I’m not much of a paperclip person.

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I remember when Filofaxes were all the rage, I used to see all these pictures of people’s set ups, full of pretty paperclips. They always seemed huge and largely impractical. Even smaller ones, like these super cute Midori ones*, used to annoy me. I really didn’t like how they wrinkled the pages and created bulk in my planner.

Soon into my planning journey, I realised I needed an alternative.

Because I had a slight sticky note problem, I had quite a collection of page flags, so I started by marking my pages with those.

These are a great way to add a bit of colour into your planner. They’re also moveable and paper, so you can write something on there to remember what section it’s marking.

Unfortunately though, frequently the adhesive is pretty pants on them, and because they’re paper they rip really easily.

For just marking the odd page temporarily, they work great. For anything semi-permanent though, I needed an alternative.

Plastic page flags seemed like a great alternative.

I’ve always got some of these* stashed away in pencil cases. These Coco Fusen tabs* are also fantastic as the colours aren’t neon. They also come in little single pouches which you can attach to the inside cover of your planner. This is perfect for planning on the go.

The adhesive on these are usually a lot better than on paper page flags. I’ll regularly reuse these with no issues at all. Sadly though, it’s really tricky to write on them. You either have to use different colours for different things (and have some sort of colour code) or use a label maker to create a little label for them.

My favourite tabs to use in my planner though, are by Avery*.

These tabs are the perfect mix. They are a plastic tab that has a strong adhesive that you move and reuse with a paper element on the end for writing on.

The only part I hate about using these tabs is the fact that my handwriting isn’t great.

The only permanent tabs I use in my planner are for the months, in my Hobonichi.

I use a combination of the Avery tabs and plastic flags in all my planners.

The Avery tabs get used for semi-permanent things, like my budget planning whereas the plastic flags get used for things that move around a bit more, like my weekly planning pages.

I’ve had this system for a few years now and it works really well for me. Even when I’ve been bullet journaling I’ve used page flags as I’ve found it quicker than referring to an index. I also like how the tabs make my planners look. I’m not big on decorating my planners but I also like them to look to used and not too perfect, and the tabs do just that!

How do you mark off important sections in your planner?

Are you all about the bookmarks or paperclips? Or do you prefer to keep your pages pristine and use an index instead? Let me know in the comments!

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