Not too long ago I showed you my errand organizer, which I am enjoying so much!

Today, I want to share a peek into a NEW planner I’ve created for 2014 — all centered around blogging and writing.

In the past, having a ‘blogging’ section in my home management notebook was sufficient.  I’d jot little notes, print out some helpful articles or posts, and just posted when and how I felt like it.

In the past year however…

there were opportunities to host some fabulous reviews & giveaways, partner with companies and other bloggers, write for a magazine, speak at conferences, record some homeschooling videos, and the blog just grew and exploded (at least from where it was!).

For most of last year, an average of 22K to 25K unique visitors (different people on the site) visited Domestic Serenity monthly, 1500+ receive updates via email, and many follow via Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter or Google+!

After much prayer and plenty of conversations, my husband and I decided to make room in our lives for what God is doing through this little-bitty space on the web.  It’s exciting to partner with Him, and to see what happens.

So yeah…I needed to get organized!

I chose Martha Stewart’s 8.5×11 discbound notebook in aqua, along with the accompanying package of 8 dividers.

The sections of my blog planner include these tabs:

• the inspiration – notes from podcasts or seminars I listen to, or from writing/blogging/business books I read
• the ideas – where I dump ALL of my ideas and brainstorming for blog posts and other writing (usually involves lots of doodling too)
• the plan – I printed off the yearly blog planner from my friend Jolanthe (it’s free!), and this section holds the nitty-gritty info on what posts, giveaways, reviews, etc. are planned for the month, including space for a weekly to-do list.

yes, I forgot it’s now 2014!

Continuing on to the rest of the tabs…

• the personal projects – when I move from brainstorming to an actual, current plan, I keep notes in this section.  A great example are my notes for each post of the 52 ways series, and plans for the next e-book(s) I’m working on.
• the company projects – where I stash review guidelines for various companies or projects, notes for any team I’m on (such as the Happy Wives Club book promo), or any ideas for collaborating with others.

• the finances – a log of my Paypal statements, and also income and expenses associated with any blogging or writing posts or projects; affiliate info is also kept here.

notes from the 52 ways to More Serenity series

And the last two sections…

• the videos – I know!  There aren’t exactly any videos on Domestic just yet, but it’s a goal for 2014.  So, notes on each video (YouTube and/or Google Hangouts) and any tech info will be kept here.
• the helps – these are simply reference sheets I print out.  It’s kind of like ‘the inspiration’ section, but not my own notes.  Really, I had 7 tab ideas in mind and needed an 8th one – so blogging and writing printables it became! 🙂

In the very back I keep a clear pocket (it came with the notebook) for some business cards.

: :

I’m still getting my bearings on using this blog planner, but so far?  It’s a winner!

Any bloggers out there?  What do you use for planning?