The Truth About Choosing a Planner When You’ve Always Failed to Use One

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Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 06:01 pm

Earlier this year, I wrote about my experiment in using a planner. Well, that experiment got me to understand why people spend money on planners …a good chunk of money on planners. Used the right way (ahem, used at all), a planner can really get your life organized. Since I want to be more organized, I spent time and effort choosing a planner for 2019.

I used to be able to handle everything with few reminders. Now, I’m not sure if it’s a result of pregnancy or because I have a lot going on (probably both), but I can’t keep track of much anymore. I’ve got homemaker, wife, and mommy duties, a career and side hustle, and I decided to do preschool myself.

If anyone needs a planner, it’s me.

In the past, I’ve had this problem a lot of people seem to have: I’d end up choosing a planner because it looked pretty, without realizing how I would use it. Then it will lay forgotten in a drawer for the next 11 months.

Here’s what I know about myself: I feel guilty when I spend a substantial amount of money on something and it goes to waste. That means spending more than my normal $5-$25 on a planner makes me committed to really using it. All. Year. Long.

When I decided I wanted to invest in a planner, you bet I was on Pinterest doing as much research as I could. I wasn’t going to dish out fifty-plus bucks for something I would regret later. Finding the right planner was imperative.

My goal for using a planner is to make my day-to-day in 2019 more intentional and less stressful. In the end, the Day Designer planner was the best fit for me.

 

In order to find the right planner, I needed to narrow down exactly how I wanted it to work for me. I chose these three parameters for finding the right planner:

1. Time management/blocking
2. Goal setting/prioritizing
3. Freedom to put everything I need in one place

With these parameters, the planner search began.

Parameter 01: time management/blocking

The May Designs planner I’m currently using is for time blocking. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a planner like this, and I definitely found it useful. Each of the planners I researched (Simplified Planner, May Designs, and Day Designer) has time blocking.

I definitely needed more parameters for choosing a planner.

 

Parameter 02: Goal setting/prioritizing

I’m really bad at writing down goals. I have this unreasonable fear that I won’t achieve them, and I’ll be so disappointed in myself.

So a goal this year is to get over my fear of goals. (That sounds so ridiculous, but it’s a goal!)

That means I need a planner that lets me write out and track my goals.

Day Designer planners include pages for writing goals and tracking them quarterly. I did a practice run to finish out 2018 with free printables on their website. It felt really good to write down all those things that are on my mind.

I also wanted a way to prioritize my days. (This was one of the drawbacks I had from the Simplified Planner: it was a little too simple.) I needed to write down my top 3 priorities for each day so I could focus. When I saw the daily planning sheet, I felt like they read my mind!

There, right at the top is a place to write your top 3 priorities. And another item ticked off the list!

Parameter 03: Freedom & flexibility

This was the major flaw with my May Designs planner. I had no place to write down my to-do list. With so many little tasks to do each day that don’t take a ton of time, I needed somewhere to get it all out of my brain!

I felt constrained by what I could write down in my current planner with that missing “To-Do List” section, so I try to cram things in to the time-blocking schedule. Not so effective …

Both Day Designer and the Simplified Planner have “To-Do Lists,” but I really loved a few extra bonuses I can write in the Day Designer daily spread, such as the “Dinner” section (so I actually remember to defrost things) and the daily gratitude.

There are additional pages for self-assessment and your ideal month and week. These features will help me reach my goal of intention.

That’s how I ended up with a Day Designer Planner for 2019.

As I said, choosing a planner like this is an investment. Make sure you know what you want and do your research before you dive in and buy one. 

If you’re convinced the Day Designer planner is the one for you, you can sometimes snag one for less here >>>