Future Pages (Video)

Future pages are important in a paper planner because, unlike an e-planner, calendar pages don't go on forever in a paper planner. Today's video (click here) overviews how I use my future pages.

TIP: If there is no future page in your planner, don't wait to make a complete system of future pages. Get a sheet of paper and make a future page immediately. You can tweak it later!

My Future section is tucked right behind my Calendar section.

Basically, I have three parts to my future pages set-up.

First, I have recurring yearly events/tasks.

Recurring yearly events include birthdays and anniversaries. The tasks include some doctors' appointments or car inspections.

For anything that happens every year, I have six pieces of special paper (the page with the blue strip in the picture above, but you could use washi tape for the same effect) that I divide into twelve months (one on each side of paper) and double punch (so the current month can always be the first thing after the Future tab).

TIP: Next to each birthday, include the year of birth and whether you need to send a card, make a phone call, buy a gift, or throw a party.

Example - Loki's Bday (2008) [gift, party]

Second, I have a yearly calendar for the upcoming year.

All that happens here is that any date where I am booked for something gets highlighted. For example, if I agree to substitute teach the week of February 16 - 20 so a teacher can go to a conference, I highlight that week. This technique lets me check my future calendar for conflicts very quickly.

I have these pages folded (so they only take up half a page of space and work as a natural divider between the recurring future pages and the one-time future pages).

Third, I have one-time future pages.

I simply use hole-punched, lined inserts and divide each into three parts on each side. After the next year, I have one page labeled 2016 and Beyond.

Example -

2015
Jan:
Feb:
Mar:

2015
Apr:
May:
Jun:

One-time events and tasks that will happen after my monthly calendar pages end go on those pages. Dividing each page into three sections allows me to visually only copy one month at a time to my new monthly pages as I add those to my planner.

TIP: At the end of each month, have a recurring (i.e., circled) task to check future pages for upcoming dates to be copied into your monthly pages.

Etcetera.