I have a bit of a problem. Well, it's a problem for my husband and bank account, but not for me! I've become somewhat of a fanatic when it comes to purchasing and making stickers to use in my planner. I just can't seem to help it. When the mail lady comes by and I see that there's a fun envelope or package for me, it's like my birthday came early!

I have struggled with the best way to keep them together but as my collection grows, I've had to come up with new ways. I want to keep them organized and neat. There's a lot of hard work and money in them! Each of you will have your own method and it's all about finding the one that works best for you. This is how I keep my craziness together.

I started small. I had a small stack in a zippered pouch. Then my pile grew and I used an accordion file. That worked for quite awhile and it was easy and portable. It was easy to label and organize them by category. The only drawback was I wanted to be able to organize them by shop. This would allow me to see what I was low on and re-order easily. Some of the shops don't put their shop names on their stickers and I would have to scroll through all of my Etsy receipts to figure out what's what. I also tried using baseball card pockets and photo pockets but my stickers kept falling out. 
Making a binder is super easy! I used my Cricut Explore to make the tabs. I simply printed the tabs on sticker paper, laminated the printed side with self-adhesive laminate and then cut. Using coordinating cardstock I attached the tabs and used hole reinforcers to make sure my dividers where durable. 

You can use double sided tape, an adhesive runner or whatever glue stick you have handy to attach your stickers to a piece of filler paper. I used white cardstock that I punched with a three hole punch. 

I have really enjoyed this system. It's easy to add and remove stickers. I can keep my stickers flat and organized. The folder is easily portable and I can take it anywhere!

How do you store your stickers? Any tips or tricks? Share with us!

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This blog post was written by Kate Morse for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Kate visit her blog at www.youtoomore.com. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author. 

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I have a new love-my Limelife Planner. Being head over heels for a planner is nothing new for me. It seems my love affair with planning goes as far back as grade school.  However, what is NEW for me is juggling being a wife, an entrepreneur and now a full time mom. Last month I made the choice to stay home with my son and start my own business. After a month of being home and working around the clock, I realized I needed to breakup with my old planner-it wasn’t getting things done. I needed something with more oomph, with more details that allowed me to organize my personal and professional goals all in the same place. Enter my new Limelife Planner. 

It’s only been a week, but I am happy to announce that I am in love with this planner already. First the “F” weekly layout is awesome. I have the space I need to schedule personal/family appointments while maintaining a separate To Do list. This layout makes it easier to prioritize my tasks and identify where I can be flexible throughout the week.

Second I have the Social Media add-on which is perfect for scheduling my online tactics to support the launch of my new business.

So far I’m feeling pretty hopeful that this planner will allow me to be better organized and meet my deadlines. It’s already helped to improve my ability to get work done when I’m out and about with my son. Since everything is in one place, I've been able to cut down on what I carry with me to get work done. Gone are the days of the cute laptop bag, purse and everything that comes with that. I've got a stroller, baby bag and an 18 pound kid to lug around. So being able to brainstorm, organize my thoughts and plan in one place while having everything that I need for my son has made a huge difference. I’m eager to see how this new planner relationship goes. 

What planner magic tips do you have when it comes to managing your personal and professional lives?

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This blog post was written by Amber Boyd for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author. 

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Having an online business can be overwhelming.  Whether you’re a blogger, YouTuber, or online shop owner keeping track of everything that needs to be done can be mind-numbing.  Sure we can use our daily planner pages, but some days you need much more!

I utilize the Social Media Digital Download from Limelife Planners.  It keeps me on track with regular posting to the massively important social media.  What I love about it is, you can purchase the download and then it’s yours!  You can print off as much as you need.

I personally print off one at a time and keep it in a pocket in my planner.  This way I have access to my social media pages at all times.  The “Blog Post Plan Page” is perfect for organizing yourself for sponsored content.  It helps to have a place to assemble the criteria for the post.

