After a foray into the great wide world of web and iPhone apps for to-do lists and calendars, I’ve headed back to the trusty world of paper planners. Plannerisms has only helped feed my addiction to all things paper, but if you need a new planner, it’s a great place to go!
I started out the year with a Moleskine Weekly planner, but it seems pretty clear that it wasn’t working for me. (To see bigger pictures, click on the picture.)
I don’t have enough notes space – all those notes in the picture on the left were taken by Wednesday…
Since I currently have no money, I decided I should make a planner myself instead of spending money I don’t have on something like the Woman’s Success Planner. I already have lots of notebooks lying around, so I grabbed this one.
I put a table of contents and list of lists on the first two pages.
Then came the goals page, and the monthly pages. I have very very few appointments right now – being a stay at home mom whose husband has the car does not lend itself to getting out. So I didn’t really need a lot of space for appointments. I also put a list of bills and birthdays on the monthly pages.
Then came the daily pages, one page per day, with one week overview page.
I used different colored pens on each month. December was red and green.
Then came the list pages, followed by a Notes section. The last pages of the notebook were designated for writing down household routines.
So, that’s my DIY planner. My problem is, I don’t think it’s going to work for me, but I can’t really figure out why. Maybe this is just too open-ended? Maybe it’s the rather chaotic use of colored pens, which works very well in my journal but not so much here? Maybe I’ve just got bigger issues? In any case, I’m still wishing for the Woman’s Success Planner. If you want to see what’s so cool about it, I recommend reading Plannerisms’ review and Rori’s posts on it at Rori Rants.
So, what do I do? Do I try and stick with this DIY planner, go back to the Moleskine, or give in to the Woman’s Success Planner (when I have the money)? What’s your favorite way to plan your life?
Bluebonnet Reads 
I love your DIY planner! I did that a while back with an old Piccadilly notebook I had lying around. I didn’t do a monthly, but I did a week on two pages with the dates, things I wanted to work on, etc. Then I used 2 pgs per day for notes and journaling (like a daily log of events). I loved it! (This would be easy to add routines to) It was really great for a (temporary, would LOVE to do full time!) stay at home mom because I could also record things the kids did/said.
My concern about the Woman’s Success Planner for you is the eensy weensy daily spaces! If the Mole was not enough space, I’m not sure that the WSP will be! I’ve had to quit using it because of that. I have fairly loopy writing…but even when I tried to write smaller it just looked an awful mess by Wednesday. Don’t get me wrong, the planner is simply brilliant, and if the day space lines were wider, I would not have given up on it! The paper is OUTSTANDING, and there’s all sorts of room for notes, goals, household routines, etc.
Any hoo! Maybe if you re arrange your DIY one? Try different formats. If you decide to try the WSP, you can get one quarter for $12.95 (I believe it is) shipping incl. to try it out. That’s what I did, and I’m glad I only ordered the one quarter!
I look forward to seeing how this works out for you!
You are going to be successful at scheduling Hannah, just because you are deciding to – the space of a planner is a side issue! It’ll work itself out, but before that can happen you have to start using something …. trial and error are the best teachers in this arena, I’ve found.
I’ve taken to using my phone to schedule and make notes, etc., but that’s mainly because my purse is crowded enough without an additional book in it. (I normally keep at least one magazine and a book in there, as well as my journal for going to Mass and my letter-writing journal ….. TONS OF PAPER…) It sounds like you’ll be well on your way to figuring out where your book works and where it needs a little tweaking.