NCEPR - Paper Planners

[pixy0stix]

Let's talk planners.

I want a paper one to organize my entire life. Workouts, work, food... all of it. I've tried bullet journaling, but I end up just making lists so that's out.

What paper planner do you have that you love (or even just like)?

[wawa]

I thought this was going to be work stuff and I could nerd out. Boo.

[wawa]

I do have a real question- so my idea of organizing my life is actually just having a central home for my lists. So my little bullet journal style thing is perfect.

What do you envision using your planner to do?

[nomad100]

Since you want something that needs a lot of space, you are likely looking at a daily planner.

If you want coiled, Emily Ley, Day designer, Kitlife all have nice ones, even if they don't have full sheets for weekends.

If you want ring bound, kikki.k and filofax make nice covers and there are lots of Etsy shops with inserts that may work. 

A travelers notebook with inserts may be another option. You can get inserts for just about everything at this point. One for weeks, one for fitness, one for meal planning, etc.

I am a total paper planner geek so can likely answer any question you may have.  

[pixy0stix]

Oct 23, 2018 10:46:04 GMT -5 wawa said:

I thought this was going to be work stuff and I could nerd out. Boo.

LOL! I should change the title. 

[nomad100]

Also, the idea of "one planner to rule them all" is a bit of a fallacy. I may or may not have several since I haven't yet found one that works for all I need.

[pixy0stix]

Oct 23, 2018 10:47:40 GMT -5 wawa said:

I do have a real question- so my idea of organizing my life is actually just having a central home for my lists. So my little bullet journal style thing is perfect.

What do you envision using your planner to do?

I need a defined place to put specific things.

I have this for my workouts and food. It would be perfect if I had a daily activity page, too, but it doesn't. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CPLQWPW

[pixy0stix]

Oct 23, 2018 10:50:23 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Also, the idea of "one planner to rule them all" is a bit of a fallacy. I may or may not have several since I haven't yet found one that works for all I need.

I knooooow! *whines* I've been looking for a good organizational system for years. I'm fairly close to just designing my own and having it printed.

[tiramisu]

I have an At A Glance appointment calendar, one of those ones where you can schedule things by the quarter hour. The only thing I don't like is that weekends are a bit skimpier, especially Sundays, but I think there are versions with every day of the week. There's also a monthly tab with a full month calendar view. It might not be flexible enough to meet all of your needs, though.

[bowies]

I’m finally putting one on my Christmas list this year because bullet journaling wasn’t for me either. I was doodling not planning or finding stuff lol.

Erin Condren pops up on my feed a lot and I know they have a bunch of different inserts for meal planning, exercising, etc. Open to other suggestions too!

[nomad100]

Oct 23, 2018 10:53:23 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Oct 23, 2018 10:50:23 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Also, the idea of "one planner to rule them all" is a bit of a fallacy. I may or may not have several since I haven't yet found one that works for all I need.

I knooooow! *whines* I've been looking for a good organizational system for years. I'm fairly close to just designing my own and having it printed.

So, the "frankenplanner' is a real thing in the paper planner community.  I have one of my own.  I use an uncoiled into a XL ring binder Erin Condren vertical for my weekly and monthly planning and then made my own daily page for my running to do lists since some days I need to write down everything I need to do or it won't get done.  I like being able to see my major things for the week in the EC but then have a separate page for the mundane daily stuff (does that make sense?)

So what if you created what you needed for a daily page and then clip it into the fitness planner that works for you?  Sadly, the Blogilates fitness planner from last year may have been close to what you needed but she took out the weekly view this year and it is only food and fitness stuff this year.  

[nomad100]

Oct 23, 2018 11:05:03 GMT -5 bowies said:

I’m finally putting one on my Christmas list this year because bullet journaling wasn’t for me either. I was doodling not planning or finding stuff lol.

Erin Condren pops up on my feed a lot and I know they have a bunch of different inserts for meal planning, exercising, etc. Open to other suggestions too!

EC just came out with the various inserts.  They are a5 size if I recall.  I know a few people who just started using them and like them. 

[followyourarrow]

This year I have a Happy Planner, and well, I'm reasonably happy with it. The one I have is weekly, with each day broken up into 3 sections that aren't labeled. I use the bottom section for food. The left hand side has a notes section, which I keep my running to do list in. They have a fitness tracker add on, but I haven't used it.

I've used Plum Paper in the past and love it. I may go back next year, I haven't decided yet. I do like the spiral bounding more than the disc binding of a Happy Planner, and I think the paper is better. They have several different layouts which should be able to work for you and they also have a fitness add on.

[nomad100]

I tried this one last year and the paper quality isn't the greatest. But is does have a full day for every day of the week.

www.amazon.com/AT-GLANCE-Monthly-Hardcover-6099-806-59/dp/B07DG1KJWV/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1540310949&sr=8-9&keywords=daily+at+a+glance+planner

[pixy0stix]

In looking, I think Kitlife comes closest to what I need for daily planning. I'm still tooling around, though. It seems I just might have to carry two things, which isn't what I wanted. It'd keep me from dripping sweat on my daily planner like I do my workout journal, though.

I keep cracking up at all the motivational crap the planner creators think people need in their lives.

[redheadbaker]

Plum Paper works for me. I like the different layout options.

