I'm deep in thought about what planner to get next year, and I'm looking for some sympathetic ears. I don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole thought, in case no one knows what I'm talking about
I understand! I would love a fun planner and I LOVE all the fun things you can get for certain ones but I don't want to have to schedule time in my planner to work on my planner.
I've actually been using my planner in reverse, more like a journal. At the end of the day I'll just make a quick note of what I did that day. It's the only journaling I've been able to stick to for any amount of time. And I think that's mostly because of stickers...
Agreed! The best journal I ever kept was when I wrote things down on a calendar. It is so much easier to write one or two little things you don't want to forget.
My, how far I have slid in the planner department! HaHa! I am a person who used to faithfully keep a diary and paper scrapbook(s) as a teen, and I used to write in it a LOT. Now I can't be bothered with a paper planner and keep track of all my appointments on my smart phone's calendar. I open an app if I need to jot something down quickly. I did do better years ago in the workforce when I had one of those HUGE flat calendars on my desk at all time with with big daily blocks that I could write in. That thing was always well covered in ink!
Having a big family I love the Do it All Mom's Planner by Orange Circle. Room to journal, cute stickers, perforated shopping lists, pockets for coupons, Definitely my fav. They have other themes as well. Usually an August to December planner cycle.
I have a arc notebook planner from staples and use it to joint down everything, I love my technology but when it comes to planning I prefer pen and paper. I love the arc system as I can add / take away pages to suit me. I am hoping to get a new planner for next year and print my own pages to add as would like a section for personal stuff, finance, and then my scrapbook projects. I prefer everything to be in one planner than have bits of paper everywhere. Im a bit OCD when it comes to planning things
I was a very short-lived planner nerd. But I have plans.
@ Marisa -- what you're doing is actually the direction most people are moving towards. I'm on Instagram regularly and lots of planner nerds have abandoned ring planners for Hobonichi and Midori Traveler's Notebooks. I have a "fauxdori" that I want to start using soon. The Midori is basically a cover for notebooks that you use as an insert - very easy to customize and you can make the whole thing as fat as you want -- some people have 5 different notebooks for different things. My favorite users also use it as journals..and they end up kind of scrap booking without knowing it! It's a wonderful system that can combine many types of paper.
I adore planners. Putting them together, designing my own pages, filling them out with all the little details of my life. And never looking at them again. I really want to start using a planner, because I feel like it will help with my terrible time management, but I stink and coming back to it!
I have a fauxdori! I haven't exactly found it's ultimate purpose for me, but I'm thinking about it. I am considering keeping a calendar in there next year, but it's so small!!
I've seen people use it for a myriad of functions. Definitely doable for replacing regular size planners (like Filofax). I see them mostly on Instagram, try #midori, #mtn, or #travelersnotebook for inspiration. Lots of shops on Etsy sell a huge variety of inserts too -- all kinds of papers, colors, and printed planner types (week on a page or two pages). I'm on the verge of starting mine. Oh, also lots of super cute pockets, folders, and the like. They can get thick -- I've seen some that are more than an inch. Good luck!
I have an addiction to planners...and notebooks...and stationery...any paper good really. I love love love the planners from A Beautiful Mess and Passion Planners. I highly recommend looking into either of them, they're fantastic.
I was just about to ask exactly the same question! How fun. I'm in love with the planner communities all around the web. Now I just can't live without it.
I love looking at all the fun stuff for planners. And I love buying planners and journals and all the pretty stuff for them. I usually start off really good and then sadly I fizzle out. I found a box from when we moved (2 years ago) that was probably packed from the previous move (2 years before that) that held a few of my old journals and planners. Lots of blank pages and open space!
I have the compact version of the Passion Planner. I've enjoyed it, but I want to try something new next year. I don't really use various parts of the design, and I think I may want to try a planner that has a full page for each day (if anyone can recommend something like that).
I do like the binding on the Passion Planner, it stays open easily, but since it's a regular binding, the week feels more cohesive because there aren't rings in the middle, if that makes sense. And the compact is a good size.