I tend to neglect the Facebook page for my blog.  Since I’ve started using the “Facebook Plan Page”, I can prep an outline of what I want to post.  It helps so much to be able to write everything all down and see the month in front of you.

I highly recommend purchasing the Social Media Digital Download!  You could even hole punch it and create your own binder.  I transfer mine to a binder when I’m finished with them.  I just like to keep track of everything for future reference.

How do you keep yourself organized with posting to social media?

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This blog post was written by Emilee Adams for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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Our family just experienced our first Disney vacation.  It really was magical, and we’re already planning our next trip.  However, before we could hang with Mickey and pals, we had to get our little cherubs to the Sunshine State.

It’s roughly a 16-hour drive from our house (plus, of course, the requisite number of stops for food/potties/drinks/gas/temper tantrums).  We’ve never done any type of road trip with our kiddos, but after crunching the numbers of driving vs. flying, we decided to give it a go.  Our kids are 6, 3, and 18 months, so quite a bit of prep work went into the travel portion of this trip. Here are a few things that I found helpful.

1. Food.  As any mom of young kids knows, food can take you from zero to hero in no time.  About a week before the trip, I went to Costco and loaded up on snacks for the trip.  I thought long and hard about what snacks would be easy to store in the car (no refrigeration, small chance of crushing, minimal crumbs) and came up with animal crackers, dried apple slices, granola bars, fruit snacks, and veggie straws.  Fruit snacks and veggie straws are things that I never buy, so I knew those would be a hit.  During naptime one day, I separated everything into individual baggies.  Then I packed some of each snack into a picnic basket for the car, and put the rest of the food into a large plastic tub.  The tub was in the back of our van for the whole trip, and we replenished the picnic basket as needed.  It worked so well, and probably saved us loads of money along the way.  It was so easy to toss a snack back when the kids were getting restless.

2. Clothes.  I tried something new this trip, and packed my kids’ clothes in a large plastic tote, rather than a suitcase.  It was certainly not my original idea (thanks Pinterest!), but probably one of the best tips I would offer to a family traveling.  I started by pre-planning outfits for each child.  I laid them out in piles, complete with clothes, underwear, socks, hairbows, and any other accessories.  I then put each outfit in a freezer bag, and wrote the child’s name on the bag. This was particularly helpful with my two boys’ clothes, whom I often dress alike.

 I then put all of the labeled bags into a large plastic tote.  This tote went with the food tote in the back of the van.  It was great to be able to see what I was looking for, and the labeled bags were perfect for style-challenged husbands (not that I have one).  I made sure to also pack a bag of ‘extras’ for each child with extra socks and underwear, just in case.

3. Car Zones.  I’m 100% type-A, and it really shines when I can organize for something like this.  When I packed and loaded the car, I designated certain ‘zones’ for the car.  In the back of the van, we had our two totes with food and kids’ clothes.  Next to those, we put our stroller.  On top of those things, we had 5 bags: our bag with toiletries and bathroom needs, our overnight bag for the first night on the road (we packed this with one outfit for each person plus pajamas so that we could grab it when we got to our hotel late that first night…totally recommend this), our suitcase with adult clothes, our beach bag for the pool at Disney, and our beach bag for the actual beach later in the week. While this photo doesn't look super organized, I knew exactly where everything was located in the car, and it made each stop very quick and stress-free.  As much as my husband likes to tease me about my tendency to take things too far, I know he liked how organized the car stayed the whole trip.

4. Road Trip Games.  I was kind of nervous about how I was going to entertain such young children in the car for so many hours (all of the hours!).  I borrowed lots of Disney movies from friends, and each kid had their own set of headphones.  Honestly, that kept them calm and happy for most of the trip.  It was so helpful to have movies that they’d never seen.  When we weren’t watching movies, we played a very simple road trip bingo game (found at http://todayscreativelife.com/road-trip-games-for-kids-free-printables/).  I also printed out a super basic map of the east coast so that the kids could track our route.  I laminated it all, and my daughter especially loved it.  My husband and I played the license plate game, which I printed from the same site.

