Get ready! There is a LOT going on in this entry – we’re talking about planners, different kinds, how different folks use them, and we’re giving away some, too. Woo hoo!
I am constantly working on becoming better organized, and have tried many planners over the years.
When I worked in an office in Manhattan, I had a MomAgenda, which had space for me and for the rest of the family on each weekly page. I liked it a lot, but at the time I hadn’t made my calendars digital yet, so carrying a book to and from my workplace made sense. Now that most of my scheduling is managed on multiple Google calendars*, the book planners haven’t held much appeal.
Then I found the Passion Planner, and bought one as a holiday gift for a friend who is pursuing her MFA and wanted to focus more of her schedule on her creative time. She loved hers, and I bought myself one, too, based on her recommendation.
Oh, is the Passion Planner nice. It focuses your attention on your short term and long term goals, and gives you space to plan, celebrate, and create. You can see sample pages on their site and try them out if you wish.
But the sample pages had some things that worked, and some things that didn’t. I wasn’t really using the calendar part and thought maybe a different solution would work better.
When I went on Twitter to ask about planners, well, I hopped into a mighty, mighty community of planning fans. Did you know there’s a whole culture devoted to planners, identifying which is best for you, how to use them, how to decorate them – it’s pretty spiffy. Roni Loren did a whole post about her search for the perfect planner, and she’s not alone in that hunt.
I learned a lot about which planners different people use, and how they use them, and I thought you might like to check out some of the recommendations. PLUS, I have five planners to give away, courtesy of the lovely people who spoke with me about their planner love. Ready? Prepare to feel inspired, and a little in awe.
Tasha L. Harrison, whose latest book is Having It Both Ways, told me she loves her Passion Planner:
Before I bought the Passion Planner, I was dedicated to Bullet Journaling. Bujo is, what I like to call, a fancy form of listing WHICH I LOVE, but it didn’t really help me get anything done. I just had a journal full of lists.
The Passion Planner was that PLUS goal setting which is what I really needed. The goal-setting exercise in the first pages of the planner gave me the framework that let me write out those big goals I have for the future as well as focus on things I want to do 12 months, six months and three months out.
At the end of every month there are reflection questions designed to make you look back on your progress and measure it against your goals. I’m actually looking forward to answering those and reassessing the goals I set for myself.
In case you haven’t caught the hint, my Passion Planner is my favorite thing right now. It makes my life work.
Tasha and I are both giving away a Passion Planner in the comments here. Woo!
I have a Limited Edition Twilight Blue compact 2016 Passion Planner (which is now sold out and unavailable through their site). I can hear you saying, “But, it’s mid-February!” I know – there will be some extra pages in the beginning. But you can use them as testing areas for trying out the planner if you win it, and I’ll send some SBTB stickers so you can decorate.
Tasha is also giving away a Passion Planner, too. So we have two to offer!
But wait, there are OTHER PLANNERS.
SO MANY PLANNERS.
Courtney Milan told me on Twitter that she’s also been using a Passion Planner, and has been using Bullet Journal as well. As she put it, “I have been trying everything to…be, um, slightly organized.”
She’s giving away a Mochi Things 2016 Smiley Scheduler, which is holy cow adorable.
Also: please be careful with the Mochi Things website. It’s unholy addictive.
Seriously.
Be careful.
Really.
If your weakness for things to put other things in and organize them while also increasing the number of vivid and happy colors in your immediate vicinity by 33% or more is as powerful as mine, well, like I said. Be careful.
Amanda also did a search for a perfect planner at about the same time I did, and was similarly overwhelmed by all the options. But I have to say, her solution is pretty spiffy:
After Googling and looking at a million different Best Planner lists, I stumbled across Erin Condren’s LifePlanner. I wanted something colorful that made it fun to use and look at.
I loved the customization because having items (even if they’re just planners) that reflect my personality are important to me. I cannot speak highly enough how cool this planner is. It’s bulky, but surprisingly lightweight. And tabs!! God bless month tabs.
Upon checkout, you’re able to select how you want your daily pages organized – vertically vs horizontally, though I will say that the vertical option cuts your days off at around 7pm.
