Pretty Planning: Organization for Class and Career

As I mentioned in my last post, I've recently become obsessed with planning and organizing my time and my life. As I'm graduating in may and starting a career as an illustrator, planning and organizing has become vital to my formerly chaotic lifestyle. I never used planners in grade school and was always a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of gal. I'm now discovering that being a messy artist type isn't romantic, it's unprofessional and a waste of time. I figured sharing my 2015 strategy could help others get themselves together as well. 

The Day Planner

The planner I'm using this year is the Kate Spade 17 month large planner, which I chose for an aesthetic preference as well as its layout. I like the monthly spread along with the week on two pages, allowing me to mark big events in the month and also make to-do lists in the spread. I use decorative masking tape stickers to block out birthdays, breaks, and days when I post blogs. I keep lists in the notes section up front including a list of blog post ideas and places I'd like to apply to in the next few months. 

The Notebooks

The two notebooks I'm currently using are the Sugar Paper for Target notebook with calendar and a simple lined notebook from Walmart. I'm using the notebook with the calendar for school notes and tracking exams. The calendar in the front makes it easy to see the dates of assignments and exams and there's plenty of room for notes in the back. 

The plain notebook is for brain dumps and jotting down details about ideas for projects and blog posts. I also use this book to track what I'm eating and grocery lists. 

The Sketchbook

Like most visual artists, I'm very picky about sketchbooks. I've found sketchbook peace in the Baron Fig Confidant, which lies completely flat and has great paper quality. I use sketchbooks for everything from sketching out quick ideas to trying out new mediums. I usually don't use wet media in my sketchbooks, but I recommend a watercolor moleskine or an arches watercolor pad for markers, paints, or watercolors. 

Daily Art Journal

In 2015 I'm trying out daily comics to try to improve my craft. To keep these comics in a safe place, I'm drawing them in a 2015 Hobonichi Techo, which is a japanese style of day planner that leaves space for daily entry and good paper quality for art journaling. The planner ships from Japan but arrives in a timely fashion and is definitely worth the wait. 

Hope this information inspires you to create a more organized life!

xoxo

Mary