Lets see what I want, and what planner gives me that.
1. Monthly calendar
It has to be big enough. I'm visual, I love to use my stickers to see what's going on. I got this feature perfectly in the Happy Planner. I think A5 Filo would be also enough, I never tried. In personal, too small, hate it.2. Weekly calendar
I prefer now the vertical layout, but I'm not sure in that, maybe what horisontal I used hasn't enough structure, and that's why I made it chaotic. In A5 Filofax was too much lines on horizontal, and for me was not enough wide by a day to write in. Happy Planner give me the size. Personal size: too small.3. Monthly planning
It's ok by any planner I used before, I can add my planner pages in any size. I want to see the big rocks, and having place to distribute them to the weeks. It's ok to having it separate from the other stuff, I take a look on it once a week.4. Weekly planning
I want to see it somehow together but separated from the weekly calendar. I want it together but separated from the daily planning. In Happy Planner it's not perfect. Projects listed on the left column, but I don't have enough space for all todo-s I want to listing. So I added a list paper in the middle, what is disturbing, I would like to see the whole week at a glance. It is the same thing with the page marker. How could I have the page marker and the todo list make at the same time visible and invisible? :D I don't want to flip to my todo list. I want to keep it at the week - see? It seems to be impossible. But I write here, who knows, you can give me a good idea! In personal I had enough place, and made a fold out, what was not bad, but also not good. Somehow I didn't checked the list, I don't know why. It wasn't simple to write on it.5. Daily planning
I want to keep it together with my weekly planning and calendar. Mission impossible (or I didn't found the way). When I have do2p in personal I felt it so separate, I have seen only that day. But what I do today is influenced what I will have tomorrow...What I need here: place for time schedule, visual! To do list, notes. But I don't want to copy events always from the weekly calendar, it is wasting time. I don't want to write tasks to the schedule, but I hate leave unused space on the schedule it is paper wasting. I need different amount of space every day for notes. When I had do2p in personal size, I often left the whole note page clear. Wasting paper and place in my planner. I need something more flexible. No idea.
Size: personal was for daily's perfect, A5 was too much, also do1p, in Happy Planner: no way a whole page for a day, would be crazy. I'm experimenting now, how to use the weekly layout for daily planning too. I would be happy for pictures in my Facebook group how everyone use a system similar to Happy Planner. Not nice decorated ones, they distracts my attention. Functional ones. I'm hesitating to create Chronodex stickers for the schedule, they would be left me enough space for planning, but it might be too small. Notes aren't solved in Happy Planner. Maybe Post its. But where to keep them?
6. Notes, infos, tracking
Is not a big deal, I can solve it in any planner.7. Size
I want to keep all stuff together. What exactly? Minimum my calendar to bring with me, giving the opportunity to make appointments. Have place to take notes, and some very important informations always with me (as insurance numbers). I used for a while for this reason my Filofax Pennybridge as a wallet plus monthly, weekly calendars and note papers. But I didn't liked to have that separate my "planner planner" :D So adding to the minimum: weekly, monthly planning and more infos, tracking items. I make lot of notes and I love to keep lot of informations with me. What makes my planner bulky. That's why I bought the Kikki K medium, which has 30mm rings. Too bulky. Why have all planners soooo bulky covers??? Paper is already enough bulky. Plus point to the Happy Planner: no cover only that laminated paper. If I could solve everything in the personal size - or pocket... hmmmm, I would be so happy! The Happy Planner is too big always to bring with me! Also the A5 Filofax - it seems to be bigger because of the cover. I might try again the Domino... It has no pockets.8. Bound
I love much more the rings as the disks! I'm thinking sometimes about the Traveller's Notebook, but that I can't give anywhere an extra sheet held me back. Plus it is also small, isn't it? And laying flat is a must. I keep my planner always open next to me.Conclusion
I think, I covered all things here.My ideal planner would be a Filofax Finsbury Pocket,
which can keep a lot of paper without turning too bulky
with a Happy Planner size monthly planner
with some magic a big weekly and daily view together.
OK. If you see somewhere my ideal planner do not hesitate to share with me! :D
Great post.
ReplyDeleteMy perfect planner is such a Frankenstein. It has to be to make it work.
But you are satisfied with your current planner, aren't you?
DeleteThat sounds very much like my want list. I wanted to see my month, week on 2 pages, and daily page, in one view. So I made my own. the month grid folds out on the left, the the Wo2P in the center, and a daily page fold out on the right. Also, I made my pagemarker clear, and the same size as the page.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see a picture, email me at cp1favthing@gmail.com
I have a personal sized Finsbury, and it gets stuffed pretty quickly if I don't keep up on archiving things! I probably tote around too much, though. The personal size, I have found, is a bit too small for a vertical Wo2P layout. I tried it for all of three days and just couldn't manage it anymore!
ReplyDeleteSomething to think of, though - tip-ins. So far as having your to-do lists with your weekly pages and not having to cover up actual parts of the week, washi tape it in so that it can fold out! It's not a perfect solution, as it does add more bulk, but everything is together and visible (and, if the to-do list is something that can be chucked later, as some people do, it can come off easily from the weekly pages, since it's being held on with washi!). Just an idea!
I could make a try again with the fold out weekly, but I don't know :)))
DeleteI have to have something big enough to keep all my info, but small enough that I'll carry ti around. Right now I have a cover that is a Franklin Covey, with pages printed from an on-line download that are 8.5x5.5. That seems to be the size that works well for me. Generally, I just like to have a monthly & weekly, and add a separate page on the occasions that I need a daily page. For my weekly pages, I like to have something that I can do time blocking with some extra space for other "to-dos" b/c that seems to work best for me.
ReplyDeleteit's A5 I think...
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