10 Most Popular Posts from 2017

In case you’re new to the blog, or just want to take a quick peek through the blog archives, these were the most popular blog posts in 2017!

1. 130+ functional ideas to use blank notes pages of your planner or an empty notebook

I wrote this post after trying to find a solution to a very serious planner problem: too many cute notebooks and not enough excuses to use them (and not enough excuses to buy more cute notebooks 🙂

2. 100 things to put in your habit tracker of your planner or bullet journal (plus free printable habit tracker)

You guys like seem to like using habit trackers as much as I do!

My favorite method for using a habit tracker is now drawing a border around the boxes on the days I intend to those things and then shading the boxes in once completed – that way it’s easy to see what did and didn’t end up getting done.

Related: Week 42: Using the Focus Journal Daily Planner 

3.  Week 5: Planning by category and task, rather than by day

The popularity of this post surprised me. It seems you guys are also a bit frustrated with traditional planners!

Planner by category, rather than by day, was one of the earlier planning methods I tried in the 52 Planners in 52 Weeks Challenge. I tend to use list style printables for categorising tasks and pre-planning the week before transferring into a traditional weekly planner with the days of the week printed. As part of trying different planner layouts this year, I opted not to transfer tasks into a traditional planner and instead just work off a list for the week. It worked really well and I’ve done a couple of variations of this method during the challenge.

4. How to color-code your planner so you’ll actually use it effectively

Color coding is my favorite way to add color to the page and still keep it functional. There are so many different ways (and tools) you can use to color your planner which I shared in this post.

5. How to organize planner stickers using folders (plus free printable labels) 

Seems a lot of readers are also fellow planner sticker addicts! 🙂

Clear folders where you can see the contents and keep stickers organized into various categories rather than lugging a binder around is still my favorite method for storing planner stickers.

I shared a free printable of the labels I made & use which you can download here.

Since writing that post I now also store some stickers in mini photo albums.

Related: How to make printable storage contents labels in Photoshop (step by step video tutorial)  

6. How to make planner printables (advice from a planner addict that’s made over 4000 printables)

Printables – my favorite topic! After receiving numerous emails with questions about how I make my printables I ended up putting together this post with all of my best tips and a detailed look behind the scenes at my process for making printables.

I also put together a free 7 day email course if you want to get started making your own printables

7. How to Choose a Printer (Including the best printer for printing printables and planner stickers) 

Choosing the right printer is so important if you’re making printables and planner stickers. Be sure to read this post before you purchase a printer!

Related Posts with printing tips:

• 7 Ways to make colors POP when printing using an Inkjet printer 
• How to print printables at Plum Paper planner size from your home printer (step by step tutorial) 
• How to get rid of a white border when printing printable (borderless, no bleed, no scaling step by step video tutorial)
• How to print printables at Erin Condren planner size from your home printer (step by step tutorial) 
• Best Paper for Printing Printables
• How to clean your printer (prevent smudging, streaks and make the colors POP!) 
• How to print any printable in black and white (greyscale) using your home printer 

Try out these tips using printables from the free printables library!

8. How to print printables at MAMBI Happy Planner Size (step by step tutorial)

Judging by the stats, the MAMBI Happy Planner seemed to be the most popular planner of the year! If you’re using the Happy Planner and want to add your own printables, I did a tutorial post on how to re-size printables for the Happy Planner (tutorial will work for mini, classic and large size Happy Planners)

Related Posts:

• Planner pen testing in the Erin Condren Life Planner, Plum Paper, Happy Planner by MAMBI and Limelife Planner 
• MAMBI Happy Planner horizontal dimensions & measurements (classic size) for making planner stickers 
• MAMBI Happy Planner Recipe Organizer Review
• MAMBI Mini Happy Planner Review (pros, cons, should you buy it?) 
• Erin Condren Horizontal Life Planner versus Horizontal Happy Planner: which planner is better? 
• Honest review of the Happy Planner by Me and my Big Ideas (MAMBI)

9. How to make your own custom Erin Condren (or any planner) header title section planner stickers (step by step video tutorial)   

Another tutorial post I thought would make it to this list given how many times I was asked this question! I shared the tutorial on how to make header stickers (from my ecourse where I teach how to make all different kinds of planner stickers)

Related: How to design planner stickers from start to finish (a sneak peak at my design process!)

10. Ultimate list of the best planner pen brands and how to choose colors for color coding 

I’ve tried many many pens this year (a different pen brand almost every week for the 52 planners in 52 weeks challenge) In this post I shared my favorite planner pen brands (no bleed, best color range, smoothest to write with etc.)

Want more planning tips? Browse all posts on the blog here.