I discovered a quick and easy way to add pages to your 2020 Powersheets. Game. Changer. Today’s post will also show you how to add calendar pages to your 2019 Powersheets, using the new calendar in the 2020 edition. What are Powersheets you ask?
Let me tell you! They are a wonderful tool to help you plan your life. Not in a daily calendar sort of way. There’s lots of those planners out there. But in a Big Picture, What Do I Want To Do This Month sort of way. They help you understand what’s most important to you and map out a way to achieve what’s most important. I first started using them in April 2019 and they’ve transformed the way I think about how I spend my time. However, as I had only discovered them in April, they were long sold out of the annual planner. I had to settle for 2 six-month planners. Now that the beautiful 2020 planner is here, and it contains an awesome calendar, I wanted to add that calendar goodness to my 2019 planner.
Adding Calendar Pages to the 2019 Planner
I saw a very helpful video by krodesigns on YouTube where she used the May and March calendars that align with 1st day of November and December. So I won’t take credit for that genius. But I did follow her directions to add those calendar pages to my 2019 planner. You start by snipping out the pages from your 2020 planner for those two months’ pages. I then scanned and reprinted them. The Powersheets are printed on 7″ x 10″ paper, not 8.5 x 11. So, I lined up the original and the copy and traced where the edges of the paper should be. Then I trimmed them to size using my paper trimmer.
Next, I needed to find a way to insert my new November and December monthly calendars into my 2019 six-month Powersheets. The 2019 planner has a spiral binding with holes that don’t line up with the coil binding of the 2020 Powersheets. So I snipped out a page from a prior month of my first 6-month planner to use as a template. Just like krodesigns did in her video, I traced the binding holes and used a 1/4″ punch to punch out each hole on the four sheets. I snipped from the edge of the sheet to each hole and snapped my new calendar pages into the 6-month 2019 planner.
Putting the 2020 Pages Back In
But that left me with four sheets now detached from my 2020 Powersheets planner. I noticed that the hole spacing in the 2020 pages looked just like the holes created by my WRMK’s Cinch. Sure enough, lining them up they matched perfectly. Easy peasy, right? Not so fast! The alignment of the top (or bottom) holes of the 2020 Powersheets is slightly off from the spacing of where the Cinch punches the first hole. I did a little trial and error on some printer paper and discovered that it’s off by 1/4″. The video below walks you through how I punched the holes. It explains it much better than I can describe here, so take a peek.
Using this method, I added washi tape to my loose 2020 pages and inserted them back in to their original place in the planner. But this got me thinking…. Using this trick, I can now add any pages I want to my Powersheets. I can even add extra pages with pockets as well as inspirational vision board pictures. The possibilities are endless! Well, not endless–you are limited by how many extra pages the binding coils can absorb before it becomes difficult to turn the pages.
Can This be a Planner Replacement?
I currently create my own planner pages for a disc-bound system. That means, I have 2 planners where I keep track of things, including my daily items on my tending list. Invariably, I forget to update my Powersheets since I have my weekly planner on me all the time. Each month generally contains about 13-15 sheets of paper. I think there might be enough room in the Powersheets for one month’s worth of pages, even less since there are already two sheets for the calendar, plus the daily and weekly tracker I’ve replicated in my planner.
My word of the year for 2020 is Focus. So, I’ll have to wait until January to find out if I can get by with just my enhanced Powersheets planner. As much as I’d like to try it out now, I have to remember: focus. There’s still 2 months left to 2019 and lots to still accomplish this year!
Tips and Tricks
In the meantime, I have two tips to share. First, make sure you put your washi tape on first, before punching your new pages. (Ask me why I’m mentioning that!) After you snip each box to allow it to wrap around the binding coil, the paper can become a little tattered. Adding the washi provides reinforcement. Second, wrap the washi around both the front and back of the page. You don’t want the tape sticking to your hole punch. Bonus tip! If you’re interested, buy your Powersheets now before they sell out. I wish I had discovered them sooner. I’m just thrilled that I have the pretty confetti sheets this year.
While I have the full-blown Cinch, a lovely gift one year from my dear sister, I did see someone post that WRMK makes a punch board that works the same. Since, the Cinch uses industry-standard binding coils, I have to think this process would also work on their punch board as well.
