I like to use different colors of ink to make my tasks and appointments stand out on my planner pages. I started out with a pretty basic color system using a Bic 4 color pen and used the colors as such:
Black: most things
Red: Important things
Blue: Travel
Green: Health/ exercise
But for some reason, 4 colors weren't enough so I branched out. I invested in some Sakura Micron pens, because they are archival quality. I keep my planners forever as a record of my life so I figured I'd better get some pens with ink that will stand the test of time. The Microns, with their archival security and vast color selection, are pretty addictive. They practically encourage chromatic diversification. So now my colors have expanded to:
Black: normal tasks and appointments
Dark blue: travel
Light blue: my husband (things I need him to do, remind him of, etc)
Green: Health/ exercise, and also money (when underlined with red)
Red: Important/ urgent items
Purple: my own personal stuff (purple is my favorite color)
Orange: kids' activities
Yes this may be a little excessive. But all the colors make my page look really good, and makes things stand out. And maybe most usefully, when I look back in my book to reference something it's easy to find. For example, when I need to see my workouts from last week, I only look at green colored items. This really helps when I'm looking at pages chock-full of writing.
Do you use colors in your planner? Do you have a specific color scheme, or just like things to look colorful in your book? What pens do you like to use in your planner?
Laurie,
ReplyDeleteThis topic is on my list of things to blog about as well - you beat me to it! I do use colored pens - red for work items, purple for personal items, blue for health/exercise, green for due dates (bills, etc), orange for notes/reminders (birthdays, anniversaries, travel plans for other people, notes regarding my husband's whereabouts). Everything else (daily to-dos) goes in black ink.
I'll go more into detail when I get around to blogging about this topic.
Oh I do use a lot of colours in my planning. I have briefly blogged about my system before, although I didn't go into too much detail about the colour coding.
ReplyDeletehttp://travisthetrout.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/keeping-track/
I also colour code books when reading if I want to analyse the book using colouring pencil. Great fun!!
It took me a while to get a system going on this, and the first time you mentioned it to me, I was afraid to try it, because it would tarnish the simplicity of black ink on white paper. BUUUUUUT, once I did start using different colors of ink in my planner, I realized how important it is to use. I use pink for my personal stuff, especially when Avon orders are due. Red stands out really well for finances. "Student Loan payment due today!" Green for my workouts and orange for my son's activities.
ReplyDeleteI rarely use colours, mostly because I don't like to carry too much stuff around. What I do is I draw a circle/square/cloud/whatever around the text that is necessary.
ReplyDeleteI think I've created a wonderful, brilliant, beautiful, monster! You definitely get your love of journals from me! Your Mommy! I love you, Honey! Keep up the GREAT work!
ReplyDeleteHi Mommy!!! I'm glad you like my blog!!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I definitely got my notebook obsession from you! Sandy and I both got that one! ;D