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The Importance of Planners / Calendars

I deeply believe that life is about relationships- our relationship with God, our family, our friends, and our community. We have a lot of opportunities to form relationships but it takes time to grow and deepen relationships. How in the world do we find time to invest in the relationships that matter most?

We intentionally plan it into our life.

We schedule a coffee date or a play date. We make time for a date night. We set aside time to serve at the church.

All of these require good intentions AND a planner/calendar. I can’t make good on my intentions if I don’t have a way to keep track of what I’m doing when.

However, with a custom made planner tailored to my life, I find I CAN keep straight multiple people’s schedules AND make time for what’s most important.

I Love Paper

Digital planners are great, but NOTHING compares to paper.

Once I eliminated the tension between the two, I found that I could both embrace digital planning tools and still relish the pretty paper… the way it feels so tangible and organic in my hand, the surge of euphoria when I get to check something off with red ink, the can’t-forget-that effect of a bright yellow highlighter circle around my next appointment, the emotional connection I get from writing out my thoughts and sketching doodles in the margins… ah, paper! However, this is the 21st century!

Your Life is Unique. Your Planner Should Be Too

You have specific activities you do and a schedule that only you keep. In fact, if you’re like me, you probably have a different schedule for different seasons of the year. Your planner should be flexible and should change to fit your changing needs.

That’s why I create planners that are fully editable in Microsoft Word.

As long as you own the MS Word software, you can change anything and everything in the document. Of course, they’re beautiful and ready to print as soon as you download them, but if you want, you could change the colors, swap out the art or add in a favorite bible verse. You could type “church” to every Sunday morning, or block out soccer practice.

I’ve been designing digital planners since 1996 and I’m addicted to having my planner fit my exact needs. I think you will be too. This may be the last planner you ever buy! So, now that I’ve convinced you, here’s the best way to build your Ridge Light Ranch planner: Start here with step 1 and I’ll lead you through the process.

Let’s Create your Perfect Planner in 4 Easy Steps:

Pick your planner size.
Pick your weekly planner.
Pick your monthly planner.
Add on an annual calendar and maybe some pretty extras

1. Pick Your Planner Size

My planners are first organized by size.

Both the Full and Half size planners leave room to punch holes so you can add them to your favorite three-ring binder or take them to an office supply store and have them bound. Many people are already committed to one particular size, but if you’re starting anew, think through the pros and cons of each:

Full page: 8.5 x 11-inch planners. The full-size planners have a lot more space for writing and you can see more information at a glance. We also have several homeschool specific planner files in this full size!
Half-size: 5.5 x 8.5-inch planners. The half-size planners are more portable. I find I can easily work on them in my lap and I can fit a few sheets (without the 3-ring binder) in my purse easily. All half-size files are designed to print on a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and then cut in half.
Travelers Notebook (Standard Midori): Travelers notebooks are very portable and there are a wide variety of beautiful covers available! My selection for files that fit travelers notebooks will continue to expand.

Choose one of the sizes above to continue!

Blog Posts About Planners

Tips for Modifying and Printing MS Word Documents
The files I create are designed to be ready to print and use immediately. However, some people want to take a few minutes up front to customize a file to better fit their unique life. I love this and highly encourage it! The more precisely a files fits your need, the happier you’ll be with it and…
Eliminating the Paper vs Digital Planning Tension Forever
We live in a awesome time of digital everything where new apps are invented every day and we’re surrounded on all sides with digital integration into our lives. It’s great, but when it comes to planning, it’s also annoying and confusing somehow. I really do love my smart phone and refer to it constantly, checking what’s on…
How to Make Paperclip Ribbon Bookmarks
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] I’m going to show you have to make your very own paperclip ribbon planner bookmarks with just a paperclip and a few inches of ribbon! They add a fun element to your planner and are super easy to move around. You can watch the video…
Travelers Notebook Size Printables Now Available!
I’m so excited to announce a whole new section to my store: Travelers Notebook size printables!. (This is the same size as the Midori Standard size.) These 21cm x 11cm notebooks are a great size for mobility and I love all the beautiful leather covers available everywhere now. Here’s the link to my first travelers size planner…
The World’s Most Amazing Homeschool Planner
Homeschooling is a rich and unique experience for each family and student. So how do we find a planner that works for what we’re doing? There’s certainly no shortage of PDF Planners on the market- but what if you’re life doesn’t look exactly like everyone else’s? You can’t tweak a PDF to give you a little…