I started using a planner (again) in June. Before iPhones, I used a month at a glance calendar to track everything & to do brief journaling - & then I got my iPhone & discovered the joys of iCal & Google Calendar.
Fast forward a few years, I found I really missed physically writing things down. I brainstorm on paper really, really well so I decided to try a planner - but didn't want to spend anything until I knew if it would work for me, which is how I found The Handmade Home's gorgeous free downloadable planner (in A5 & Letter size formats). You can download whatever pages & styles you want & only print what you'll use.
Turns out what works best for me is to keep all appointments in my iCal (which uploads to my Google Calendar which, in turn, downloads into Readdle, which shows all google calendars I'm subscribed - love this app!) but use my planner for brainstorming & things I want/need to do (projects I'm working on & the steps involved). I also note my appts in my planner, but only so that I know what else is going on on any given day. The rest of the planner is for brainstorming & planning & I can sketch & scribble & make all kinds of notes, which I could do in any notebook but I find that having my jottings organized by day means I actually get things done!
Thanks for the links Sarah! I knew someone had to be making a cheaper filofax style binder, but I couldn't find any. I'd like to give one a try without investing all my money!
My thoughts exactly, Marisa (re not spending all my money on a planner cover)! And you're welcome!
BTW - the planner cover ships from China & indicates it will take a month or more. The punch shipped from somewhere in the US (for me it was from Kentucky? Tennessee?) & Amazon said it would be here in a week+ - & then both of them showed up on the same day a week+ after ordering. So, long story short - the binder may well arrive much sooner than Amazon tells you it will!
If anyone is interested in other free planner downloads, I just found this site, which is amazing! Ray Blake makes, & posts for free, all kinds of Filofax looking inserts. I lean toward colorful, but even I am impressed with what he's done!
Here in Brazil we´re starting hearing about planners recently. It´s starting to get trending and I hope someone deceides to print some cheap good ones soon... I always need to get more organised, and no system seems to work for a long while...
You're welcome, Lórien! There are all sorts of free printable planners around the web, like the one I linked to at The Handmade Home. You might want to look around to see if any of them might work for you. And if there aren't many cheap ones in Brazil (yet), free online ones are definitely the way to start!
I found several I liked by googling 'free printable planners' & chose the one from The Homemade Home because it seemed to fit with the way I think & work (& had lots of page & color options) but there are definitely a whole bunch out there, ranging from really decorated to very plain business ones. And there are a lot for sale on Etsy as well so if you find a method that works but not a style that does, that's another option for you.
Good to know about the planner shipping time. I was just going to order it, so that it would get here someday. I still don't have a printer, so that's the big piece I'm missing.
Marisa - I don't know that I have an ideal page yet, since I'm still new to this (I just started in June) but I find having weekly pages with plenty of space to jot down appts & to dos & ideas for the day or week are really important to me - I find I follow through on things MUCH better if I list everything by day. The other thing I'm finding incredibly useful is having a blank 'thinking out loud' page where I can just do an info dump or plan out some brilliant idea I've just had. So I guess so far at least, my ideal page is actually one with lots of space to note things down!
Here's how I've set up my planner. This system seems to be working really well for me so far but I'm sure there might be some adjustments along the line. Note that these are all from The Homemade Home planner (except for the dividers, I made those):
Page 1 - 2015 title page. I'm not sure why I bothered with this other than it came with The Handmade Home's planner so I printed it. Having thought about it, I think it would make more sense for me to put a Monthly Goals (or something like that) page there instead; it's not like I don't know what year it is!
Page 2 - Full year 2015 calendar, all months on one page; I find it useful to refer to when I need to look back or ahead
Page 3 - Monthly divider; I love quotes & poetry so I chose ones that remind me of the month in some way
Page 4 - Page one of the monthly calendar
Page 5 - Page two of the monthly calendar
On these two pages I note all appointments & plans from my iCal; since the details are in iCal, I just make brief notes only so I'll know there's something I MUST do that day
Page 6 - Page one of my weekly planner, M-W, three vertical columns with lines for to dos, appts, ideas, etc.
