Plan Your Posts With May Books!

Plan Your Posts With May Books!

• Sep 5, 2013

In my recent Top Ten Tuesday post about things that make my life as a reader and blogger easier, I included my addiction to May Books. These softcover notebooks have stitched spines and are the perfect 5x8 in size. I can't remember when I first discovered them, but I think it was from a friend's Instagram photo. As a Southern girl who loves monograms and pretty notebooks, I knew I had to have some of my own! The only problem? Making all those decisions.

Creating a May Book is so easy! All it takes is four quick and easy steps:

1. Pick Your Pattern! With a great selection of swatches, I could spend hours trying to choose one.
2. Customize It. Choose a background shape, the typographic style for your monogram or name and the monogram color. There's a Preview of your book to the left, so have fun checking out all the different combinations that are possible.
3. Choose Your Inside Pages. There are so many things your book could be: a meal planner, an agenda, a budget journal... or even just lined pages. This is the reason I already own so many May Books.
4. Preview & Checkout. Or, you know, make a couple more before you pay... If you're anything like me, it's almost impossible to order just one at a time.

I was really excited reading the comments on that post because I realized that a lot of people had never heard of May Books before. Y'all, I love being able to tell people about things that I love. It's just an extra bonus that these make my blogging life easier.

So, how exactly do I use my two blogging-related May Books? Let's discuss.

My very first May Book - EVER! I knew I wanted to order one, but I couldn't decide how I wanted to use it. After spending a few days contemplating, I finally settled on creating a May Book for my blog. I choose the "Monthly Agenda: Days + Weeks" for my Inside Pages because I knew I wanted something to help me create a schedule for my blog.

I'd read a really helpful post from Amanda @ On A Book Bender titled Organization and Scheduled Posts," and it was on my mind. I hadn't really thought about creating a schedule before, and Amanda provided some valuable advice for getting started. While I don't use her method exactly, I never would have had the push to do it without her post. 

In the front of my May Book, I listed some of my 2013 blogging resolutions. Those came from my post at the beginning of the year about what I wanted to accomplish. I haven't followed through on them all, but it's a nice reminder of the things I'd like to do.

On the Month-At-A-Glance pages, I jot down whatever will be posted on my blog that day. Because I'm crazy, different types of posts (Top Ten Tuesday, Reviews, Discussions, etc.) are written in different colors. I like that I can quickly get a sense for what type of posts I've got planned without looking too closely. Some things - like Top Ten Tuesday topics - are filled out really far in advance. For other things, like Reviews, it depends. I know what days I like to post Reviews on, so sometimes I'll just write a "R" on that day and fill it in with the book title once I know what's coming.

On the weekly view, I'll write down what I've got scheduled on the blog. But I'll also add a little more information on these pages - jotting down books that are being released that I've been looking forward to and noting publication dates for books I've received for review. I love that I can just flip forward and keep an eye on what's coming out soon, what I really need to read and review, where there are days when I don't have anything scheduled, etc. I usually have a sticky note tucked in there with random notes and thoughts on it, too.

My other blogging May Book has these lovely zebras gracing its cover. I choose blank pages for the inside of this book because I really wanted it to be for anything blog-related. Lists of books to review, brainstorming new book features, outlining guest posts, possible discussion post idea... you name it, you could probably find it in here!

My favorite thing about both of these books is the fact that they are so easy to carry around in my purse. With the softcover and convenient size, I've usually got at least one of these on hand at any given time. I love technology so much, but there's just something I love about putting pen to paper for certain things. So, just remember: Cute + Useful = May Books.

But I'm also curious about your blogging habits! 

How do you organize and schedule your posts? 

Do you use anything to keep track of all your blogging plans and ideas?