There’s also a big monthly calendar at the start of each month with plenty of room to write. The LifePlanner integrates some of the Passion Planner features, like a place to write your goals at the start of the planner. There’s also room to make lists in the margins on the daily sheets. I was impressed with the amount of room and once again, the customization. The planner even comes with a pocket for holding documents and a zippered plastic pouch to hold sheets of stickers or post its or whatever else you want.
For me, fifty bucks was a little steep in price, but I think it was worth it. Plus, Erin Condren offers a ton of accessories.
Lorelie Brown also shared her planning with me, and wow, is it colorful and creative and tempting.
I have a Carpe Diem planner from Simple Stories. I liked the flexibility of it coming unnumbered. This way if I skip a day or a week, I just start up again with the next appropriate date. There’s no crushing disappointment of staring at empty dates.
Beyond that, I liked the horizontal design, because hour by hour blocks leave me feeling too rigid. I also just like the aesthetics.
Mine’s the “platinum,” which means it’s super shiny and pretty!
I use an assortment of washi & stickers, sourced from different places. Some from the dollar bin at Target! But my absolute favorite thing is ordering “sample cards” from Etsy. I get 20 or so inches of three different designs for only about a buck!
Other than that, I think I may use planners in a reverse way of most people. I use washi tape to decorate and to mark important days on the month in two-page calendar.
On the week-in-two-page section, I use an edge of washi tape to mark out my big goal for the day. But the rest of it I fill in after the fact. I primarily use it to track health goals and writing. How many pages I wrote, how many steps I took, whether I tracked my food 100%. I already know what I *want* out of myself every day. The planner helps me figure out if I’m achieving it.
I was confused about the “sample cards” until Lorelie sent me pictures. Prepare ye for colorful envy.
I had no idea what Washi tape was, but now that I know, well, there’s no going back.
Lorelie says, “[This is] how I do my weekly set up. (I know, it’s not super coordinated but I like bright stuff.)”
Lorelie: “And [this is] how my monthly pages end up looking.”
That’s seriously cool.
Lorelie, whose latest book is Ahead of the Heat, is also giving away a planner – a Carpe Diem A5 planner, color to be decided based on in-stock inventory. Very cool!
As for me and my planner search, it continues. My for-now solution was not so glamorous, as I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do. I repurposed an old spiral bound notebook using Redi Tab sticky notes to create tabbed sections.
I really, really liked the emphasis of the Passion Planner on celebrating and writing down good stuff that happened, and immediate and long term focus goals. But like I said, my calendars are all digital, and I felt badly that a large expanse of the PDF page meant for daily scheduling wasn’t being used.
So I created four sections: Good, Healthy, Creative, and Work.
“Good” is where I write down good things that happen each day, because the small box on my sample Passion Planner pages where I was invited to record “Good Things that Happened” really made me happy each week.
“Healthy” is where I track my workouts, my training program, and how I’m physically feeling. “Creative” is where I sketch or write down any activity or idea that isn’t associated with the website (this one), and “Work” is, well, work ideas that are associated with the site (this one right here). I’ve only been using it for a week, but so far, so good.
*NB: I’m focusing on print planners for this entry, but if you’d be interested in how I manage work, home, food/menu, health, etc, on my Google calendars, I can do a separate entry about that, too. Just say the word using the mini survey below.
That said, the beautiful planners above, plus all the COOL TAPE OH MY GOSH HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS, are seriously tempting.
So I’m really excited that we’re giving some away!
Prizes:
ETA: We have winners!
- Limited Edition Twilight Blue 2016 Compact Passion Planner – Won by Linda!
- A Passion Planner, style TBA, courtesy of Tasha L. Harrison – Won by DL White!
- A Mochi Things 2016 Smiley Scheduler, courtesy of Courtney Milan – Won by Kate!
- An Erin Condren’s LifePlanner – Won by Amy!
- A Carpe Diem planner from Simple Stories, courtesy of Lorelie Brown – Won by Toni!
Thank you for offering planners, ladies!
All you have to do is leave a comment below, and share a wish or a tip you have for getting and staying organized. Sometimes it seems impossible, so maybe you have an area you wish were more structured. Sometimes there’s one thing you do really well that really works for you. Either way, I would love to hear your wishes and/or tips for organization!