Weeks before the trip, I kept a running list in my planner of my ‘to-dos’ before the trip.  It was so handy to have my list at the ready if I was at the store, and kept me organized as I prepped for the trip.  We had a great time, and I know we’ll make the drive again!

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This blog post was written by Abbey Niebel for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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Lets talk planner stamps. I personally own ALOT of stamps. You can say that it is one of the things I hoard a bit. I accumulated most of my stamps because I am a crafter. I have been making cards and other craft projects way before I became a planner. That is what I love about planners: I can combine my two loves and “craft” while planning! 

There are so many options for planners with stamps out there. It is an investment but what isn’t when you are a planner, crafter or both? One of the benefits to stamping is that they are re-useable. A one time investment can pay off.  Stickers can get quite expensive to purchase and you can find some very cute stamps that are very functional for the task you may have to mark in your planner such as cleaning, grocery shopping and more. Most of the stamp companies have sets that are themed for the various tasks making it simple to select what best fits your life. 

Some of my favorites are Mommylhey, Bella Creationz, Sweet Stamp Shop and the list goes on. Pricing can range from $8-$18.00 per set depending on size and number of stamps included. I really am a “cutesy” kind of person so my attraction for Mommylhey was inevitable. Lhey is one of the nicest people I know. I love to support small businesses. 

Now….equally important are the inks you use to stamp in your planner. I typically use Memento black ink although it does tend to shadow on the next page. That being said all the info I have found on the internet watching Youtube video after Youtube video is that VersaMagic Dew Drops chalk ink is the best for planners. 

I do plan to purchase some of these inks. As I said I love stamps but I do not have an over abundance of inks. I probably have a lot to some people but because I used them on a whole different medium than planners my inks are not the right kind. I am pretty standard when it comes to stamping images. I only like to use black. I can use colored pencils to fill in the images with some color and they stand out better with the black outline. For me, a few black inks won’t be a large investment. You will also need a stamping block but since most planner stamps are pretty small you can start out with a small block or maybe a medium sized. I have a set that is graduating in sizes so I can always find the perfect one to use. 

Simply take care of your stamps and you will be enjoying them for a long time to come. I do have stamp cleaner but for the most part I keep a pack of baby wipes handy to clean off the stamps and you are good to go for next time. Now lets get to stamping!

Links to stamp companies mentioned: 

Mommylhey

Bella Creationz

Sweet Stamp Shop

Versamagic Chalk Inks 

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This blog post was written by Debbie Crowder for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author. 

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Everyone turns to a place in their home that is quiet, peaceful and inspiring to plan. My place is my office. Although I had an office in my home way before my planner addiction, I transformed my special spot just a few months ago during one of my mom’s visits from Georgia.

Michaels was my go to craft store for find the different parts to make up my desk. Each part is from the Recollections Collection. At first, I thought of just having one table, and I was going to add on from there, which I still think is a fabulous idea, but my mom thought I should just do everything all at once while she was in town.

My first table is made up of a Recollections Cube and The Recollections Mini Cube with Slots on top, and then other side sits the 4 Shelf Tower.

My favorite section is the 4 Shelf Tower because of its gigantic drawers. My first drawer keeps my packaging materials. Stationary is what the second drawer consists of. The last two drawers divide my scrapbook stickers from my planner stickers.

This is the section I plan to keep my materials for my upcoming projects in. Right now, I have pictures as well as mementos that I plan to use in my son’s baby scrapbook this summer.

My second table which sits caddy-corner from my first one is held by The Recollections 5 Drawer Cube as well as Recollections Desktop Marker Organizer Caddy sitting on The Recollections Organizer Cube 4 Shelf.

Inside the drawers you can find the following in the given order 1 – Gifts, 2 – Paints, 3 – Paper Scraps, 4 – Mailing Labels, 5 – Checkbooks.

