Staying Organized The Old Fashioned Way: Part 1

I love computers. I love cell phones. I love being organized. So why haven't I started using iCal or my Blackberry to organize my life? I use them occasionally, but most of my scheduling and to-do lists go in my planner and on random sheets of paper. There's something about using paper to organize your life that digital organizers can't offer. For example, I used to try various "to-do" apps on my iPhone. Tapping the check box to indicate that a certain task was done was nowhere near as satisfying as checking it off a piece of paper with a pen. I've always loved buying pens and sticky notes, but now I've moved on from neon colored Post-its. Here are a few of my favorite products that I use to stay organized!

I've posted about the first one before: Kate Spade's The Long List, crane.com, $9. I'm seriously obsessed with this pad of paper. It's adorable and the perfect thing to leave out on your desk! 

Here was my to-do list for today. I don't have any Wednesday classes and so I took today to do laundry, have a long phone conversation with my mom, paint my nails, and eat good food! I left some time for my homework too. I always think it's good to put kind of mundane things like "eat breakfast" or "get dressed" on your to-do lists. This makes me feel 10 times more productive, and it helps you realize how much you've done in a day. There are some days when we need to celebrate the small accomplishments.

Here's another Kate Spade product I'm obsessed with! Unfortunately I can't find them online. It's a pad of paper that shows two weeks. Perfect for planning ahead, and you can use two of them to map out your entire month! I think it's so important to have a monthly calendar so that you can always see what events/due dates are coming up. 

You can't survive on a monthly view of your schedule. Well, I can't. I also need a daily planner to keep everything in order. It has all of the same events listed (you can see both the Kate Spade paper and the Moleskine have "Art Project #1 Due" on Sept. 14th) but this is where I will list more detailed things. Small homework assignments, small tasks I have to do, etc. You can use any brand planner. I personally like Moleskines because they are so clean and simple. I have posted about their planners before, but this is a different one than the one I mentioned. This is the Moleskine 18 Month Weekly Planner Horizontal, amazon.com, $17.95.  It gives more space for each day, and so you can really focus on each day in your planner. 

Part 2 of this post will be up tomorrow! I'm going to show you guys some of my absolute FAVORITE products that may be part of a giveaway in the near future! I hope everyone has had a good week so far. We're almost done!