Plan With Me: Planners 101
Though we continue to develop many technologies services and apps to organize our life, one thing that continues to be a mainstay are paper planners! Paper planners have always been around, but I’ve noticed in the last few years or so that they continued to make a strong resurgence.
Though I do still use an electronic calendar to set appointment/event reminders, stay on top of my ARC/review copies reading schedule, I still prefer paper planners. I’m a bit old school, but like books it’s something about flipping the pages of a planner and putting the pen to paper that I find soothing, even therapeutic. I find that it’s easier to decorate, personalize, change up, while also being a side hobby of mine.
And it shows that there is a lot of research showing that writing things down by hand helps us generate ideas and retain information better. ointed to research showing that writing things down by hand helps us generate ideas and retain information better. And those aren’t the only benefits of switching (or switching back) to paper planning.
Join me in my newest segment: Plan With Me! I’ll be sharing planner tips and some of my own personal favorite items to use with planning.
The first thing to do when picking a planner is finding which one works best for you. The good news is that there are tons of planner out there to choose from with many styles, colors, and shapes. My best advice is to fit the one that best fits you.
Do you write big or small? Are you left handed or write handed? Do you want a big planner that can tote around or a smaller one that can be carried on the go? Like books (ex. buying a new shiny books when you have a ton of unread books on your shelves), I’ve learned you can never find “planner peace”, but you can find one that suits you the best.
How to find these planners? Join planner groups (many meet in person but there are also many online communities). Ask other planners for their advice. Do your research by looking at craft shops that sell planners. And remember to not give in to FOMO. set a budget for yourself and try to focus on developing your own planner style.
Some of my favorite places to find planners/bookish planners include:
- The Happy Planner
- Hobonichi
- Plum Paper
- Little Inklings Design
- Peanut Butter Taco
- Recollections by Michaels
I’ve used the Happy Planner in the Past. Some of my perks I enjoyed from using a Happy Planner are:
- Every month has a place for birthdays, goals, important notes, and an inspiring message
- Vibrant colors
- Ability to change a discs and planner covers
- Being able to add in extra pages, pouches, or inserts (ex. budgeting/ to-do lists
For 2020 I wanted to change my planning style and try something different. I decided to switch to a Hobonichi so I could challenge my creativity. One of the features I like is that I have a lot of free space for my daily pages. I love to decorate so it’s been fun to theme each page!
Some of the perks of a Hobonichi are:
- Versatility and the ability to use for anything
- Lightly-printed graph paper
- Can change the covers
- Can double as a planner and a journal/bullet journal
That’s all for now! My next post will be about setting up a planner layout! What kind of planner posts would you like to see? Bookish Planners? Planning Tips? Recommended materials for planning? Let me know in the comment section below!