Not only do I keep markers inside the marker organizer, but I also keep highlighters, pens, and whiteout. Below, notecards and stamps share a shelf. Scissors are stored inside the drawers. Scrapbook paper fills the bottom slots.  

The only section that appears on the back of my desk is here which is where I keep my glue guns, glue sticks, yarn, washi, buttons, letters, and stamps.

On top of my desks, besides tons of sticky notes, clips, and pictures of my loved ones, I keep two organizational pieces. One is for my washi and favorite pens and is called the Recollections White Desktop Washi Tape Dispenser Base w/ Storage. The other is The Desktop Carousel that has my scrapbooking necessities.

When I look up for inspiration, I see sayings that mean a lot to me and my family, pictures from my son’s first photo shoot, and our family’s marquee.

Well, there is no way I can end this piece on my table for all of my crafts without discussing the actual table top. So, in the beginning, I was going to order the table top that Recollections intended for these pieces, The Recollections Desktop Panel for Craft Storage System, but then one quick and inexpensive trip to Lowe's cancelled that shipment. Instead, I found slabs of wood already painted and everything. One we screwed on; one we didn’t which gives me the flexibility to play and be creative while designing my happy place to plan and create.  

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This blog post was written by Elliscia Axson-Hall for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. Please do not repost this entry without giving credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.

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With Mother’s Day fast approaching the idea of what gift to get the perfect mom comes to mind. Whether the special mom in your life is a stay at home mom or a full time working mom, you know as well as I that mom doesn't stop going and she deserves the best! Below I have listed the perfect gifts for every mom. 

1. Limelife Planners

Everyone knows that mom is always busy. Why not gift her a personalized planner to keep her organized? Limelife Planners are perfect for every type of mom and they have great add-ons to make the gift even more special.  Limelife has several colorful planners to assure that mom gets the one planner that fits her style. Don’t forget to get the extra add-ons such as stickers, stuff pockets,  to-do list pages, and budget pages. 

2. Lisa Leonard Designs

I love Lisa Leonard Designs because each piece they create is a unique and personalized work of art. The jewelry is hand cut, hammered, polished, and drilled. You are guaranteed to find a beautiful piece of jewelry that fits mom. There are necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings and decor. She has very reasonable prices and even gifts under $50.  My top pick would be her best seller, the personalized stacking rings (sterling silver) for $39. 

3. A Small Getaway or Spa Day

Let's face it, all moms need a break from reality to get pampered and catch up on some ZZZ’s.  Get out there and find your mom a spa day package and even add on an overnight stay to the comfiest, coziest hotel you can find.  ( WARNING: Getting kids to go on a sleep over so mom has a “night off” at home is not a treat. Moms can find a million things to do at home and none of them will be resting, relaxing or even going to bed early.) Check out hotels.com or even Groupon for specials on spas in your area. 

4. Gift Cards!

I’ll make this easy… Macy’s, Starbucks (or Dunkin' if mom loves DD), Etsy, Nail/Hair Salon, Target, Amazon… this is just a start. Think about MOM, where she loves to shop and get her a gift card to SPLURGE! Make it somewhere she will spend on herself and enjoy what she gets with the card. 

5.  Alex and Ani 

Bangles, necklaces, earrings, rings, handbags and so much more, OH MY! Known for their bangles that look so fabulous stacked together, Alex and Ani have made a name for themselves.  They create eco - conscious jewelry and accessories. This is also a great gift for grandmothers, sisters, aunts and godmothers.  If you can’t pick out what mom would love best go ahead and go with the gift card. This is a gift you CANNOT go wrong with.

6. Birchbox

Birchbox is a beauty subscription service for the woman you love.  It’s a beautifully designed box put together for mom with 5 samples each month that match her look. After you purchase the subscription she will log on to Birchbox.com and take a quiz that matches her box to her style.  It costs $10 a month or $110 for a full year.  This is the gift that keeps on giving for a WHOLE year!

