Any Dayplanner mamas in here?

[Birth Junky]

I am currently working as a massage therapist, but will be quitting my job in February or March and becoming a full-time SAHM once our babe arrives in March or April. I am THRILLED at the prospect (it is one of my two lifelong dreams, along with becoming a midwife eventually), but wondering about a very specific issue: organization.

Currently I am a total planner; I carry an organizer/calendar with me always, to keep track of appointments, social engagements, birthdays, phone numbers & addresses, finances, etc., etc. Especially with the advent of pregnancy brain a couple of months ago, it is essential for keeping my days straight and staying on task. My question is what to do once the baby comes . . . obviously I am not going to have to keep track of multiple massage appointments per day anymore, but I think I am still going to be fairly dependent on my dayplanner.

I have a couple of binders that I have used throughout the last several years; one of them is a smaller (4x6) size that I used to use, and one is the large (8.5x11) book. What I am wondering is, when I order my 2006 refill pages, should I switch back to the smaller size? It is certainly easier to slip into a bag . . . but the big book has a couple of pros to it as well; it has a handle along the spine, so that I can carry it without a purse, and it is also big enough to slip bills, outgoing mail, etc. into (it zips shut so that I don't lose anything).

(*chuckle*) This may seem like a really silly thing to be thinking about right now, but I'm going to have to order those refill pages SOON, and am really having a hard time deciding what to do! Does anyone else here use an organizer to keep track of SAHM activities, and do you have any suggestions/advice for me?

Thanks in advance . . .

[Lucky Charm]

I am a dayplanner freak, and at one point had 3 going at the same time.

I am not a fan of the smaller ones, and always used the larger sized one like you have now. Like you, I carry mine all over the place with me. I slip mail in it, and stuff that needs to be mailed, along with stamps and business cards.

You will have to be just as organized as a sahm as you are now as a massage therapist.

I now have a palm pilot in my purse (no more kids in diapers) and a very nice datebook at home in the office.

I'm all excited as its december and I might get a new datebook instead of just refills. :bouncy

[Birth Junky]

Thanks, sweetbaby3!

I love my big dayplanner, and am definitely leading towards keeping it (instead of switching back to the smaller size); it is just so much more practical, to be able to carry extra stuff like mail and stamps along with the planner pages! My main concern was that it would be TOO big/bulky, along with all of the other stuff I will need to carry (diaper bag, baby in sling, purse).

I think I'm going to just order up the large-sized refills, though; it seems to make more sense.

[Lucky Charm]

I know its not such a good idea, but I have left it in the car when I was with the kids/diaperbag, etc. One less thing to hold.

I'm such a freak, I wish I could see your planner. Maybe we should start a "show your dayplanner here" thread, like the Christmas Tree one in Talk Amongst Ourselves :lol

[mich]

About a year ago I discovered the joys of keeping a planner with me and I'll never go back. :love

I am more into the smaller one because I can fit it into my one bag along with the drinks, snacks, toys, tissues, wallet, cell phone, mini emergency bag, and various other stuff I seem to carry. And we are way past diapers, blankets, change of clothes, oodles of newborn stuff.

I actually use a Plan Ahead week at a glance planner I got for $4.00 last year at Walmart. It takes up less room than even the small day planners. As long as I have a place to keep my pen (in the spiral binder) and have a paperclip to clip odd papers to it I'm happy. To me the benifit of it being small and light, and therefore always with me, out weight the lack of bells and whistle's that would make it better, but more likely to get left home because it's big.

I do have a friend who still uses the large zip around with handles verson. She brings it everyware in it's own bag and loves it still.

It seems the only way you will know what will work is to wait and see when the time comes. If you love the big, order the big!

Good luck and Congratulations!!

[katebleu]

i'm hoping to get a planner small enough to fit into a bag for christmas because my long time planner is too bulky to carry with me everywhere, thus causing me to carry another smaller notebook. i'd like to consolidate. :D

[Birth Junky]

I'm such a freak, I wish I could see your planner. Maybe we should start a "show your dayplanner here" thread, like the Christmas Tree one in Talk Amongst Ourselves :lol

Okay, here it is (http://shopping.franklincovey.com/shopping/catalog/productbinder.jsp?filterSize=Classic&navAction=push&navCount=1&id=prod540034)! And the pages I ordered for next year are these ones (http://shopping.franklincovey.com/shopping/catalog/productpaper.jsp?navAction=push&navCount=2&id=prod720016) . . . I liked the fact that the daily task list is divided into three separate sections in these pages, so that I can keep things compartmentalized.

I am a bit of a planner freak myself; I think it has to do with the bipolar disorder. I used to have serious manic episodes where I would be up all night, mind racing, flitting around the house like a hummingbird going from project to project. I always found great comfort in sitting down with my planner and writing down (in EXHAUSTIVE detail) all of the things I had to do the next day, people I had to call, directions to anyplace I had to drive (I am terribly navigationally impaired:wink), etc. I have settled down quite a bit this year, but I still LOOOOVE my planner, and write lists and lists of everything that has to be done.

i'm hoping to get a planner small enough to fit into a bag for christmas because my long time planner is too bulky to carry with me everywhere, thus causing me to carry another smaller notebook. i'd like to consolidate.

Katebleu, if you are interested, I have a spare binder in the smaller size that I will not be needing next year . . . I could send it to you, if you like Franklin Covey. (The only downside to their binders is that they are the 6-hole punch variety, so you really need THEIR pages to fit inside.) The planner I have is this one (http://shopping.franklincovey.com/shopping/catalog/productbinder.jsp?filterSize=Compact&navAction=push&navCount=3&id=prod540032), in grey. PM me if you are interested! :D