Page 7 - Page two of my weekly planner, Th-Sun, three vertical columns; Thursday & Friday are full columns & then Saturday & Sunday each have half of the third column.
There's a box at the bottom of each of these pages for longer notes & lists
These pages tend to be the real work horses of my planner - I take notes, plan my day, write urgent messages to myself etc
Page 8 - Cleaning schedule - I keep trying to become better organized about cleaning/tidying the house in a regular it-will-never-look-messy fashion. I'm failing so far but this page has turned out to be really useful as I clear out & reorganize the house. I jot down all the steps I need to do for a project on the day or days it's planned.
Page 9 - Ideas & Inspirations - a blank lined page with a box at the bottom, really useful for doing Bullet Journaling http://bulletjournal.com/ of ideas & projects, sketching plans, & noting shopping lists etc. Sometimes it's just daydreaming & other times it's very specific plans
Pages 6-9 repeat all month & then pages 3-5 repeat for the next month, followed by repeats of pages 6-9.
The last two pages are an undated Birthday Calendar I created & the last page is a world map, just because I like maps!
Does this help any?
ETA - the month at a glance pages & the weekly pages are set up so when I open the planner, they face each other so I can see both pages, or the whole month or week, at once (I hope this makes sense!)
I loved a planner in high school...I have found it a lot harder with technology progressing, though. :\
I understand! I would love a fun planner and I LOVE all the fun things you can get for certain ones but I don't want to have to schedule time in my planner to work on my planner.
@Kaleena: Haha!
I've actually been using my planner in reverse, more like a journal. At the end of the day I'll just make a quick note of what I did that day. It's the only journaling I've been able to stick to for any amount of time. And I think that's mostly because of stickers...
Agreed! The best journal I ever kept was when I wrote things down on a calendar. It is so much easier to write one or two little things you don't want to forget.
I so want to be a planner person. I have one for work, which I use off and on, but I still am not in the daily habit of using it.
My, how far I have slid in the planner department! HaHa! I am a person who used to faithfully keep a diary and paper scrapbook(s) as a teen, and I used to write in it a LOT. Now I can't be bothered with a paper planner and keep track of all my appointments on my smart phone's calendar. I open an app if I need to jot something down quickly. I did do better years ago in the workforce when I had one of those HUGE flat calendars on my desk at all time with with big daily blocks that I could write in. That thing was always well covered in ink!
Having a big family I love the Do it All Mom's Planner by Orange Circle. Room to journal, cute stickers, perforated shopping lists, pockets for coupons, Definitely my fav. They have other themes as well. Usually an August to December planner cycle.
I have a arc notebook planner from staples and use it to joint down everything, I love my technology but when it comes to planning I prefer pen and paper. I love the arc system as I can add / take away pages to suit me. I am hoping to get a new planner for next year and print my own pages to add as would like a section for personal stuff, finance, and then my scrapbook projects. I prefer everything to be in one planner than have bits of paper everywhere. Im a bit OCD when it comes to planning things
I was a very short-lived planner nerd. But I have plans.
@ Marisa -- what you're doing is actually the direction most people are moving towards. I'm on Instagram regularly and lots of planner nerds have abandoned ring planners for Hobonichi and Midori Traveler's Notebooks. I have a "fauxdori" that I want to start using soon. The Midori is basically a cover for notebooks that you use as an insert - very easy to customize and you can make the whole thing as fat as you want -- some people have 5 different notebooks for different things. My favorite users also use it as journals..and they end up kind of scrap booking without knowing it! It's a wonderful system that can combine many types of paper.
I adore planners. Putting them together, designing my own pages, filling them out with all the little details of my life. And never looking at them again. I really want to start using a planner, because I feel like it will help with my terrible time management, but I stink and coming back to it!
