A lot of people seem to feel one of two ways about month at a glance pages in their planners. Some people think "These are useless! I can't write anything here! The blocks are too small." while others love this view and cram in all of their information.
Personally, I want these pages in my planner. Before I started using Filofax I would not buy a planner that did not have these pages! I think the important thing with month at a glance pages is that you need to be organized, focused, and consistent with them.
Here are some tips on how I feel you can use month at a glance pages most efficiently:
- Colour code - this makes the information easier to distinguish. If you know your colour code really well you can tell what category each thing is in before you read them.
- Only put in appointments, and due dates/important dates. Focusing these pages on just these things make them less cluttered and easier to read.
- Something I like to do is colour in the blocks at the beginning and the end of each month that represent the previous and next month. This adds some decoration and colour to the page and also makes where the month begins and ends much easier to see.
Here is a photo of how I make use of my Month at a Glance inserts:
You can see that my appointments are colour coded, and you can see how I coloured in the beginning and ending blocks that show the days of the previous and following month. Also I keep my page to a minimum when writing in dates.
Hope this was helpful to some of you. Remember if you enjoy my blog please follow me through email or bloglovin' for weekly updates! Also remember to leave some requests for things you'd like me to write about!
Talk to you next time,
Stephanie xo
I must have my monthly pages, too - for the big picture. I do include more than just appointments but I use abbreviations and symbols. I also write the bare minimum. I color code but after the month is over. I couldn't survive without my monthly pages.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I need mine too! I'm in University so I put appointments, exams and due dates on mine! :)
DeleteI don't know how I got through this year without a month-at-a-glance insert. I've bought one for 2014 (which actually spans December 2013-January 2015) and I LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! Wish I could find one that went that far!
DeleteGreat timing! I've been considering using Month at a Glance and just started outlining the actual days of the current month. Good tips, I'll keep them in mind.
ReplyDeleteGlad my post could help! :)
DeleteI put appointments on my monthly spreads ONLY, so I can see an overview.
ReplyDeleteThats a great idea. For me (as a University student) I put exams, appointments and due dates :)
DeleteAlso I have been reading your blog and I really enjoy it! :)
I use the Monthly pages for overview and future planning as I sometimes only keep a half a years worth of weekly pages in my Filofax to keep it from bulking up. I don't know how others do without them, but I suppose everyone's different. For me, they're a must!
ReplyDeleteI am exactly the same way! I need them! Haha. As a University student if I didn't have my monthly pages I would be doing assignments the day before they were do haha. I need to see the month to know what is coming up! :)
DeleteOh, I seem to be totally bucking the trend here. I HATE the monthly pages and every time I have used them I have failed massively. I much prefer a sheet of 'stuff to do this month' and then due dates/birthdays/etc going straight into my week to view. If I look at the monthly pages they don't have enough in them so I always have to look at the weekly ones too, and if I rely on the monthly pages having the important dates, I forget to look and miss them, so have to have them in the weekly view anyway, so then I think 'what exactly are these monthly pages for? They just take up real estate!' and promptly remove them from my filofax!
ReplyDeleteI think it really depends on what you use your planner for. I can see them not working for some people. But as a Uni student I would never see due dates until the week they are due if I didn't use them haha. But personally I think whatever works for you personally is the best! No point in doing something everyone else does if its not working for you! It would save me a lot of space in my compact if I could leave them out! :)
Delete