Do You Bullet Journal/Plan???

Finding the perfect planner can be tough! The market is filled with all sorts of designs, sizes and styles of planners...how can I not find that perfect one??! But to be honest I have tried seven and have yet to purchase the perfect teacher planner that works for me. Let's face it, we all have different lifestyles, different priorities, and different tastes and needs.   

I have found that for me, my planner needs to be majorly customized. I need to have LOTS and LOTS of note-taking space. I need categories for professional development, for our new professional growth system...I want categories for my classroom ideas and for my classroom wishlist, as well as a place to keep track of my business and my daily schedule. I need a to-do list, a place to jot down those AHA sparks of inspiration, a place to take meeting notes, and a place to organize and schedule my blog posts. Sure I could have a business planner and a school planner; maybe even a planner for the home, but that wasn't realistic. Yes, I could use a journal or composition book for all of my note-taking, but not only did hauling a planner and a journal, and maybe even a composition book around with me everywhere I went become a nuisance, it looked like this! 

Talk about an unorganized mess...and unlabeled sticky notes literally sticking out everywhere!

Don't get me wrong, I am obsessed with sticky notes, just not hanging out of the sides of my notebooks.

I also like to keep it simple. I don't need all of the cute stickers and fluff. And who needs lesson plan templates. Do people still actually hand write those?!

Out of trying 7 different planners now, the only one I have found that even came close to what I needed is Erin Cobb's Teacher-Seller Planner! 

 It has a nice calendar!

 A small note-taking section each month!

 A place to schedule and keep track of blog posts!

 And other planning components for managing my store and social media....

But I still found myself carrying around that journal and composition book with those hideous stickys sticking out everywhere! It just didn't have enough note-taking space for me! 

I'm sorry, but I don't want to be carrying around 2-3 planners with me. I need everything in one. I mean isn't that what a planner should be? Everything organized in one spot??! 

So after brainstorming and trying to vision what my perfect planner could look like, I got to thinking. I'm a list kind of girl! I like lists and I like dashes and bullets. And even more I like crossing things off my list. I'm also a note-taker. I need lots of paper for notes. And my new, most perfect ever, teacher planner was born!! 

    Meet my new teacher planner...and it's perfect! It has lived up to all of my expectations of the.most.perfect planner this year!

It's nothing more than a 1-inch binder,

organized custom tabs, 

a bunch of notebook paper behind each tab, :)

 And of course a calendar!!!

Calendar is from "One Stop Teacher Shop's" planner/binder on TPT.

Another thing I love is this! I'll never be without a sticky note, pen, highlighter, or pencil at another meeting again!:)

I used this planner system for the last 5 months of this past school year and let me just say, I love it and my teacher planner nightmare search is over! AND, it didn't cost me a thing!!

And get this!! It just so happens that this is actually a common type of planning, so much that its been coined with a name! WHAT??!! It is called bullet journaling/planning and many people are doing it this way!! Wow, to think that I could have coined this myself!!! haha! Who would've thought!

So I guess I am an official "Bullet Journaler!"

If you're having the same struggles as me, and I know I'm not the only one, check out this fabulous Bullet Journaling post from "The Lazy Genius." She lays out the basics! 

And the thing about this method is that you can get as fancy as you want with this! You can do whatever you want and create the perfect customizable planner to meet YOUR needs!! As you can see mine is simple, but if you're super artsy and like to doodle, the possibilities of jazzing up your journal/planner are endless! See for yourself in this video!

Anxious to learn more!? Ready to jump in and take it one step farther than I did?? Just google "Bullet Journaling!!!" You'll find dozens and dozens of videos, tutorials, and blog posts all over the web on this amazingly new way to create and organize your life!!!

Are you a Bullet Journaler/Planner???