[candreco]

I think my Plum Paper planner came closest to being what I needed in terms of space, types of pages, etc., but it was also bigger than I really wanted to carry around regularly. Like you I liked the concept of bullet journaling, but it was time consuming to set up pages and so it just devolved into a bunch of lists.

I've mostly given up on a paper planner and use Google calendar and Evernote to track most stuff at this point, but this thread is making me want to try again, lol.

[ESF]

Oct 23, 2018 10:47:40 GMT -5 wawa said:

I do have a real question- so my idea of organizing my life is actually just having a central home for my lists. So my little bullet journal style thing is perfect.

What do you envision using your planner to do?

Exonerate her of any allegations of sexual impropriety and ensure she can appointed to SCOTUS, duh.

[nomad100]

Oct 23, 2018 11:22:27 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

In looking, I think Kitlife comes closest to what I need for daily planning. I'm still tooling around, though. It seems I just might have to carry two things, which isn't what I wanted. It'd keep me from dripping sweat on my daily planner like I do my workout journal, though.

I keep cracking up at all the motivational crap the planner creators think people need in their lives.

Not that it matters because functionality is key, the 3 women who own/run Kitlife are wonderful.  They are in FL and just opened their first retail location.  

And yeah, I have 3 planners. My main one, my fitness one and my meal planner/grocery list/recipe planner.  I could likely combine the 2 into one but it would be either giant in size or heavy as a brick.  

[pixy0stix]

Oct 23, 2018 11:37:00 GMT -5 ESF said:

Oct 23, 2018 10:47:40 GMT -5 wawa said:

I do have a real question- so my idea of organizing my life is actually just having a central home for my lists. So my little bullet journal style thing is perfect.

What do you envision using your planner to do?

Exonerate her of any allegations of sexual impropriety and ensure she can appointed to SCOTUS, duh.

I just have to remember not to write down when I go out for 'skis.

[winecat]

I liked the idea of the Panda Planner but it only is 6 months which doesn't work for long range planning for me.

[spindle92]

I have used at a glance for years. I bought a very nice black leather cover a few years ago and then I just order refills at Amazon.

To keep several things together, I use multiple calendars in one book. So like I have a 1 month on a page calendar view to track my sleep. Then I have one week per page for daily planning. I also have a notes section and even an old fashion address book to keep track of people's date of birth (because I always forget people's ages.)

[pixy0stix]

Oct 23, 2018 11:38:20 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Oct 23, 2018 11:22:27 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

In looking, I think Kitlife comes closest to what I need for daily planning. I'm still tooling around, though. It seems I just might have to carry two things, which isn't what I wanted. It'd keep me from dripping sweat on my daily planner like I do my workout journal, though.

I keep cracking up at all the motivational crap the planner creators think people need in their lives.

Not that it matters because functionality is key, the 3 women who own/run Kitlife are wonderful.  They are in FL and just opened their first retail location.  

And yeah, I have 3 planners. My main one, my fitness one and my meal planner/grocery list/recipe planner.  I could likely combine the 2 into one but it would be either giant in size or heavy as a brick.  

Meal planning is the only thing I've gone digital with, mostly because it's easy to share with my husband. We've been using pepperplate for years now.

[Deleted]

Oct 23, 2018 11:38:25 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Oct 23, 2018 11:37:00 GMT -5 ESF said:

Exonerate her of any allegations of sexual impropriety and ensure she can appointed to SCOTUS, duh.

I just have to remember not to write down when I go out for 'skis.

Also make sure to write down innocent definitions for the colloquialisms you use to describe all your nefarious activities.

[lilac05]

I have tried so many and have never found THE ONE. Last attempt was bullet journal-ish, with box calendars printed at the front and tabs for different sessions. I use ring bound ARC and TUL, so I can move/remove pages as desired.

However, I started working part-time this year, so my needs have changed. I think I’m going back to old school Franklin Planner. They’re pricey, but work will buy them and it’s as close as I can get to what I think I want. Time will tell.

I have tried to design my own, but my design skills are definitely lacking. I wish someone could just take what’s in my brain & make it happen...without it costing me $$$$.

[pixy0stix]

Oct 23, 2018 12:50:10 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

I wish someone could just take what’s in my brain & make it happen...without it costing me $$$$.

Same.

[taratru]

I used an Erin Condren last year and this year have a Happy Planner for school. I like the HP much better because it's smaller. I just put my personal crap in that, but honestly, all my shit is on my outlook calendar now. When I was looking, HP had some not overly inspirational options.

[bex]

I like Erin Condren. I have tried one or two others (just random ones from Target or TJ Maxx) and I don't like them. I always end up just putting them down and never using them again after a few months, but I use my EC ones all year. I finally ordered one for 2019 because I accepted that I just like something about that layout.

[nomad100]

Oct 23, 2018 13:10:27 GMT -5 bex said:

I like Erin Condren. I have tried one or two others (just random ones from Target or TJ Maxx) and I don't like them. I always end up just putting them down and never using them again after a few months, but I use my EC ones all year. I finally ordered one for 2019 because I accepted that I just like something about that layout.

I keep trying other planners but EC keeps pulling me back to her vertical layout.   I have another brand, Paper House Plans, that I got at a planner meet up as a table gift that I am going to try for next year.  Similar layout but it is Wonder Woman themed so I have to try it. 

[Bernadine]

I need one. I've tried to go paperless, but the act of writing something out helps me to remember it. I really want a monthly, then weekly layout, but with plenty of notes pages.