Dutch Door Layout - Perfect for Vacation Journaling

Next week is Thanksgiving, and many of us are off work, or traveling to visit family and friends. This may have you wanting to depart from a typical "structured" weekly layout, and use something a little more flexible to help capture memories. 

A good solution in your DIY Planner is a Dutch Door Layout:

The Dutch Door Layout allows you to use a consistent header across multiple pages. Because the functional planner space is slightly less than you would normally get from a full page, it makes sense to use this for atypical weeks where your time isn't quite as structured.

I used my HP Sprocket to easily create a really fun mosaic with a picture from our trip last year. I'm even bringing my photo printer with so I can print photos each day to add them to my planner!

Where are you going on your next vacation?

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost to you, but does pay me a small fee if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations).

Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 Dot Grid Planner, Hard Cover

Brush Pens (Large) - Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens, there is also a nice Starter Kit here

Brush Pens (Small) - Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pen, FLEXIBLE TIP

Photo Printer - HP Sprocket Photo Printer, I also recommend buying extra photo packs right away, as printing is addictive 😂

DIY Planner Daily Time Blocking Layout

I recently was inspired by a blog post from one of the most creative DIY Planners I've come across: Whitney from Life by Whitney. This blog post has DIY Planner layouts for how to be more productive. 

I felt like it was the perfect layout to help organize a SUPER busy week for me

I modified the layout slightly in that I didn't give each hour an equal space. There are times of the day when I'm more productive, and times when I'm not that productive 😅. Thus, it made sense to make some rows taller than others. 

While I filled in this layout for the purposes of a video, the actual implementation involved:

• Sunday Night I outlined the grid including rows for hours and columns for days (I also made Saturday & Sunday less wide than weekday columns too).
• Each morning while I had my coffee (first thing I do in the AM) I would pencil in on the right-side of that day what I wanted to work on for each "chunk" of time.
• Every few hours I'd go into my planner and use a pen to color code my activities to show what I *actually* was working on for that time block.

That's it! My days are pretty crazy, so I would just use each morning to plan my day. If your days are more predictable, you could complete your week in one sitting and save even more time planning your productivity.

What do you think of Whitney's layout? 

DIY Planner Page - Daily Notes with a Purpose

Now that I've started a new planner, I wanted to try and be more focused with my time. Previously I would have a weekly layout for general items, and a basic daily notes spread so I could write down things I had done each day. (Because I'm getting older and it's starting to get TOUGH to remember what I did yesterday 😅 .)

Here's the video; I'll explain my reasoning below:

I divided my activities into 7 different categories. These are areas that are important to me, my business and my family. Some to make sure the house doesn't fall over, and others to make sure *I* don't fall over!

You can pick as many / few as you'd like, and make them personal to your situation. 

I've used:

• Errands
• Business (Development)
• Creative Pursuits 
• Household Duties
• Meals
• Practice / Reading
• Me & My Family

(I also have small columns at the start and end of each row to make of awake and asleep times too.)

By dividing my activities into these categories I can try and make better decisions about how I spend my time. The categories are flexible enough, so I can "veg out" watching a TV show after my Little Dude is in bed, because YES! I need some "me time" each day.

Do you think this strategy might work for you? 👇

MATERIALS USED (the following contains affiliate links, which do not increase an item's cost, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendations)

Notebook - Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid hard cover, my last notebook was a dud, and I'm so glad I ordered a new one because the page quality is SO MUCH better 

Pens (Small) - Stabilo 88 FIneliners, my new favorite pen for my planner. The tips are durable enough I can write from a variety of angles (which is important when using different lettering styles)

Pens (Brush) - Pentel Touch Sign Pens, Flexible Tip, great for practicing letter forms too

FREEBIE FRIDAY - Weekly Layout for Sept 11-17 in My DIY Planner

It seems like no matter how many videos I record (the answer is over 300) I always seem to turning into a flustered mess whenever I hit "RECORD" 😑.

This week I wanted to show my weekly layout process. Obviously I couldn't just SHOW you, because I also have a FREE TEMPLATE that I used this week. Watch below to see how I use it (but please ignore my inability to get the washi tape to stick and completely leaving out the last column on the right-hand page >.<)

PLEASE, PLEASE download this FREE TEMPLATE and give me feedback about its use. I'd love to be able to offer other templates, but not if they are "meh" though 😅.

In the second part of the video my severe number dyslexia shows through and I start to write the number as "71" instead of "17" (so >.< again!)

Oh well, you get the point, and I tried to redeem myself with the ambidextrous blending at the end!

Again!! PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE TEMPLATE!! 👇

Materials Used (The following contains affiliate links, unless otherwise noted, which do not change an item's price to you, but does pay me a small commission if you are so kind as to make a purchase based on my recommendation)

DIY Planner - Leuchtturm 1917 Dot Grid Hardcover - love this notebook! Sturdy, lays flat and the dots are perfect for customizing any layout

Pens (Black) - Tombow MONO Drawing Pen 03 and 01 sizes - I use the 03 for the outside lines and 01 for inside grid lines (Not affiliate links for these pens)

Pen (Brush Pens) - Sakura Koi Brush Pens - typically I prefer Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pens for my lettering pieces, but the Koi Brush Pens stay "wet" a little longer making blending easier

Pen (Blending) - I use my Tombow Colorless Blender pen for creating an ombre effect with my pink brush pens

Pen (Pink) - I like to use Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens for detailing my Planner  - they are very comfortable in my hand and come in LOTS of amazing colors 

White Pen - I made a couple of mistakes, but corrected them with my Signo Uniball White Gel Pen