Hello fellow Daisies! How is everyone doing? Are you knee deep in the gorgeous June kit or are you still having fun in the May kit? I have completely set up my planner with the June kit and I am loving it so much. It just says “Summer “ and “Sunshine” to me!
I’m here on the blog today to talk about summer planning. Does your style change over the summer? Does your schedule even slow down or is it as busy as ever and you need your workhorse planner to keep things straight?
First of all, let me start by saying that I am not a huge planner-switcher. I have been a personal ring planner for years, and switched to a personal wide rings when they became available because I loved having more writing space. So i’m usually pretty consistent in my planner and planner setup, unlike some of my fellow Cocoa Daisy team members (coughTriciacough =) ) Having said that, I’m thinking about making another planner size switch, and it’s all because of Cocoa Daisy (and wanting a smaller summer planner).
For me, things slow down massively here over the summer. No sports, no school, no lessons – just a couple of camps! Having my kids home every day year round (I homeschool), it’s so nice to take a break and just enjoy time together instead of having our days scheduled outl! So my two homeschool planners get packed away, my big foxy gets set on a shelf, and out comes a smaller planner! It’s varied from year to year what that smaller planner is. This year it is an a6 ring planner. A6 rings are smaller than b6. B6 inserts are 4.75 x 6.75. A6 inserts are roughly 4 x 6. So it’s not outrageously smaller, but smaller enough to feel like you’re carrying a much more portable planner.
Foxy Fix Personal wide rings on the left, Van der Spek a6 rings on the right
Just last week in my post here on the blog (and in my YouTube video), I was planning in an a6 TN from Foxy Fix with rings attached by the strings. Surprise surprise, it’s already different! Hahah. I’m still in a6 rings, but this is an actual a6 sized ring planner from Van der Spek, and y’all….I love it.
Like I showed you in my last Post I cut down the b6 Dori inserts to fit the a6 size. A girl in the Cocoa Daisy Facebook Group posted about how she did this a few weeks ago, and I was hooked. Up until then, I had decided that I was staying in my personal wide for the summer, but once I saw Alissa’s post, I knew I wanted to try this. Going lightweight for the summer is just such a temptation – even if I chunk up the planner, it’s still smaller, more portable, etc.
My planning style doesn’t change in the summer too much, but what changes is the . . . balance, I guess you could say. I have mostly the same sections in my planner, but the focus changes. Usually it’s about 70-30, with 70% of the focus being on scheduled appointments, activities, practices, etc, and 30% being on things to do, errands, things to get done around my house, etc. In the summer,that reverses, so that my planner has a lot more checklists and fewer scheduled activities. So I will still plan our weeks out in my Cocoa Daisy weekly Dori insert, but I will use much more of the Cocoa Daisy daily pages throughout the summer, trying to check as many things off my list as possible.
As far as the other sections in my planner, the majority of them stay the same. I still keep my pre-planning section, notes, Social/PR, and my family section that tracks my kids’ appointments. Typically during the school year I keep school related info in the very last section (memory work, assignment chart, reading log, etc), but over the summer I’m use keeping a couple fun trackers in there – TV and movie trackers – and a summer bucket list! This is why ring planners will always have my heart. I know it’s simple to change out a TN insert, but for me, being able to customize my planner down to the page is amazing for me. I add in what I want, take out what I don’t, and continually tweak my setup until it’s perfect for whatever season of life I’m in. I love it!
So this summer planner setup works perfectly for my needs this summer, and I’ll be honest. . . I have a feeling it will work perfectly when school starts back up as well. I have plenty of space for everything I need, and from the way it’s looking, I’ll have plenty of room this fall as well. I have to say, I’m seriously loving the a6 rings size, and I’m really thinking I’m going to stick with it. Has this ever happened to you? You love your current setup, but you switch to something different for a short time just to serve a specific purpose, and you end up loving it and realize it fits your needs even more than your old setup? Thats’ where I’m at right now!
So, to recap, here’s what I’ve done. I’ve used the (relatively new) Cocoa Daisy b6 Dori insert as an actual b6 insert, as a cut apart personal wide insert, and now as a cut down a6 insert! I think it’s safe to say that these inserts are outrageously versatile. I love it so much that I actually get a second b6 Dori every month in order to use the second one as my journal/memory keeper, and it’s working out perfectly!
What are your summer planning plans? Do you switch things up? Leave me some comments and tell me what you do. . . You may just tempt me into trying another new setup!
If you want to follow my adventures in my new summer-turned-possible-permanent setup, follow me over on Instagram and Youtube! My links are down below =)
Love it, Jenn! Your VdS is so pretty!
I love your summer setup! I can’t wait to see what you’ll do in the fall. Thanks for sharing all of your thoughts, I loved reading them.