3 things to work out your paper planner type
Some people use the same planner year after year and others of us – well we like to try new systems.
There are some many planners out there that it is hard to work out which one would suit us.
Below are three things when thinking about planner type are:
What do you want your planner to do?
Planners can fulfil a range of functions. They can be a ‘all in one place’ or can be for a discrete purpose e.g., to plan our week. The first thing to ask yourself is what you want the planner to do? Do you want it to:
- Plan your week
- Time block your day
- Have your to do list in it
- Include home management tasks
- Put in lists like reading challenge
- Be a one stop resource? Or a quick overview?
Be clear on what you want your planner to do.
Will you carry it around?
How portable you want your planner may impact your choice of planner.
I tried a larger planner that did everything, but the problem was it wasn’t that portable. It could not fit in my handbag like my last planner so I had to use a backpack.
If your planner goes everywhere with you – then an ‘all in one’ planner might not be practical.
But if your planner is largely for home – then having an all-in-one planner might be a good choice if you want everything in one place.
What’s your planning style?
Different people have different styles of planning.
For example, each Sunday I do a weekly overview in my weekly planner. I tried to do this with a daily planner, but it just didn’t work for my planning style.
Here’s some questions to ask yourself to help determine your planning type
- What types of planning did you find useful in the past?
- What types of planning did you try and it didn’t work?
- Do you like detailed planning?
- Do you time block your day?
- Do you like more of an overview?
- Do you like to visually look at what’s on?
- Do you have separate project plans for detailed planning?
Experiment to find the style that suits you.
In my ETSY store I have daily or weekly planning templates, including ones that fold up to go into a note book that might be useful to use to work out whether you prefer a weekly or daily planner.
Look on formsforbetterlives ETSY store for templates to help work out your planning style. This is a weekly planning template that folds up into three that can be put into a note. It also takes up less room on your desk.
Available on my ESTY store, this is a daily planner that can fold into three to tuck into your weekly planner or a note book.
Choosing a plannner is about individual needs
Choosing a planner is about what your planner needs to do, its portability and your planning style. This can require a bit of experimentation to find the right system for this season of your life.
Free download - important dates template
I’ve created a free template to capture those important dates like birthdays so they can be easily transferred into a new planner.
Click here for the free important dates template.