Standard disclaimers apply: I’m not being compensated for this giveaway. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and ready to plan, plot, and possibly prance through your organization. It’s possible that I can’t believe the stuff that is not I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter is not I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. And I can’t believe that both I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and the stuff that I can’t believe is not I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter are both, in fact, not butter. They both might be butter in a cunning disguise. And, in fact, there may be a lot more butter around than we all thought there was. Comments will close at or close to noon eastern on Friday 19 February 2016. Winners will be selected by random drawing and will be announced shortly thereafter.
Good luck and happy planning!
I have always been a big list maker and was lucky enough to grow up with frequent computer/internet access. It’s even easier for me to keep track of my lists, which I most frequently store in my Google drive. My favorite organization trick is for tracking my reading.
I track: books read/books DNFed (with names of books, author names, and number of total pages), total pages read, and also my fanfiction consumption (thank you AO3 for putting word counts on everything). This all goes in a Google doc that I can access from any device, which makes it easy to track my reading on the go!
I have anxiety, so I like writing things out on paper. Seeing it all laid out somehow doesn’t carry the same low level dread as digital to-do lists did.
I like making my to do lists visually appealing to myself so they’re enjoyable to fill out. I personally use a limited range of colors (grays, blues blacks) but vary up my line weight and play around with writing styles. I also jump from format to format to keep myself engaged and have put together weekly planners in Photoshop/illustrator.
I am a total planner failure. It seems like I’ve tried everything from the old Franklin and Month-at-a-Glance Planners to digital versions, but I always just go back to making lists on sheets of paper. Sigh. But I’m really good at excruciatingly detailed lists. If I misplace my current list–personal or work–I’m totally lost.
[…] I’m running my yap about planners and organization over at Smart Bitches today! Pop in and see me gush over my lovely Passion Planner. I freaking love that […]
I have a Passion Planner! I really enjoy it although I wish there was a “to do list” for every day instead of every week. One of my tips is to color code your schedule. That way, at a glance, you can see what you’re devoting most of your time to. I also like to use pens, but they don’t offer as much flexibility once you’ve put it down in your planner but the time changes. So I typically use dashed lines to show events that could have a time change, while those that are definitely not changing are solid.
I’m with Susan an Linda–I keep coming back to pen an paper lists. Digital is all very well for certain things, but those to do lists inevitably lead to a mini meltdown on my part and deleting/ignoring/cursing the app for my failure to obey its commands.
I’d love a physical planner that fit my needs…I just need to figure out exactly what those are.
Also, Alice Tinker ftw.
Who knew there was so many ways to keep one organized and on task! Makes my boring, black hard covered daily calendar look ZZZzzzzzz
I mostly prefer online calendars and whatnot—my To Do list is currently in Google Docs—because I can access things from my work computer, home computer, iPad, or phone. But there’s something gorgeously tactile about paper calendars and lists, and I’m addicted to crossing things off.
For example, when I create a grocery list, I type it up in Word, and include a list of meals. I print it out so I can cross things off at various stores, but then I stick the page on the fridge so I can tell at a glance what meals I’m making. The recipes themselves are in GoogleDocs.
I need to learn better time management. I have been looking at planners off and on but have not taken the plunge. But between a new job and deciding to go back to school I feel like I’m falling behind and just not using my time effectively.
Google calendar runs my life, every family member has their own calendar (including my parents) and if it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t happen. I love the idea of a more creative planner, more for goals than “buy milk”. I also use wunderlist, where I can share lists like groceries with all members of my family so they can add things that are needed. The rule is, if you didn’t add it to the grocery list, you are NOT allowed to complain that we don’t have something (this includes items from Amazon, target and the pet store, you can # where it needs to come from). I refuse to shop more than once per week and this helps me stay firm on that (for everyone else, I can shop for myself whenever I want. 🙂
Right now we use linked google calendars to manage work and school but I miss having pen and paper desperately – I have 10000 lists on my phone and no clear way to collate them.
The one thing I do like is the AnyList app, which we sync and use for groceries and meal plans
I’m trying to completely change up how I organize myself at work, but it’s silly leaving home organization…unorganized. I have been using Plan to Eat for recipe/meal planning, which I love.
I’m the type who will let things build up, then create a Mind Clutter List. Then it’s a frenzy of activity checking off everything on the list. And I’m totally old-school – pen and paper for me.
