A Planner Is A Tool, Not A Magic Wand

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When you juggle multiple things and especially when you reach a certain vintage (ahem!) you really should get a planner of some sort to write things down. Our brains should be used for thinking and processing, not for storing information like when to pick the boy up or what groceries you need to buy to cook dinner.

Use A Planner

But the place we keep such information needs to be a secure place so that we will not expend energy worrying about where this information is kept (scraps of paper/post-it-notes/our palms). Hence the need for a planner of sorts. I received this revelation from reading David Allen’s Getting Things Done book.

And these days there is a plethora of planners to choose from: digital or paper or a combination of both. Free and paid. So there is really no excuse for not using any.

While I do use Google calendars to keep track of the family’s ins and outs, I still prefer paper planners. There’s just something about putting pen to paper that settles my mind.

A Planner is Not a Do-er

But here’s the thing. No matter how fantastic your planner (digital or paper) is, it is just that – a planner. In other words, it is not a do-er.

If we do not do what our planner tells or reminds us to do, nothing is achieved. We are back to square one.

I think that is why automated gadgets catch our attention. Once they are programmed, they just do their work. Regardless of where we are or what we are doing, or not doing. Think of your robot vacuum cleaners, washing machines or even rice cookers.

Don’t Just Plan, Do!

I fall prey so often to this very seductive false belief too. Buy this planner/programme/app and everything will fall in place. Plan it out and colour code it and all will go smoothly. But we all know it never goes that way. So off we go looking for the next shiny thing.

I have often said that I am a great planner but a lousy executor. My meal plans are awesome and so are my teacher plans for my homeschool. But actually following through with the plans however are not so awesome. I often wonder if it is my laziness or rebelliousness that prevents me from following the well laid out plans.

Hmmm…

A Planner is a Tool Not a Magic Wand

I am here being your conscience to remind you that while the latest planner you have your eye on can motivate you to keep doing what you are doing, you will still have to be the one doing the work. The best planner in the world still needs you to DO THE WORK. It is not a magic wand you wave around and voila! meals are cooked, the house is cleaned and homeschool is done.

So actually, no one needs an expensive planner at all. Just a basic one. Nothing wrong with blessing yourself with one that has all the bells and whistles but seriously, if you are not going to use at least half the pages, please do not buy it.

Choose wisely.

How to Choose?

Just what should one look for when looking for a planner?

Before you start, acknowledge that even after much deliberation, you may still make a mistake because many times you have to use a product for a while to realise if it is a good fit or not. Hence my reluctance to buy expensive planners.

But here are some things to take note before you click BUY.

1. Layout

You need to know how your brains work. If you are like me and need a timed schedule to keep you on track, or if you have many appointments to keep, then a daily, hourly planner is best.

If you prefer to have an overview of the week ahead, then a weekly planner is better since you can see what you have on at a glance instead of flipping pages back and forth.

2. Printable or Pre-printed

Then decide if you like to print things out on your own and assemble the pages or not. If you just want something that you can open and use right away, then do not get a printable planner. The printing can drive one nuts! Lol!

3. Cost

But if cost is a factor, free or printable planners may be the most economical. You just print out the pages you need and you save a heap on shipping.

Also, if you choose undated versions of a paid printable planner, it is just a one-time cost. Pay once and use it forever! Just reprint it annually. You can even print it out for your children should they want a planner of their own.

However, do make sure you factor in the cost of printer ink. It CAN get very expensive especially if the printable pages are very colourful or have many design elements.

Then, there is the cost of binding (standard comb binding/spiral binding/O-ring binding) and cost of a thicker paper or card stock for the cover. A cheaper alternative is to use a binder file that you can find at any stationery shop.

My Experience

For those who are curious (and for my own record), let me share my experience:

When I was working fulltime, I, of course, had to have a planner (remember those Filofax planners?) but once I stopped work, I did not need them anymore. For a long while I did not use any personal planners but just a wall calendar to mark out when doctors’ visits were scheduled and the rare playdate. Things were a lot simpler back then.

Also, because we had our own routines down pat, (READ: Schedules & Routines: The Secret to My Sanity), there was no real need for a planner.

But when more children were added to the family and especially when we started homeschooling, I realized that I needed a planner to keep things in order.

Try All Things

Since then, I have used various printable monthly/weekly/daily planners, pre-printed planners and even tried my hand at Bullet Journalling. I have also DIY-ed and compiled a few of my own planners using printables found from the internet. These days, Pinterest make this easy to do.

With each planner I try, I discover that I have certain eccentricities. Lol! Plus each season requires a different type of planner for my changing needs.

