It’s that time of year… Planner buying season! In fact… many of you may have already sprung for your 2016 planner, but if you haven’t yet, then listen up. As many of you know, I’m a fairly digital gal myself. However, what I always say to clients is to find what works for you. If typing on your smartphone drives you bonkers, then don’t make yourself do it. Keep your information paper-based!
Therefore, to help out all of my paper planner lovers out there, I want to offer some thoughts that might allow you to get clear on what you’re really looking for in a planner because there’s an ever increasing abundance of styles!
Let’s start by acknowledging that not all planners are the same. Many of us grew up with school planners or the early days of Franklin-Covey that just gave you blocks of space for each day and that was it.
Now, some planners have become mini-coaching tools to help you become more clear and intentional about your life. Others have recognized the need for project planning and creative thinking (not immediately tied to a calendar). Some planners try to include everything and the kitchen sink particularly for entrepreneurs like financials and social media planning.
Therefore, your first question needs to be: “What do I want my planner to help me do?”
Form Follows Function (i.e. what’s it designed to do?)
Long-Term Planning – Maybe you want space to be able to write and reflect on your long-term goals: for the year, for the next 5 years, for your life? There are planners that offer space to capture the big picture elements of your life and path such as Daily Greatness Business Planner, Briana Borten’s Rituals for Living Dreambook, and the Passion Planner.
Coaching worksheets – There are also planners that move the emphasis off calendars or daily planning and are more about providing coaching worksheets to guide you into a better plan for your life such as Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map and Leonie Dawson’s Shining Year Workbooks.
Daily, Weekly, or Monthly Calendar – Most planners do (somewhere) have a calendar built into them, so then an important facet to consider it how do you like to plan and function day-to-day? Do you prefer to just focus on a day at a time, or do you like to see the whole week ahead? How important is a month-at-a-glance or year-at-a-glance for you? I know many of the very busy executives I’ve coached prefer to just focus on today’s meetings, but when I ran my professional organizing business, being able to glance through the whole week to see when I had sessions scheduled and where my openings were was critical.
Project planning – Some planners offer separate pages to help you brainstorm or plan out your projects with space to list key outcomes, major milestones, resources needed, and next steps. I know the Levenger Circa System has these pages, and the Rituals for Living Dreambook & Planner does too.
Master List – As most of you know, unlike many productivity experts, I don’t want you to just keep all your To-do’s directly on your calendar because I believe it leads to overwhelm, confusion, and disappointments. Therefore, having a place where your master list of tasks can consistently live is essential, and for many people their planner is the best place, but it needs it’s own space and section. So, you’ll want to see if and how your planner handles To-dos. Is there a space where you can capture everything and then perhaps just write your Inspired Action and 3 Bonuses near the calendar area for today?
Daily/Weekly To-Dos – Some planners are better than others at giving you enough space for both your appointments and your tasks on a daily/weekly basis. Since, as I said above, I prefer to acknowledge the difference between an appointment commitment and a task, having space to keep both in view is essential. A few that I’ve seen who do this reasonably well are Emily Ley’s Simplified Planner, Whitney English’s Day Designer, and the Savor Success Daily Action Planner.
Finance & Budget planning – This is definitely an “add-on” bonus with some planners. For some (entrepreneurs in particular) being able to also manage your budget and spending in your planner might be a valuable added bonus. The Daily Greatness Business Planner has this feature.
Social Media Content Planning – This is another important function for many entrepreneurs, which is occasionally included in a planner. Take a look at the Daily Greatness Business Planner for this one too.
Shopping Lists, Travel planning, and so much more – There are planners with just about everything in them… I’m a big fan of the Levenger Circa system partially because you can customize your planner to include what you want and exclude what you’ll never use.
Flourishes Speak to the Soul
Beyond the question of what you need it to do… with something this central to your life you want to make sure that you love to interact with it. So, consider some of these elements.
Black & White vs. Color – What do you prefer? a clean crisp canvas to create as you desire? Or does your heart light up when you see a vibrantly colorful planner? Personally, I love some use of color, but sometimes it just feels busy.
Art with playfulness or elegance – beyond just does it have color… some planners are positive works of art visually alluring and inspiring you with their playfulness or their elegance. If that make your soul sing, then seek it out and invite it in!
Inspirational Quotes – Maybe you’d love that little burst of reflection and insight from having a planner that incorporates words of wisdom into the experience. I’ve gotten some great “ah-has” from happing across the exact right quote at the right time.
Touch & Tactile Feel – Occasionally under-estimated, but if you don’t like the feel of the pages or the texture of the cover, then you’ll likely have some resistance to using it daily. This element can be critically important, so you may want to find stores to touch and feel different options or at least watch videos of people using your potential planner to get a sense of what the materials are like.
Durability – Most (but not all) planners are constructed to be able to hold up for a year, but you may want to imagine if you think a particular option will be ready to hold up to your rugged lifestyle.
Next Steps
I was partially inspired to write this post after reading through Natalie Lussier’s review of the Best Planners for Entrepreneurs which reviews many (but not all) of the planners above, so you might want to take a look there for some more information and perspective.
Similarly, you might want to look at my list above and get clear on your Needs, Wants, and Would likes in a planner. Some things might be a deal breaker for you (i.e. must have a week-at-a-glance view) while other elements might be more in the “would like” column (i.e. inspirational quotes).
Get clear on the functions you need and then measure all options against them. Now… go play and plan with joy!