I have a fauxdori! I haven't exactly found it's ultimate purpose for me, but I'm thinking about it. I am considering keeping a calendar in there next year, but it's so small!!
@Marisa,
I've seen people use it for a myriad of functions. Definitely doable for replacing regular size planners (like Filofax). I see them mostly on Instagram, try #midori, #mtn, or #travelersnotebook for inspiration. Lots of shops on Etsy sell a huge variety of inserts too -- all kinds of papers, colors, and printed planner types (week on a page or two pages). I'm on the verge of starting mine. Oh, also lots of super cute pockets, folders, and the like. They can get thick -- I've seen some that are more than an inch. Good luck!
I have an addiction to planners...and notebooks...and stationery...any paper good really. I love love love the planners from A Beautiful Mess and Passion Planners. I highly recommend looking into either of them, they're fantastic.
I'm currently using a Passion Planner.
What do you think about the Passion Planner Marisa? Full size or compact?
I was just about to ask exactly the same question! How fun. I'm in love with the planner communities all around the web. Now I just can't live without it.
I love looking at all the fun stuff for planners. And I love buying planners and journals and all the pretty stuff for them. I usually start off really good and then sadly I fizzle out. I found a box from when we moved (2 years ago) that was probably packed from the previous move (2 years before that) that held a few of my old journals and planners. Lots of blank pages and open space!
I have the compact version of the Passion Planner. I've enjoyed it, but I want to try something new next year. I don't really use various parts of the design, and I think I may want to try a planner that has a full page for each day (if anyone can recommend something like that).
I do like the binding on the Passion Planner, it stays open easily, but since it's a regular binding, the week feels more cohesive because there aren't rings in the middle, if that makes sense. And the compact is a good size.
I started using a planner (again) in June. Before iPhones, I used a month at a glance calendar to track everything & to do brief journaling - & then I got my iPhone & discovered the joys of iCal & Google Calendar.
Fast forward a few years, I found I really missed physically writing things down. I brainstorm on paper really, really well so I decided to try a planner - but didn't want to spend anything until I knew if it would work for me, which is how I found The Handmade Home's gorgeous free downloadable planner (in A5 & Letter size formats). You can download whatever pages & styles you want & only print what you'll use.
Here's her 2015 planner http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2014/06/free-planner-and-calendar-more-2015/
And her 2016 planner http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2015/06/free-planner-2016/
Turns out what works best for me is to keep all appointments in my iCal (which uploads to my Google Calendar which, in turn, downloads into Readdle, which shows all google calendars I'm subscribed - love this app!) but use my planner for brainstorming & things I want/need to do (projects I'm working on & the steps involved). I also note my appts in my planner, but only so that I know what else is going on on any given day. The rest of the planner is for brainstorming & planning & I can sketch & scribble & make all kinds of notes, which I could do in any notebook but I find that having my jottings organized by day means I actually get things done!
PS I love using my planner so much, I broke down & spent money:
I bought this cover in green
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P8IUNPQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00P8IUNPQ&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwthehandmad-20&linkId=X56ZGVEWH7I7IGMW
And the punch
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GR6BCM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001GR6BCM&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwthehandmad-20&linkId=CE4ZP2DPZZBNWPI2
Thanks for the links Sarah! I knew someone had to be making a cheaper filofax style binder, but I couldn't find any. I'd like to give one a try without investing all my money!
My thoughts exactly, Marisa (re not spending all my money on a planner cover)! And you're welcome!
BTW - the planner cover ships from China & indicates it will take a month or more. The punch shipped from somewhere in the US (for me it was from Kentucky? Tennessee?) & Amazon said it would be here in a week+ - & then both of them showed up on the same day a week+ after ordering. So, long story short - the binder may well arrive much sooner than Amazon tells you it will!
If anyone is interested in other free planner downloads, I just found this site, which is amazing! Ray Blake makes, & posts for free, all kinds of Filofax looking inserts. I lean toward colorful, but even I am impressed with what he's done!
http://www.mylifeallinoneplace.com/
Thanks for the links Sarah!
