Overflow Planners: For the True Planner Lover with a Never-Ending Supply of Planner Pieces!
Using an "overflow" planner is a brilliant way to keep your extra planner items organized and easily accessible. I've owned a planner company for the last decade and you can bet I have one of everything we sell, which means I have to keep it all organized. This is why I came up with the concept of an overflow planner.
An overflow planner is a place to keep extra planner items you may not need in your EDC (Everyday Carry) but you aren't quite ready to part with. These may be things like extra dashboards, future calendar pages, extra covers, etc. In an overflow planner, things don't have to be pretty, they just have to be organized.
Here's how you can effectively set up and use an over-flow planner:
- Select Your Planner Sizes: Determine the planner sizes you use regularly and choose an over-flow planner for each size. For example, if you use mini, junior, and classic planners, have a separate over-flow planner for each size.
- Organize by Size: Sort and store your extra planner items in each overflow planner according to their respective sizes. This ensures that you can quickly find the pieces you need, no matter which planner size you're using at the moment. I use only discbound planners these days, which means my overflow planners are all sitting on older discs I don't currently need. My mini-size, for example, is a set of 7 discs with all of my mini-size extra planner products on it.
- Categorize Items: Arrange the items within each overflow planner into categories, such as dividers, inserts, note pages, dashboards, or other accessories. This further streamlines the process of finding specific planner pieces when you need them. In my overflow planners, you may find four or five planner covers back to back, a dozen dashboards, and an extra set of dividers. I don't organize my overflow planner like my regular planner. This planner is purely designed for convenience. I have so much planner stuff! With my many years of being in the planner business and years of being in the planning community before that, I have a couple overflow planners in each size, but when I'm ready to switch things up I can easily find exactly what I need because I keep "like" items together. (My mom taught me that! I can still hear her helping organize my room and telling me "Keep like items together, Jane".)
- Regularly Update: As you acquire new planner items or switch up your planning setup, remember to update the contents of your overflow planners accordingly. Keeping them current ensures you always have the right tools at your fingertips. When I get my calendar pages each year (or more often) I don't always keep the entire setup in my EDC (Everyday Carry) because I may not need them right away, or maybe I don't want to port around all that bulk. I put the pages I'm not ready to use into my overflow planner. At least once a year I go through my over-flow planners and throw out items I no longer want/need.
- Store in Convenient Locations: Place your overflow planners in easily accessible locations, such as nearby your main planning area or on a bookshelf. This way, you can effortlessly grab what you need without interrupting your planning flow.
- Use for Inspiration: Your overflow planners can also serve as a source of inspiration. Flip through them when seeking fresh ideas for planner setups or when planning for different projects or aspects of your life. When my planning style is feeling a little stale, I'll pull out my overflow planner and switch some things out.
By utilizing over-flow planners, you maintain a well-organized collection of extra planner items, making it a breeze to adapt to any planner size and keep your planning journey seamless and enjoyable. You are now set up for success, no matter how many planner items you accumulate.
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