What is a Content Calendar?
It’s a calendar with scheduled out or planned activity. I’ve used content calendars for
- Journaling Ideas
- Scrapbooking Layouts
- Blog Posts (Like this one!)
- Work Projects with timelines
- Any time I’m planning anything
You could have a calendar for the week, month, year or even multi-year.
Template in Word Document
You can create and print a calendar like the one I’ve shared here, or purchase one online or locally.
You could also hand draw one simply by making a large grid with days of the week as column headers. Write the month at the top.
Great Reminders of Upcoming Events!
I’m working a week (or more) in advance of any event to allow me time to create and schedule.
For the Mother’s Day post shown here, I shared a new, easy to make gift idea in my FB group every day for the whole week prior to the big day. My calendar reminded me TWO WEEKS before to allow time to prepare.
The week before Mother’s day I scheduled my blog, FaceBook and Pinterest posts for that week of fun and then moved on to my next projects.
4th Of July in June!
It’s a great idea midway through the month to look at the next month or to include notes from the next month on this month as a reminder.
Independance Day is a great example! I write JULY 4th! on my calendar a full week 9or two) before the 4th so I have time to prepare. If I waited until I flipped the calendar to view July, I would be pressed for time to get anything created and ready to share.
Calendars Make it Easy to Quickly Spot Gaps
Some months (like December) are super easy to fill up! While others, like February, are much more quiet and might take a little more research to come up with ideas for.
First I fill in what I do know, like major holidays or events. Then I fill in any scheduled events (IE scheduled Lives, speicific posts, classes or events)
Then I look through the calendar for gaps that need filled in.
Odd Holidays and Inspiration
Here is a photo of my Content Calendar for May 2019. As you can see, I highlighted special events with yellow so I wouldn’t miss them.
At the top I wrote the national celebrations for the month. Did you know May is National Strawberry month? It’s also National Preservation Month! I have these as ideas to fill in anywhere I might have gaps.
At the bottom I included notes of things I didn’t want to forget. What you don’t see is on the back of this sheet I have written various ideas for posts and crafts!
Under personal I’ve written Verns Burial – I know I’ll be out of town for a couple of days so this note reminds me of that and that anything I want shared those days will need to be pre-scheduled. I’ll also make sure to not post anything that encourages feedback on those days as I won’t be available much.
Google It!
Lastly I look for large gaps that need filled in. I did a search for “Calendar of national holidays” and got so many pages to choose from!
Then I went through the links and wrote the holidays/celebrations on my calendar that pertained to what I like to write about. Successfully filling in any gaps that needed filling!
Here are a few other LARGE Calendar Ideas!
Chalk Wall Calendar!
Paper Wall Calendar
Calendar Choices
Starting with a printed calendar page makes it easy to print another one if changes are needed or errors are made.
Once the calendar is set for the month it can then be entered into a larger or electronic one.
- TOP: The printed calendar that I write notes on.
- NEXT: A spiral bound wall calendar with large spaces to write in. I transfer from the paper calendar to the wall calendar once I’m satisfied with it.
- RIGHT: I keep a planner with me to write events etc in that I don’t want to forget.
- LEFT: This notebook is with me all the time! It’s full of notes, ideas, and inspirations! Sometimes I’ll drive by a billboard and think: Wow, that would make a great blog topic! So I write it in the notebook.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea or one hits me while I’m in the shower or driving so I like to keep a small notebook with me to write them all down.
There are also many little sticky note type apps for the phone!
I keep the content calendars as inspiration for the following year 🙂
Be sure to pin it!
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