Timed Daily Pages

For instance, I discovered that timed daily page layouts work better for me than weekly layouts. It keeps me on track better than just a To Do List. Probably because with a To Do List, I tend to overestimate how fast I work.

By slotting my tasks INTO the timed hourly slots, I stopped cramming more activities than I have time to complete. What I now need to do is factor in my energy level at the various times of the day.

Just because there is enough time for an activity doesn’t mean I have the energy or focus to get it done. Do you have this problem, too?

What I Have Tried

1. Free Printable Planners

I have tried DIY Planners using free planner pages from Scattered Squirrel. and Daisy Cottage Designs.

If you have not visited Scattered Squirrel, you must! I don’t know how she manages to sustain her blog by giving away almost everything for free but I am grateful for generous souls like her.

Daisy Cottage Designs has a Daily Schedule that starts at 6 am and a Daily Habit Tracker. Go check them out.

2. Paid Printable Planners:

The S.O.S. Planner

I used this Planner in its original iteration for a year. S.O.S. stands for Steadfast Over Scattered. And while I really liked it, I also really needed a timed daily layout which she did not have then. So I stopped using it (it got tiring writing out the time for each day) after one year.

However, she now offers the option of 4 different layouts, including timed daily pages and 3 different sizes (A5, 7×9, A4) with 4 different covers at ONE price of US$34.

Take a look by clicking on the image.

Besides the usual monthly and daily/weekly pages, there is a weekly focus section, look ahead and look back pages, home and personal care plans pages, meal planner and shopping pages as well as goal setting pages.

All this for US$34. Quite worth it in my opinion. This means that any time I feel I need a weekly layout, I can just print it off and insert it into my planner. And if for any reason I needed to change my preferred A4 size down to a A5 size, I can do it too. I don’t need to pay extra.

I have held off buying the S.O.S. Planner as I didn’t really want to mess around with the printing and binding. But I succumbed in the end.

The main reason is that I could print off the daily timed layout for myself and the weekly layout for one of my daughters. Talk about value for money.

More details can be found over at the S.O.S. Planner if you are interested.

2. Pre-Printed Planners

Pre-printed planners are beautiful but cost a bomb to ship to Singapore because of their weight. I know many people who don’t mind paying and see it as an investment to keep them motivated throughout the year

Pre-printed planners usually have beautiful covers and paper. I love how everything is just ready to be used with no fuss. I have tried the Plum Paper Planner, Passion Planner and recently, the Kitlife Daily Planner.

I have also been tempted to buy the Hobonichi Cousin as it has the yearly, weekly and daily pages all in ONE book. And the covers (sold separately) are beautiful too. But I just can’t bring myself to pay so much for it.

Erin Condren planners are often mentioned in the planner community but I find their pricing even more out of reach.

4. Bullet Journalling

I started Bullet Journalling back in 2016, fell off the wagon and then re-started it in 2018 with some adaptations to make it work for me.

I really liked Bullet Journalling because many printed/printable planners have pre-laid out sections. But I usually end up not needing them or they are not structured in the way I prefer, leading to a lot of wasted pages/space.

I found myself a $6.90 Muji spiral-bound, dot-grid notebook, and laid it out just the way I wanted. Yes, I would probably need at least 3 notebooks for a year but $6.30 x 3 = $18.90!

For true blue bullet journaling, you should check out the Bullet Journal website. Or get the book The Bullet Journal Method for more inspiration.

Have you tried Bullet Journaling? I kept my layout and set up simple as I do not have the time to decorate it the way I see others do it. My planner is functional rather than pretty.

My Current Planner

I am currently using the very beautiful Academic Year (ie starts from July) Kitlife Daily Planner. It is only US$29 (click and use my CODE and get $5 off!) The Weekly Planner is only US$22. They are the most affordable good quality planners that I have ever seen.

But…the bummer is the shipping to Singapore. It costs almost as much as the planner. Crazy, huh? This is the reason I am not buying it for 2021 and am choosing to go with the S.O.S. Planner. I have tried it, I love it but I cannot justify the cost when there are other available options.

Reminder

I hope all this sharing helps you choose a planner for yourself for the coming new year but remember, a planner is just that.

A planner.

It is but one of the many TOOLS available to help us keep on top of all we have to do in our assignment as mothers. It is not a magic wand that will get things done for you. We still have to do the work.

Do you use a planner? What kind do you use? What do you like about it?

*Post was originally posted on 7th January 2019 and has been updated to reflect changes since then.

Related Posts

Menu Planning
Homeschool Planning
Do the Brain Dump and Get Out of the Overwhelmed Zone
Setting Up Routines to Beat the Overwhelm
Using a Planner to Stay Organized – without wasting time

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