September 7, 2016

Planner Problems

I'm on my third planner for 2016. That is, I bought a planner last December, to start in January. Got sick of it by February. Bought a new one in March. Got annoyed with it in August and bought a new one.

Yes, that is a planner, on top of a planner, on top of a planner. 

I even wrote a whole post on why I switched from a day to day planner to a monthly planner (it was $5 from Target) and why I didn't believe in those "$60 planners" anymore, and then the html wasn't working on the post when I previewed it so it got pushed to the back of the queue and eventually deleted.

The upshot was that my days are pretty regimented and I have them "planned" at school with a lesson plan book and I didn't need an hour by hour planner because that was overkill.

I actually switched to Google calendar for most of the summer because:
1. I didn't need to find a pen in order to write something down.
2. It provided reminders.

Then I realized I kind of hate technology and it doesn't provide the same level of satisfaction to use Google calendar. There was no way to mark things complete. You either did it or you didn't. Reminders I have set from July are still there, recorded. In order to move past things, you just have to delete them or ignore them.

No, that wasn't going to work. I need to cross things out.

Then I realized that habit is habit and a planner was a good thing. That was when I started looking for a new paper planner.

I found myself on erincondren.com with one of those "$60 planners" (which are $70 for some reason now) in my shopping cart.

I knew that wasn't going to work out. I could buy a lot with the $70+shipping that I'd spend on an EC planner.

Something about fall signaled that I needed a new planner and a fresh start, so I set off for Target and bought my fresh start for $9.

This was the last one at my Target...$9, hard plastic cover (double cover on the front) front and back. It seems durable enough. It's just navy and white on the inside. No cutesy stuff. 

Tell me. What do you think about planners?
Planners and purses are two things I spend way too much time thinking about. 

16 comments:

  1. I like having a planner or notebook to write things down in, but I don't tend to put a lot of thought into it, or money. My current planner I got in January, it doesn't have any month layouts, just three days to a page, and it does have times written on the lines, but I generally completely ignore those and just write whatever is going on + to-do or shopping lists + random ideas I have throughout the idea. Not the most organized system in the world but it works.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I use a paper planner because I like seeing things on paper! I also input stuff on my phone so when I'm not home near my planner, I can bring it up. I use an hourly planner because I like seeing it blocked off. I've bought a Plum Planner for a couple years now and am very happy with it. It's only like $30 ;) It has everything I have needed so far.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have a paper planner and I write every.single.thing down. I can't live without it. At work meetings everyone laughs at me when we talk about dates and they pull our their phone calendars and I pull out my big old planner! The one I have now is a Target one too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love planners. LOVE planners. Ryan and I have been working with budgeting, and I find that a planner makes me not only keep track of the zillion things I have to do, but it also lets me write grocery lists, prioritize purchases and meal plan. GAH. I'll have to ask for a new one for Christmas because I always lose it haha

    ReplyDelete
  5. I loved my EC planner - but I won it last year. I cant pay that much for a planner.
    But I'm doing the Bullet Journal for 2017 & am going to love making it all my own to work for me

    ReplyDelete
  6. I use a paper planner, always because if I don't write it down I won't remember it, and I buy from Target or Staples. I cannot justify $60-$70 for Erin Condren and I do not decorate my planners at all unless you count the flowers I doodle in them when I'm on a call and bored.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't use planners. My life is pretty redundant so anything out of the norm, I just make a note or a reminder in my phone. If I bought a $70 planner it would just be a $70 weight in my purse. I'd rather buy shoes or yarn!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I used planners when I was an FRG leader and Advisor but I haven't used one since.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I bought a planner for the first time in a while this year. I tried just using my phone for a while, but I seem to function better when I actually write something down and am able to cross it off. The planner that I bought was actually really similar to the one you have. Simple, reasonably priced, and one of the last ones at Target.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes to paper planners! I'm not at all into online calendars. Yours is so pretty and what a bargain! I currently use a Plum Paper. My biggest use of it is for budgeting and also of course appointments.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I loooooove planners. I can't be fucking around with typing shit in my phone. Naw. And like you said... the satisfaction of crossing something out... I need that!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've gone back and forth on using a digital calendar, but always go back to pen and paper too. Last year I got a ban.do planner that I really liked, but i've found it to be a little bit too small/too thick, so I don't use it as much anymore and have switched to 2 planners I picked up from Home Goods for less than $10! My only complaint is that the paper is a bit on the thin side, but for the price I really can't complain for something that functions just the same.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I will switch mid-year if something isn't working for me. Life changes or just the way my brain wants to organize things changes. So the planner has to change.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Last summer, I discovered I really needed a paper planner rather than just using the calendar on my iPhone. That just wasn't working for me. I need to have a planner so I can quickly glance through a month to see if I have something planned. It's also easier for me to note Scott's work schedule. Part of me really wanted to get an EC Planner, but there was no way I could justify spending that much money on something I'm going to toss at the end of the year. So I took to Amazon, and I started using Bloom Daily planners. They have pretty patterns, and I like the inside layout. Plus, I also need a planner with my "new year" beginning in July. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. somehow, i've turned planner obsessed. i will never buy a ring-bound planner ever again since i started using a binder one (kikki k) and have since transformed my planner into a bullet journal/planner hybrid. you sound like a bullet journal person....as in you buy a blank notebook and use that as your planner. you create and modify and include things YOU want, instead of being tied to the format/pages of a ring-bound system. i like this concept of a bullet journal where you write down the things you want on the page you want.

    ReplyDelete
  16. i love my planner, but i hate parts of it and want a new one, but i don't want to buy a new one for the rest of the year. i wouldn't spend $70 on one, no thanks. i'm really good at ignoring electronic reminders, so i like the paper planner. my favourite thing though, which i did not anticipate, is writing my bills out each month. so freaking handy to have them all in one spot lol.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make my day!