7. SHINElife

This momma-owned shop is my personal favorite. She’s a momma herself and she’s designed beautiful pieces of jewelry inspired by her personal journey in life. She has so many unique, one of a kind pieces that can fit every mom’s journey.  She has designed custom heartbeat necklaces, custom handwriting key chains and bracelets. How perfect is that to have the kids write a message to mom or sign their names and have it be a keepsake that mom can carry with her forever? My top pick is the Personalized Mommy Tag Necklace with Swarovski Stones for $28. 

With this list I’m sure you will find something that fits the mom in your life. And as always, moms love handmade crafts/DIY projects by their children. Us moms can NEVER get enough of our children’s art work and crafts. Now, get shopping! Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10th, 2015.

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This blog post was written by Jamie Breeden (@jamielee2526) for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. Please do not repost this entry without giving credit to Limelife Planners and the post author. 

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Instagram is probably my favorite social media platform of all time. In this post I share my top 8 favorite planner accounts on Instagram. (Shameless plug: if you’re not following me/my shop on Instagram, you should! Find me @TheAlexStudio.)

The Reset Girl (@TheResetGirl)

Anyone who is big into art journaling / planning should be familiar with Cori’s Instagram. She has over 30,000 followers, and is my biggest planner inspiration! She has the most creative layouts of anyone I’ve ever seen on Instagram. 

Happie Scrappie (@HappieScrappie)

I absolutely love Sam’s Instagram and her shop! She sells planner supplies at happiescrappie.bigcartel.com and has the cutest Instagram. If you love whimsical things for your planner like kawaii designs she’s the one you need to follow!

Rifle Paper Co. (@riflepaperco)

Rifle Paper has some of the best cards around, and their Instagram is carefully curated and well thought out. I love looking through their Instagram feed- who doesn’t love beautiful vintage inspired Instagram photos?

Plan with Belinda (@planwithbelinda)

I absolutely love Belinda’s YouTube channel, as I’ve been subscribed to her for quite some time now. She recently, within the past year, fell in love with planning, but she’s always been into scrapbooking and planner supplies. I was thrilled to see that she now has a planner Instagram account. I love her feminine style which translates well to the pages of her planners. 

Glam Planner (@glamplanner)

Another one of my favorite beauty-guru-turned-planner-addict is Glam Planner. Elle is another person I’ve been subscribed to on YouTube for years (AllThatGlitters21), so I was also thrilled to see that she is into planning as well. Her style is another that you can see reflected in both her YouTube channel and the pages of her planners.

The Planner Society (@theplannersociety)

I have been a fan of Christy Tomlinson’s artwork for a while, so her Instagram was one of the first ones I ever followed when I joined this community. She and Cori (TheResetGirl) just recently started a new workshop called The Creative Planner, where you can get 3-year access to all kinds of amazing resources. She also has the best photos. Definitely check her out if you’re new to planning!

Haute Pink Fluff (@hautepinkfluff)

Vanessa’s Instagram is also one that I have followed since the beginning. She has beautiful color coordinated photos that make you happy when you look at them. She also has an Etsy shop where she sells the cutest tassels and pom pom accessories for your planner. Her shop is etsy.com/shop/hautepinkfluff.

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This blog post was written by Nicole Ferland for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. Please do not repost this entry without giving credit to Limelife Planners and the post author. 

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It hurts my soul to read about others having an epiphany and realizing that the layout they fell in love with while ordering their planner no longer works for them, but it happens! Things change, and of course sometimes it's just one of those things that pans out differently in reality than in your head. My hope is that if this happens, you don't just toss it aside, or even worse throw it away. In fact, I have a better option: how about transforming the planner to fit your lifestyle?

