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[PLANNING] How to Pick the Perfect (Paper) Planner 📔

[PLANNING] How to Pick the Perfect (Paper) Planner 📔

I'm a big fan of paper planners. I've used one for over 35 years, and so I have some thoughts on what makes a paper planner perfect (say that 3x fast!).

Listen/watch the podcast here. https://bywdreams.mailerpage.c...

To start with, there is no PERFECT planner. The perfect planner is the one that you use. It's different for everyone. I know because I spent 25 years searching for the perfect planner, spending five of those creating my own that I tweaked week after week. What I learned is that there is no format that will fit all your needs, but there are some guidelines when choosing a planner that will help ensure it is flexible enough to respond to life's changing circumstances

Now it is 2025, and maybe you are saying, "Paper planner? I've got Outlook/iphone/enter other digital planning tool here" to which I say, "The brain science shows that handwriting engages the brain more than tapping away on digital devices." There is something so easy and fluid about pen and paper. It's easier to think in big, broad strokes but also get nitty-gritty really fast. Plus, flipping back and forth between different dates and pages is so much easier with paper. You can look at two pages at the same time and they don't have to be consecutive dates! I will always choose paper as my planning medium of choice, but digital has its uses. I have a Calendly account and it syncs with my Outlook and I save a certain number of hours each week for those appointments, but that time is still blocked out in my paper planner. I also use Outlook to store ZOOM links, and I use my phone to set alarms for my appointments. But that's it. The fast majority of what I do happens in a paper planner.

So let's get into it! Here are three things to consider when choosing a paper planner so that you can ensure it is perfect for you! 📔

1. Choose a cover you're attracted to: My planner is big (8.5x11 inches), bright (turqoise), and nice to look at (gold foil design, affirmations, upbeat). It's so "attractive" to me that it makes me want to spend time with it. The size and color also make it easy to notice. My friend Natascha once purchased the exact same planner but the 2/3rds as big size and in black. Her reaction: "I keep losing it! It blends into everything".

2. Make sure it has enough pages for what you need: My planner is my calendar, my notebook, and my gratitude journal all in one. At 250 pages, I've never run out of space and because it's only a single book, I never lose it. I used to have three separate books: a calendar, a notebook, and a journal, and I was always misplacing them which stressed me out. I also like having 250 pages so that I can dedicate one page to "book recommendations" and another to "restaurants to visit". Whether I'm taking notes in a meeting, or taping a postcard from a recent trip, my planner is able to handle it all. I would recommend that your planner have monthly and weekly pages. 

Monthly pages are where you do your high level planning for meetings and events. Your weekly pages is where you get more tactical and can include errands as well as meetings. I prefer planners that lay out their planner with weekly pages following a set of monthly pages. I've seen some where they group all the months together and then all the weeks together and that's too much flipping back and forth in my opinion. Because I buy my planners so far in advance, I aways get undated ones, and it's not a big deal. Yes, pre-printed would be nice, but I get asked to speak 18-24 months in the future, so I can't wait. Note for parents: I've known parents with larger families than ours who keep more than one set of monthly pages to keep track of their kids schedules.

3. Consider what "specialty" pages you want: I am a big fan of habit trackers and monthly/annual reviews and my favorite planner has both of these although not in the perfect way (watch the podcast for more on that). This is just a reminder that NO PLANNER IS PERFECT. I've been using the same planner for almost a decade, and I still have to customize it. I made my own monthly and annual reviews to use instead and I tape them into the planner when they are done. 

Other pages you might want include meal planning or budget trackers. Some planners will have these pre-printed. You can also use the blank pages in a planner to create your own, or you can find templates you like online (Pinterest is great for this) and print and tape into your book. Extra tip: some planners offer a Sunday OR Monday start to their weekly pages if you have a preference for that.

Listen/watch the podcast here. https://bywdreams.mailerpage.c...


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