Now that you have your chosen binder, book, or planner binder in hand, let us move on to the next step. First, observe what pockets your binder has inside the front and back covers. If your binder doesn't have any pockets, then you can add a zip pouch later, and keep your stuff in there. Meanwhile...
Inside the front pockets, go for pretty, but also go for useful. Here's how I currently have the pockets on the inside of my front cover:
There is a little pocket that is by the pen, where loose papers can go. I currently keep some green little dot stickers there, which I sometimes use for tracking financial things on my calendars. In the zipper pocket, I keep a few Christian tracts to hand out, and other little odds and ends, or business cards I need to use from time to time.
In the visible pockets that you can see in the above picture, I keep a pretty little card stock card in the ID window, which says "celebrate," and I have another little card stock card above that, which says "enjoy." I like how that shade of green goes with my burgundy planner.
I don't have something in each credit card slot, as tempting as it is. I keep some Avery labels and some Avery dots. In the secretarial pocket, you can see my washi card sticking out. I just cut a piece of pretty card stock, and wrapped various sizes and colors/patterns of paper washi tapes to it. This way, if I need some washi tape in my planner, but I'm not near my desk, then I can just grab some from my homemade washi card.
Now, on to the pockets on the inside of the back cover:
The two smaller pockets on the bottom hold page flags. In the left pocket are some Target Dollar Spot page flags, and in the right pocket are some Post It page flags. Those colored flags are see through, and repositionable. I use them to keep my place on various lists. I use the Target Dollar Spot page flags for little notes that I stick on pages here and there, as needed.
In the next pocket up, that black thing is a little, thin, black notebook. After that, is the big pocket, where I keep a notepad. You may have noticed that my planner has two pen loops - one on each cover. Currently, my main pen is purple, and my secondary pen is green. I like color. My pens are fine tipped felt pens, and they don't bleed through. Pen brands I recommend, are: Staedtler, Sharpie pens, and Optimus Fine Point Pens (what I'm currently using). None of these pens bleed through usual planner pages, and they are all felt tipped, which means you won't have to scribble on scratch paper to get them to write, and you can write in a vertical position as well, which I end up doing often.
Page Lifters
Some planners come with page lifters, and some don't. You can buy them separately - just do a search on Amazon, or the Franklin Planner website. It is handy to have two page lifters - one for the front of your binder, and one for the back. These hard, plastic things protect our pages from curling around the rings, as we close our binders each day. Further, if you need to flip to the very front, or the very back of your planner (perhaps to access pockets) you can move all of your pages out of the way at once, by gripping them between the two page lifters.
Page lifters are usually black, and rather bland. If you are going to have them, you might as well make them pretty. At the Dollar Tree, I picked up several sheets of sticker paper. I then picked out my favorite sheet, and trimmed it to size for my front page lifter, rounded a few corners, then stuck it right on my page lifter. Then, I put on a trimmed down Project Life card, and wrote down my Word of the year. Beneath that, I stuck on a picture, and then a Post It note with some stuff I wrote on it. The front page lifter is a great place to stick on some stuff for your word of the year. I don't do New Year's Resolutions, but I do like to have a one word theme for each year. Perhaps you do the same, or would like to do so, this year, and give it a go.
The back page lifter is rarely seen, so perhaps just put a cute little sticker on it, and call it good:
Your Inspiration Page
While I hope you decorate your front page lifter, and that it inspires you, I also think it's a good idea to have an official inspiration page. Here's my current one:
I just took some scrap book paper that I liked, trimmed it to size, and made it double sided. I then printed out my "Guide the House" scriptures, rounded the corners on the trimmed printout, and adhered it to the scrap book paper. I have a laminator, so I then laminated the page, and hole punched it with my Crop-a-Dile hole punch.
My Guide the House Scriptures are:
I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. -1 Timothy 5:14
That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. –Titus 2:4-5
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. –Proverbs 31:26-28
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. -1 Timothy 2:9-10
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. -1 Corinthians 11:3-6
The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. –Proverbs 29:15
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. –Colossians 3:18-20
You may want to use the same above Scriptures, and make a Guide the House inspiration page for your planner. Or, you may want to print out and use 12 Simple Rules for Order in the Home. Choose what inspires you, in your duties as a homemaker, following in the will of the Heavenly Father.
You don't have to own a laminator to make an Inspiration Page. You can use card stock, scrap book paper, pretty paper from a gift bag, etc. Then, just glue or tape your inspiration on the pretty paper, punch in holes, and pop it into your planner. Get creative, and have fun making this page.
Your Goals
Take some Post It sticky notes, and write down your current goals, in any order you want. I just wrote mine in the order I thought of them. I have a lot of goals, but I write small, so mine only took up two Post Its. Then, adhere those Post Its to the back of your Inspiration page.
Now, when you open your planner, you are greeted with what you have decided to place in your pockets, a decorated front page lifter with your word of the year, an inspiration page, and your goals. That's a good way for a planner to begin, don't you think?
In the next article in this series, we'll get into making a dashboard, a pocket folder, and inserting a bit of important reading.