Transforming my planner is just what I decided to do when I discovered the hourly layout wasn’t working for me. First of all, the reason that the hourly layout did not work for my lifestyle is because I am a teacher, and as you know, our work days are scheduled the same way every day with few exceptions like the occasional pep rally or early release. So, it occurred to me that I was wasting all of that valuable space between time slots 7:00 and 3:00. Just as any creative planner or crafter, I HATE WHITE SPACE, so sections became the solution to my problem. The first step in creating this new layout of sections is whiting out the times along the edge of the side bar. You may be worried about the ugly blotches of white gooeyness. No worries! This is nothing that a beautiful strip of washi tape cannot fix. Sometimes stickers! Sometimes a combination of both!

Once the hours are dead to you, I count the lines within the day section and divide that amount by three. For me, that meant dividing 27 by 3 creating a 9 lined sectioned for my mornings, my days, and my evenings.

My favorite sticker shops come to the rescue when it comes to labeling each section of the day. The Alex Studio lists both Glitter Label Stickers and Pastel Glitter Label Stickers to fit Limelife Planners. Planner Pandemonium has over sixteen different patterns to choose from and actually includes decorative boxes to match the labels as well. I have found that other shops including Plannersque and Planner Kate will also customize labels for you (Requesting my labels to be 1.68 x .25 works best for me.).

 The newest format that I have created was based on different areas that are involved in my career. I mean everyone knows teaching is a career of many hats. I divide the sections the same way to create this layout, but I label each box differently. In addition, I look at this spread as a true week in comparison to daily sections.

One could, of course, have their own personalized version of this layout depending on their obligations at their workplace. Maybe you only need two sections? Or four! The key is to make the layouts in your planner your own. I wish you the best finding your own peace in Planner Heaven.

P.S. If you'd still prefer not to transform your planner pages, you can contact the girls at Limelife and they'd be happy to help you purchase new weekly pages that better suit your life. 

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This blog post was written by Elliscia Axson-Hall for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. Please do not repost this entry without giving credit to Limelife Planners and the post author. 

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We all wake up to an alarm in the morning, right?  Your phone alarm, your alarm clock in your room, your cat batting at your hair, your dog whimpering to be let outside, the smell of coffee from the kitchen (for those of us that live in a Folgers commercial) or the little pitter patter feet of your kiddos coming down the hall...those are all alarms that we are used hearing in the morning and responding to. After we wake up, we often forget the alarm until the next morning.

A LONG time ago (we're talking YEARS ago) I started setting my alarm during the day to remind me of things I would often forget.  I would set my alarm to go off at the same time everyday to remind me to take my prescription. Once I became a mom and inherited 'Mom Brain' I started setting setting my alarm to remind me to do silly little things that I would forget otherwise. 

Exhibit A:   Last week I was laying in bed and I realized I needed the phone number off the back of the remote to call our local DirecTV installation guy.  I would have totally forgot in the morning before I left to do my daily school drop-off and run around (which is when I make most of my phone calls)... so I grabbed my phone and...

I always set the time for a time where I know I'll be in a situation to actually be able to do what I'm setting the alarm to remind me to do!  I knew I'd be up and moving, out of the shower and getting ready to leave at 6:22am.  (I like the weird times... because I'm weird like that.) It's important that you set the alarm for a time when you can realistically do the task! Hitting snooze a bunch of times isn't effective. If you find yourself in a situation where you can't do it when you thought you could, no sweat! Just set another alarm for  a better time and keep moving on with your day. 

This day I knew I had to do these two things at these two times and while they're in my planner on my weekly page written down... I knew at 9:30am I would be driving and wouldn't be looking at my planner so I needed the reminder for that specific time. The next time I open my planner, I'll be able to check off these two items, and who doesn't LOVE checking things off the to-do list? This is the perfect way to combine paper planning with our digital lifestyle.

Try it!  It's so easy and handy.  Leave a comment and let me know what you're setting your alarm to do tomorrow

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This blog post was written by Tasha Braniff of Limelife Planners. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author. 

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