet journals and see how cool they can be too…
     2. Right now, though, I'm playing with a physical card planner idea in which cards are just arranged in the order in which I want to use their ideas each day, and the cards are used zillions of times until say the project on them is finished. I started this because physical cards are how I keep track of my food to make sure I have all I do best with in general categories. So I'm working on making cards that cover all I do best with, though possibly not those that are such a habit I don't need to make yet more cards (since this is even more complex than the food cards). The cards pictured below are made from cutting 8.5x11 card stock into 4 pieces, and then have artwork I bought from Etsy literally cut and pasted onto each. (Eventually I'll list favorite sources......but wanted to get started on this site.....) Um, there is also another type of card -- it's weird, because I'm so non-religious/spiritual/etc, but I can find it encouraging to do "card spreads" at the beginning of a workday on "relaxing" etc, and just use cards I find pretty (the one I spy below is from the Victorian Fairy Tarot, and it was to remind me to remember I was pretty tuckered out when I set about to clean that day); more later on this idea....One advantage to this system instead of a write-down-on-a-paper all I'm going to do that day approach is that it's much more painless to omit and add projects as I realize I have more ideas for one project, don't feel like another project that day, want to move a project to earlier or later in the day, etc....This especially works for me because a planner is never a keepsake for me -- it very well may be if I were a good artist, but I just recycle at the end of a week or so....

     3. I'm sorta embracing how planners can be a big part of one's calendar life, so on this site I'll pass on ideas of my own that I think may be of interest, and also give links of (other) nice planners I run across.

Potential Calendar Components

Again, zillions of possibilities, guys! These are just my own thoughts:

There are so many potential parts of Your Unique Calendar, including:
     1.    calendar pages
       a.    I like both the page-a-day I make up with my own holidays AND
       b.    a pretty printed-out monthly calendar, placed at the beginning of each month
     2.    reminders, tucked in wherever they're most useful to you, eg
       a.    a list of ideas of where you want to go in your area and beyond (I put at the beginning of each month and move them to the next month when it arrives)
       b.    a list of my favorite projects I want to work on often (I put at the beginning of each month and move them to the next month when it arrives)
       c.    when bills are due and other lovely things, so you don't have to worry you'll forget (I put where they're due, or actually long enough ahead so if something happens to anything usually automatically paid I have time to pay the bill)
       d.    habits you want to have (I put at the beginning of each month and move the page to the next month when it arrives)
     3.    actual planners
     4.    Um, these are things that are more involved, so though they of course could fit into this calendar idea, I myself have separate pages or notebooks:
       a.    a thinner birthday notebook of every loved one's birthday with gift ideas and records so I say get something at a fairly similar price level for other kids in the family, etc.
       b.    food plans are huge in my home, so I have a book I wrote, clipped-together ideas for each month and each big holiday, fresh sheets for each week put up, etc etc. (it sounds more complicated than it is; I find once I'm organized the way I like, life is so much easier)

Creating Your Own Calendars

This is just the way I do it; there are zillions of ways!! This is for YOU, remember!

More details on my own calendar notebookS (please note I myself need 4 thick ones, as noted and pictured below):

• With a page per day in a looseleaf notebook it's easy to tuck in practical reminders (like when bills are due) with the appropriate dates.
• It's also earth-friendly, since I use the notebook year after year.
• My notebooks are 8.5x11 3-hole type. This size is generous, and often inexpensive in the USA because it's what kids often use in school. I'd hope the rest of the world would have something similar say in A4 size.
• I've actually found I need 4 thick notebooks, 1 for each season I feel I have in my part of the world (autumn, winter, spring, summer). I prefer a notebook with clear plastic on top and the sides where you can insert a cover and a spine title etc. I get different colors or use differently designed covers and spines so it's easy to tell which is which on a shelf or desk.
• Speaking of seasons, I insert special seasonal ideas and pretty seasonal artwork I've found (not pretty enough actually to frame and hang, though) at the beginning of each season…
• The most I've spent was well worth it – a well-made hole puncher for the size of my notebook. It makes any paper (as long as it's somewhat the right size) useable for the notebook.
• I tuck in hole-punched folders and pockets, paper protectors, etc. to insert things like ideas for how to celebrate my biggest holidays.
• To keep track of where I am, because I don't always keep the notebook open, I take scrap cardstock and hole-punch it so it will be a bit above the rest of the pages, to use as bookmarks. I make the same to keep track of where the next, say, bill reminder page is located, or the next Really Big-to-Me Holiday is...

a sample page:

(more details later on the cards here, but I wanted you to see the 3-ring thick notebooks to explain better what I mean; 1 is open, there are 3 more in the back left...)

Creating Your Own Holidays

Your calendar can be as unique as you are – for example, you can make up your own names for days of the week, you can have say a 3-day week rather than a 7 (though you'll have to keep track of "normal" days for a job or school etc), you can celebrate your own holidays, etc....Two things that have really changed my life for the better are creating and celebrating my own holidays, and keeping track of them in a looseleaf notebook with 1 page per day. I feel much more free and myself!


More details on my own holidays:
I've chosen my holidays in many ways, and am always tweaking. Here are my most common holidays:
a.    the birthdays of my favorite people including favorite authors and musicians
b.   some important-to-me anniversaries, including the anniversary of when humans moved into the International Space Station, when I first discovered a super favorite artist, etc.
c.    food holidays according to "International/National Day of" lists, though they tend to differ according to who's advertising etc! But hey if I love chocolate (yes I do) I'll celebrate a chocolate holiday no matter who made it up!

Sometimes there are many similar holidays at least almost in a row, so I have things like "A Summer Celebration of Health" for "healthy" holidays close together. I'll make a special page for this as a reminder and of course just for fun.

I have a page here of my holidays, but PLEASE the whole idea is to choose your own, so subtract and add to your heart's content!