I find the Google calendar app really useful for things I need a little annoying reminder to pop up and go “Hey, did you do this?” but not for much else.
I’m not really organized, so the closest I have to a tip is keep a pen with a paper organizer. If I have to hunt for one, nothing tends to actually get written down.
Write everything down and keep your systems simple. I have two places for writing things down — a master list for non-time-sensitive projects/reminders/etc. and my calendar for time-sensitive projects/reminders/etc. I never worry about forgetting something, my desk stays clear or little post-its, and I can easily move on to the next thing when I finish a project.
I have my calendar on my phone with alarms for everything so that I don’t forget. I also have lots of scraps of paper with lists and reminders. I’ve been thinking about a planner to keep everything together. I find the act of writing on paper seems to stick in my mind better than typing on a device.
The websites, boho berry and inky cauldron, have a ton of interesting ideas and pages. I have tried to bullet journaling and I love the idea of having a daily journal and calendar in the same place.
I’m currently using a Spark Notebook which seems similar to some of these. I like the undated nature of it and the fact that you can simultaneously track monthly and weekly projects, etc. I wish it had a *bit* less woo, though. Every week comes with these sort of meditative prompts to celebrate or reflect or… and I don’t feel I need that *all the time*, yanno?
Weirdly, the one thing I would love in terms of planners is if my handwriting wasn’t such a mess. It’s really all over the place.
I use Google Keep/Calendar currently but as a teacher I used to get a lot of use out of an hourly planner so that I could make quick notes about lessons.
I would most like to be able to balance me time and family time and work time better. I tend to work a while lot and spend a bunch of time on my family and then feel a giant dearth of me time… At which point I become completely unable to work until I’ve spent some unspecified amount of time goofing off. Unfortunately, this unspecified length of time can range from a day to two months, and I would like to be able to plan and track things better do that I can figure out how much me time I really need to feel good and start a productive member of society (or at least of my family).
I don’t have any tips as I can NEVER keep up planners. I start out with good intentions and then it just…fades out. I’m terrible!
My current system is random sticky notes with shorts list on them, so I could definitely use some improvement.
This isn’t a planner, but for keeping our schedule running smoothly. I have two kids, both in activities. My husband and I both work full-time and we have evening activities. I live by bags.
Each activity has a bag for that person. That bag gets the gear needed for that activity, even if it’s a duplicate in a different bag. Right now, my daughter has a dance bag and a swim bag. Both bags have hair brushes and hair ties so I’m not running around to figure out what’s needed.
Each week as the activity ends, dirty clothes get thrown in the wash. Each Sunday, clean clothes get placed back in the bags, accessories get checked, water bottles get placed. And each night, when we’re dashing out of the house, I grab the bags for that night’s activities, knowing I have what’s needed.
I am obsessed with planning and writing things down, but I wish I was more creative with my planners. I see such gorgeous layouts online, an mine never turn out that way. LOL! Thank you for the wonderful giveaway.
Erin
ErinLoves2Run at gmail dot com
I’m crazy obsessed with stickers. I noticed that I’m much more likely to use my planner if it’s 1. adorable and 2. I have an excuse to just sit down and decorate something – the planning comes right after. I buy stickers from amazon, eBay, jetpens.com, and craft store scrapbooking sections.
Speaking of jetpens.com, I’m also obsessed with pens. I have a million at this point haha. I keep a Pilot Coleto 5 color multipen with my planner so I can always color code things and it’s surprisingly pretty thin. I’ve tried a ton of multipens and this one is my fave. For regular pens, my favorites are the Sarasa Zebra gel pens, they write so buttery smooth, and my old stand by the Pentel RSVP ball point pens. I also was on a felt pen kick for a while and loved the Papermate pens because of their fun colors.
I just graduated college in December and my planner needs have changed drastically. I usually make my planners but I haven’t this year because I just can’t decide what I need, and it’s a ton of work. I’ve been horribly disorganized and forgetting all sorts of things, it totally sucks.
I am planner obsessed. Last year I caught bujo fever, and bought myself a lovely teal Leuchtturm notebook and started my lists and collections and monthly pages.
Then, I realised I could do same but different in a 6 ring binder, and now it’s all pretty scary. I have 3 Filofaxes. I’ve basically sold my soul to Kikki K. They release new binders every few months and I want a rainbow of binders.
