Welcome to day 10 of blogmas! December is literally slipping by. This post continues on in my Planning for 2019 series. Today we’ll be discussing list pads. They’re not as basic as you may think and there’s a lot of versatility for any kind of planner.
As always, be sure to click the links throughout this post for related posts and links to purchase items/similar styles featured.
Where to Buy and Pricing
List pads can be found just about anywhere from your local dollar store to Target, Michaels, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Ross, and Home Goods. Of course there are many sellers online that customize list pads as well as sticky notes. As for the pricing, that depends on where you buy it from. Quality of paper also comes into play although many may not care as they’re just jotting things down and will throw it away after. A list pad from Dollar Tree or Target that’s just $1 may have thinner paper than one that’s 2.99 at TJ Maxx or Marshall’s. Still in all, it’s just paper so don’t over think it.
I personally think that $5 is steep for a list pad, especially with just 25 sheets. Still, if that happens to be sold by a small business owner, by all means show your support.
Types of List Pads
List pads come in all shapes and sizes and may be one of the following –
- Blank
- Lined
- Numbered / checkboxes
- Weekly
Many may also have a magnetic backing that you can put on your refrigerator to keep track of odds and ends information or most commonly, your grocery list.
Using List Pads as a Planning Tool
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Now that we’ve gone through where to buy, price point, and style of list pads, let get into the benefits. Here’s a few
- Preplanning
- Daily
- Weekly
- Menu planning
- Project planning
For those that use a planner, especially if you prefer decorative planning, you may prefer to use a list pad for preplanning. The list pad that works best for this is one that has Sunday – Saturday. This is where you brain dump with a weekly list pad all of your plans for that week and write them in neatly. This works the same for memory planning. You can write in your highlight of the day and plan later. Using a weekly list pad is great to map out your meals as well, stick on the fridge or hole punch/tape/write into your planner of choice.
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Another great option is to hole punch them into your ring planner. If you are unsure of what inserts to use, adding in pages from your list pad as an insert serves as a great, cheaper alternative. Why not make use of what you already have lying around?
As for students that do not like to lockdown to a planner, yet you want to keep track of important assignments for the week, a weekly list pad is a great option. You can write down your assignments in your phone and transfer the information and due dates to the list pad at home. Having a physical copy helps to check things off as you complete them.
While many use a weekly planner, some days are longer than others with plenty of errands/chores to get done. Using a list pad as a running to do list helps to mark priorities of the week which can then be transferred to your planner for a particular day. Also, you can just use the list pad for that day, mark off what’s done, and throw it away if you choose. The issue with some planners is that there’s simply not enough space to tack everything. List pads give space for more detailed lists.
There are also those list pads that are created for you and all you have to do is check things off. Popular options are grocery and packing.
I personally use list pads when I have not only a lot of chores around my house to get done, but also for blogging projects I work on. Writing it all down on one page and not in my planner gives me more space. Sometimes I want my planner to be so perfect that I don’t want to write in it and mess it up. In essence, that logic is counterproductive. Now that I’ve moved into a bullet journal, if I choose to use a list pad for a longer list, I’ll tape it into my planner. This is great reference especially when I’m looking to edit a post or continue filming and pick up where I left off.
