I'm Dreaming of the Perfect Planner

 I've been asking myself what day it is for the past two weeks and, this week, with New Year's Day on a Monday, I remain confused. I'm going to leverage that confusion, though, and post on a Friday this week, on one of my favorite topics: planners. 

If you haven't yet bought a 2024 planner, I urge you to splurge a little. A couple of years ago, I did just that, purchasing the planner pictured at left. Two years later, I ended 2023 in the middle of Volume 5 of this planner. I can't imagine using anything else. It has exceeded my expectations and I don't intend to switch unless I can no longer get my hands on a new one. 

As you make your planner purchase, consider not just what you need, but also what you want. For me, having a place to put all my lists while still keeping them separate from my daily priorities has been a game-changer and a time-saver. And, having learned this lesson from my planner purchase, I've carried it over to other planning purchases as well, most notably the notebook in which I create and assess my monthly goals.

Sometimes, just any notebook or planner will do. Other times, a specific choice becomes an essential tool.

What does the inside of your dream planner look like?

katespade.com

 I recently bought a new planner. I didn't need a new planner. I have plenty of planners. 

Yes, planners. Plural.

But it was pretty. And undated so, theoretically, it will outlast my current planners.

Did I mention it's pretty?

Shallow as that sounds, I really don't judge a planner by (just) its cover. In the end, while pretty was a key factor, the interior layout sealed the deal. Each page has room for my daily schedule, three daily priorities, and a to-do list. There's also room at the bottom to note food and water intake for the day, should I so desire.

I don't. I keep track of that on my phone.

My hope was that having my schedule, priorities and lists bound into a book, I'd reduce the ubiquitous flurry of papers that litters my desk, and I would (almost) never need to dig to find my to-do list. 

So far, so good. I still jot down notes on random pieces of paper from time to time, but I'm developing the habit of adding those items to the list in the book, usually the same day. In addition, I'm learning to keep the book close at hand in the evenings, when to-do list items pop into my head.

After purchasing the planner, I discovered that the pages are perforated, making it easy to pull out an unfinished list and tuck it into the next day's page, rather than re-writing it. I haven't yet done that, but it's nice to know it's an option. 

Truth be told, no matter how useful it is, this planner was a splurge. I saw it, I liked it and, although I didn't buy it right away, I bought it in spite of the fact that I didn't need it.

Am I sorry? Not a bit. It has much more room than the pages I was previously using for my week-at-a-glance cheat sheets (but the flip side of that is that it also takes up more room than those single sheets). As it turns out, that's an unexpected bonus. I rarely fill every line in the to-do list section of the daily pages, and my daily schedule isn't usually lengthy enough to fill that section either. The resulting white space is calming, reassuring me, in a way, that although my day was busy, it wasn't overwhelming.

Not on paper anyway.

Organizing is a practical process. If the tools we use aren't up to the task, we need to replace them. But, from time to time, we all need a tool that's pretty and practical because that combination can make organizing not only fun, but a habit as well.