Now, I’m not trying to use more than one (OK three, but one is work so doesn’t count and the other is sort of more a notebook) planners at a time – that would be crazy! I just accessorise them like they are handbags. Which is not crazy at all!
My tip is cute magnetic page markers for your current task list page, your month at a glance, your week, and your current project. I have page markers in the shape of watermelons, cats, dogs, and foxes. Although I’m told the foxes look like underpants. I like the magnetic ones them better than clips because they don’t wrinkle the paper.
I’m all about the pen and paper lists. There’s something just so satisfying about crossing off a completed task. As for planning my day/week/month I also use a paper calendar; digital feels just to ephemeral.
I’d love to find a way to have all my lists and to-do’s in one spot! I use a basic monthly planner, sticky notes, and scraps of paper. I do enjoy crossing stuff off my to-do list!!
I have to make lists. Lots of lists. Sometimes I write things I’ve already done on the list so I can cross it off and see that I did, in fact, accomplish something.
I have spent the last five years search for the perfect planner on a very limited budget. At the moment I have several calendars, notebooks, excel spreadsheets, and binders I use to keep track of everything. To have all of my info in one place would be nice.
I have no tips. None. Except possibly that it is no good writing things down if you then forget to look at what you’ve written. At the appropriate time, not half a day after you’ve missed the appointment.
My planner problem is a bit of a running joke in my house since I get three or four different ones a year. My poor husband just shakes his head whenever I get a new one but what he doesn’t understand is I have yet to find the perfect one. Finding a cute one that can also meet my organisational needs (daily life, meal planning, two kids schedules & writing goals) seems impossible but I’ll keep searching until I find my holy grail of planning.
My tip is also a wish: I am best organized and mentally sound when I give myself *time* to be those things. I’ve tried all sorts of organizational systems and when they work, it’s because I’ve committed time to using them. Not a lot of time, just a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes in the evening to consider all of the calendars and lists and journals. It’s hard to give yourself permission to plan, especially when you constantly feel busy.
Oh, gosh…so many lists.
Workflowy for my work-todos
Keeping emails in the inbox until I take action on them as a second to-do list
Buy Me a Pie for groceries
iCloud reminders for lists of restaurants to try, projects to do, recipes to cook, pantry items to use up
A list of produce to be eaten on a dry-erase in the kitchen
Enormous Excel spreadsheet of books to read, separated into worksheets based on where the book is available most conveniently (two different libraries, plus a shopping/Interlibrary loan list)
Chrome bookmarks for items that have yet to be entered into a list…
I could really use one place for everything!
Organization seems like an unthinkably adultish goal. That being said, I am trying to use a planner, and these look great!
I used to use DayTimer pages for my planning, but I’ve switched to Google Calendars because my husband and I can see our different schedules easily (makes it a lot easier to plan doctor appointments, etc.). Unfortunately, I don’t always remember to check the calendar first thing in the morning. I also really like the act of physically writing a daily list and crossing things off. I also have a separate, printed out calendar where I keep track of how many miles (and at what pace) I’ve run to prepare for my big races. So I should probably look into a written planner for the future that would combine all these elements.
I just got a new weekly planner for work that’s really helping me. The right side of the spread is just a lined sheet where I can keep a big list of all my tasks for that week. The left side of the spread is broken into the days of the week with ample space for each one. At the beginning of the week, I write down all my tasks/projects on the right side, decide which day I want to work on which tasks/projects, and record them on the left side.
The best thing I’ve found for my own organization/productivity thus far is Habitica – I have two accounts, one for home and one for work. I’m a geek and a gamer, so getting XP for my to-do list is very inspiring! 🙂 But I’ve been wanting to get into a more permanent, personal paper-and-pen habit. I tried Bullet Journals, but it hasn’t worked for me. I’d love to try one of the planners/methods here!
I currently have a Leuchtturm 1917 that I am using Bullet Journaling style. I have found that I hear things, but if I don’t write them down, I forget them. Great post.
I just started making a list of the books I’ve read so far this year. I’m also adding a mini summary to remind me what each book is about so I don’t forget. I also have a list of top ten favorite TV episodes for the year. As the year goes on some episodes are bumped off the list to make way for new ones. Then at the end of the year, my girlfriends and I get together and discuss our lists.