Here in Brazil we´re starting hearing about planners recently. It´s starting to get trending and I hope someone deceides to print some cheap good ones soon... I always need to get more organised, and no system seems to work for a long while...
You're welcome, Lórien! There are all sorts of free printable planners around the web, like the one I linked to at The Handmade Home. You might want to look around to see if any of them might work for you. And if there aren't many cheap ones in Brazil (yet), free online ones are definitely the way to start!
I found several I liked by googling 'free printable planners' & chose the one from The Homemade Home because it seemed to fit with the way I think & work (& had lots of page & color options) but there are definitely a whole bunch out there, ranging from really decorated to very plain business ones. And there are a lot for sale on Etsy as well so if you find a method that works but not a style that does, that's another option for you.
Good to know about the planner shipping time. I was just going to order it, so that it would get here someday. I still don't have a printer, so that's the big piece I'm missing.
What's included in your ideal planner page?
Marisa - I don't know that I have an ideal page yet, since I'm still new to this (I just started in June) but I find having weekly pages with plenty of space to jot down appts & to dos & ideas for the day or week are really important to me - I find I follow through on things MUCH better if I list everything by day. The other thing I'm finding incredibly useful is having a blank 'thinking out loud' page where I can just do an info dump or plan out some brilliant idea I've just had. So I guess so far at least, my ideal page is actually one with lots of space to note things down!
Here's how I've set up my planner. This system seems to be working really well for me so far but I'm sure there might be some adjustments along the line. Note that these are all from The Homemade Home planner (except for the dividers, I made those):
Page 1 - 2015 title page. I'm not sure why I bothered with this other than it came with The Handmade Home's planner so I printed it. Having thought about it, I think it would make more sense for me to put a Monthly Goals (or something like that) page there instead; it's not like I don't know what year it is!
Page 2 - Full year 2015 calendar, all months on one page; I find it useful to refer to when I need to look back or ahead
Page 3 - Monthly divider; I love quotes & poetry so I chose ones that remind me of the month in some way
Page 4 - Page one of the monthly calendar
Page 5 - Page two of the monthly calendar
On these two pages I note all appointments & plans from my iCal; since the details are in iCal, I just make brief notes only so I'll know there's something I MUST do that day
Page 6 - Page one of my weekly planner, M-W, three vertical columns with lines for to dos, appts, ideas, etc.
Page 7 - Page two of my weekly planner, Th-Sun, three vertical columns; Thursday & Friday are full columns & then Saturday & Sunday each have half of the third column.
There's a box at the bottom of each of these pages for longer notes & lists
These pages tend to be the real work horses of my planner - I take notes, plan my day, write urgent messages to myself etc
Page 8 - Cleaning schedule - I keep trying to become better organized about cleaning/tidying the house in a regular it-will-never-look-messy fashion. I'm failing so far but this page has turned out to be really useful as I clear out & reorganize the house. I jot down all the steps I need to do for a project on the day or days it's planned.
Page 9 - Ideas & Inspirations - a blank lined page with a box at the bottom, really useful for doing Bullet Journaling http://bulletjournal.com/ of ideas & projects, sketching plans, & noting shopping lists etc. Sometimes it's just daydreaming & other times it's very specific plans
Pages 6-9 repeat all month & then pages 3-5 repeat for the next month, followed by repeats of pages 6-9.
The last two pages are an undated Birthday Calendar I created & the last page is a world map, just because I like maps!
Does this help any?
ETA - the month at a glance pages & the weekly pages are set up so when I open the planner, they face each other so I can see both pages, or the whole month or week, at once (I hope this makes sense!)
PS I keep forgetting you don't have a printer! I start getting heart palpitations if I think about not having one...
So cool Sarah. Indeed it helps. Thanks!
@Sarah: I'm really close to having a printer I just have to find "the one."
Also, you'd think this was true, but I feel like the reminder may not be bad for me
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