2020 Planner Quick Start Guide

Every year I make a lot of printables to help you create a planner that works for you. I update the designs and colours, test some new layouts, and make new calendars. The end result is many printables for you to choose from.

To help make it easier for you to find all the printables that match this year’s Coastal Dream design I’ve created this 2020 Planner Quick Start Guide.

The 2020 Planner Quick Start Guide is here to help you find the printables you need.

I know that having to scroll through pages of blog posts to find what you need can be time-consuming and sometimes a little overwhelming. My hope with this guide is to help eliminate those downsides.

In this guide, you will find links to all the printables in the Coastal Dreams collection. In addition, I’m including some of my tips for how to choose which ones will work best for you.

The 2020 Planner Quick Start Guide

It can be tough trying to decide what you need in your planner. The options when putting together your own are endless. While you might not find all the pages you need in this post, I hope you find enough to get you started.

I’ve structured this post based on the steps I take to set up my own planners.

Monthly Calendars and Planning.

Choosing a monthly calendar is always my first step. If I have a monthly calendar I can start planning right away.

Every year I offer eight dated monthly calendars. You can choose from:

• full or half-size
• one page or two pages per month
• Sunday or Monday start

Last year I put all the calendars into one post to make it even easier for you to find them.

To check out the calendars head on over to this post – The 2020 Dated Calendars are Ready.

You’ll also find the dated year on a page calendar in this post.

Not sure which calendar layout to choose? Take a few minutes to think about what you typically plan on your monthly calendars.

If you don’t have many things that go onto your monthly calendars, then you might only need a single page version. On the opposite end of, if your monthly calendar is typically full then the two-pages per month might be a better fit.

There is no right or wrong choice to make. Just do what feels and works best for you.

If you like having extra planning room, I created monthly planning pages that were designed to be printed on the back of the monthly calendars. Each layout and size has its own configuration.

You can check those out the monthly planning pages in this post right here –Staying on Top of the Details with Monthly Planning Printables

Yearly Planning

Sometimes we need to be able to plan far into the future. Whether it’s marking down no school days, planning vacations, or something else, having a place to put those future events is needed.

That’s where the yearly and forward planning pages come in handy.

In the post – Three Forward Planning Printables to Add to Your Planner you will find a yearly planner, yearly overview, and special dates printable set.

Each of these sets offer a different function. The yearly planner has space to write special dates for the year, your top three priorities and a tracker to use to mark dates as you see fit.

The yearly overview gives you room to make notes for each month and to set your priorities for each month.

The special dates set is simply a space to note any special dates for each month of the year.

Each set can be used on their own but they’ll also work together really well.

Weekly Pages

Weekly planning pages are some of the most popular layouts for planning. I think the reason so many of us choose to use them is being able to see our whole week at once.

There are so many different layouts to choose from and every year I offer a number of different variations. To keep it easier to navigate I’m going to share them here in two categories: vertical and horizontal.

Vertical Weekly Planner Options

A vertical weekly planner is one where the days are organized into vertical columns, therefore allowing you to plan your days from top to bottom.

You can check out all the vertical layout options in the gallery below. To get a closer look at each weekly planner simply click the image of the one or ones you like.

I don’t currently have a vertical week on one page. If it is something you’d like, feel free to send in a request by filling out the Reader Request form.

Horizontal Weekly Planner Options

A horizontal layout simply means that the days are organized into rows. Many people like this layout because they section each day off into columns for lists.

Just like with the vertical options, you can click any of the images below to get a closer look at each of the printable options.

Horizontal layouts are extremely versatile and don’t have to be limited to just planning. They’re a great option for those who want to journal each day but don’t need a lot of space for it.

Daily Planners

Daily planners are one of those planning pages that I love having in my planner. I don’t always use them. However, when I need to plan a busy day having them on hand makes it so much easier.

Currently, I only have two options for the daily planners, you can find them in the gallery below. Click the images to get a closer look at each one.

If there is another version of a daily planner you wish to see offered, please feel free to fill out the Reader Request form by clicking the button below.

To-Do List Printables

Sometimes we don’t need a monthly, weekly, or daily planner. All we need is somewhere to organize all the things we need to do. That’s where the to-do list printables come in useful.

Each of the to-do list printables in the post – Coastal Dreams To-Do List Printables are designed to give you a place to organize all your tasks for a given time period.

Extra Pages for Your Planner

We’ve covered all the basic necessities for your planner. With the pages above you have a solid foundation for your planner. However, I cannot end the 2020 planner quick start guide without sharing a few new printables.

First up, the tabs and bookmarks printables. Tabs are an organizational tool that often gets overlooked. They allow to quickly mark sections in your planner which in turn makes finding what you need easy and efficient.

The tabs and bookmarks sets come in two options – script font and type font. The fonts are the same ones used in all the Coastal Dreams printables so your tabs will match your pages.

Next, we have the password log printables. These have been requested many times and I’m happy to add them to this collection.

Finally, we have the address book printables. These were requested almost as much as the password log and I wanted to make sure to include them in this post.

That’s it for the 2020 Planner Quick Start Guide

I hope you’ve enjoyed checking out the printables. More importantly, I hope you’ve found some that will be useful for you this year.

Putting together a planner can be a lot of fun, but I know It can also be a little overwhelming. The printables in this post are the basic building blocks for most planners. My goal with this quick start guide was to give you a place to start from.

If there are more printables you need for your planner, you can check out the printables libraries here for more options.

Share Your Thoughts

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Planner Quick Start Guide. This is my third year sharing a post like this and I’d love to know if it’s something you would like me to keep doing.

Drop me a line in the comments below and let me know.

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