How To Prep Your New Ignited Life Planner
Undated planners are great because they give you flexibility to start anytime, which is why I designed Ignited Life Planner to be undated. However, for the best experience, they require about a 1/2 hour to 1 hour of what I call "prep" work. I just started a new Ignited Life Planner for the new year and below I list the steps I took to prepare my planner, before I even began to tackle my annual goal planning process.
Step 1: Create and Date Your Monthly Calendars
For me, I always start each Ignited Life Planner by dating my monthly calendars. This is because I tend to reference my monthly calendars for future events / appointments, etc. The easiest way for me to do this is to jot down the dates in each calendar by referencing a Google Calendar or the calendar in my phone (or any other current year calendar). Please remember that all monthly calendars in Ignited Life Planner have a Sunday start, which is on purpose because it makes copying the dates from most calendars (which are Sunday start) much easier. I recommend using Avery return address labels and Word to print out the Months, so you can just stick to your Monthly Calendars, just to save a little time.
Step 2: Add Monthly Tabs for Easy Reference
Personally, I like to be able to reference monthly calendars quickly, which is why I created my Monthly Tab Sticker template. This sticker template prints on Avery® return address labels #5167 or 8167 and gives you enough stickers to create a front and back monthly tab, as well as place monthly stickers on the Month line in each monthly calendar. For me, I put a maximum of 4 months of labels on the left side of the monthly calendar and right side of the previous month's Notes page, by placing two stickers on the page, back to back. I create only four tabs on the side because you must account room on the bottom for the elastic enclosure. I have a guide line on each sticker, that should line up with the end of the page. I then 'laminate' each tab with tape. I've experimented with different tapes from scotch tape to clear packing tape and find that the clear packing tape works the best as it's a little more sturdy. I line up each end of the tape on the front and back and seal around the sticker. Then I cut the excess tape off the top. This will give your Ignited Life Planner a nice finished look.
Step 3: Date My Project Plan Pages (optional)
This step is optional, but one I do, only because when I plan each month, I like to reference the same column in all of my Project Plan pages for the action steps that I must focus on for each month. I write in the months on each of the five Project Plan pages.