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home - personal organization - find a daily planner
Find a Personal Daily Planner for Organizing Life.The end of the year is coming fast. Probably too fast...and I feel like I just grabbed last years daily planner a few weeks ago. You've probably got a lot on your mind, especially with the holidays creeping up on us. But I want to give you something to think about to prepare for the new year and go over some of the daily planner options out there. If you don't use a daily planner to keep your life on track...I can't recommend it enough. I know for those days where I slip and don't plan, I'm a basket case and time management goes down the toilet. what are your planner options?If you've seen the prices of some daily planners, you might be a little shocked to see the big swing in cost and, like anything, you get what you pay for. Now, let me tell you I've tried them all. I've gone cheap. I've gone expensive. I've done pleather (plastic leather) and all-out real leather. And here's what my "research" has found: The Low-End You can go to any grocery store and get yourself a pre-printed, pre-bound planner for under $10 (especially if you wait until a month or so into the year). The problem I've had with these cheapo versions is they don't get enough respect. Respect? Huh? Here's what I mean. They're just about a half-step up from a notebook and they're often hard to take very seriously. In other words, you might not feel the need to make sure everything gets written in there and instead might grab the nearest notebook or pad instead. And since it was just ten bucks, you might not care so much when it's under the seat of your car or under a pile on your desk. If you're looking for a cheap solution, then I say it's better than having nothing at all and can work fine if you're disciplined. But you can also take the same concept (typically wire-bound) and invest in a planner created by one of the more reputable organizer companies, like Franklin Covey's Two-Page-Per-Day Wire Bound System where the interanal pages have more to offer (and will typically have add-ons you can remove, such as address booklets you stick in the pocket and keep from year to year.) Middle of the road For the next step-up you can get a daily planner that looks just like the high-end ones...but only from a distance. The problem is, for one, the "guts" (the actual planning pages) don't have much to them and are pretty much the glorified versions of the pre-printed, bound ones I just told you about. And on top of that, the clips, zippers and ring-bindings very well might not make it through the year. This is certainly a case where you get what you pay for. The Upper-Level Daily Planners The next step up is the standard, higher-end planners like those from FranklinCovey and Daytimer. They both have very similar products and both offer higher end versions made of leather and very comparable versions made of, as I mentioned..."pleather." To me, I'm pretty practical and the guts and construction quality are more important than the material that's on the outside. And also keep in mind, some of the "fake" leather versions look better than others. But what's nice, no matter which style you go with, is they'll last a long time and the inside pages get replaced yearly without having to pay for the binder again. The Inner "Guts" The internal pages are where you've got to decide on space, and of course this also has to do with size (thickness and width/height). You can get internal pages where each page will cover three days each. This gets a little tight for me because I write a lot of notes from meeting and phone calls in my planner. So I like two pages per day. But if you're not into keeping notes and don't need a lot of space, you can save money by keeping more days to a page. Again, do what will work for you. But it might be worth the extra money to have more space for each day. Something else to think about is getting plastic pouches to store receipts, invoices, etc. But this can quickly fill up and become more of a problem if you don't remove and file the items weekly or at least monthly. What's the right size? I've gone through all the sizes, and it's my opinion that the one in the middle is just right. I have a 10 x 13 inch planner that I no longer use. It doesn't fit in my computer bag and takes up half of my desk. It's certainly substantial and the exact opposite of the cheapo $10 planner I told you about in the beginning. But the upside is, if you keep a lot of papers in your planner (which can get out of control fast), the large size is nice because you can fit a full sheet in there and actually use it as somewhat of a briefcase. Otherwise...it's just too big. The smaller size, I believe 4" x 8 (roughly) seemed like a great idea. But for me, it's just too small. Just a few pieces of paper and it's hard to even zipper and for me, personally, it's a little on the feminine side -- feels like I'm carrying around a small purse :-) Right smack in the middle, for me, is just right. It's typically called the "Classic" Size (5-1/2 x 8-1/2). It takes a full size sheet, folded in half. It's size is substantial enough where it gets your respect and, most likely, will get used. The same layout options are available as the larger size (daily, 2 pages per day, weekly, etc.) This mid-size planner keeps things simple and manageable.
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