The Annual Quandary
Posted on December 27, 2023 by prairiemoonquilts in OrganizingThe quandary of what to do for a planner for next year . . .
For several years now, I’ve been using a homemade planner, and while it has worked well for me, I decided that for 2024, I would purchase a ready-made planner. I shopped for weeks. It feels like I looked at every planner in existence, and I still wasn’t sure I got what I need. So many of them have things I don’t need, or don’t have things I DO need. Some of them would make me spend so much time writing in them that I’d never get anything done! I need clean, simple, uncluttered. And . . .
I’m trying to change the way I do a lot of things over the next year, so I felt it was time to change up my planner again. So this is what I got for 2024:
It’s by Planner Envy. I got the horizontal layout. I’m not sure I’ll find a use for every single little section, but I like the layout, so we’ll see. They have other layout options as well, so take a look if you’re interested.
I debated whether I even needed a planner at all, but yes, I do. I need a central location to keep everything written down and gathered together, or I’d go back to having notes and scribbles scattered everywhere, and end up forgetting important things. I’m not ready to give up a planner completely just yet. Maybe in my retirement, but that is not now!
If you’d like to revisit my musings on planners I’ve set up and used in the past, here are some past posts about it:
I’m a Planner Nerd: this post shows how I set up my homemade planner notebook, which I still have and will still continue to use for reference info that passes from year to year. It’s just not a day-to-day notebook any more.
It’s That Time of Year: yes, it is, and the decisions are always agonizing! This post has a long list of planner sites for all types of planners. If you’re shopping for a planner, this might help. I will add some more links as I find them, just to keep this list all in one place.
My 2020 Planner: this is the one I’ve been using for the last four years, and altho this did work pretty well for me, I wanted something a bit more formal for this coming year. I have some big things coming up, and I didn’t want to have to keep printing my own pages every week!
So . . . if you’re a planner nerd like me, I hope this helps you find something you’ll like to use. My personal goal is to never spend more time planning than doing, so my planner style keeps evolving as my life and work responsibilities evolve. Here’s to a well-planned 2024 for all of us! (But does it ever go as planned? — teehee!)
Unfortunately, I keep three planners: personal/family, school and quilting.
I often start off with the best intentions… then lose my planner.
I keep everything in one small book it is not so much a planner as a list of in progress and finished. A little other info kept in that book because I can always find it. This planner has 4 years in it and room for a few more.
I made the jump to my phone 2y ago. I have a Samsung. I use the calendar and the notepad. It is working very well.
Trust me, NOT an easy transition. But that’s me every step of the way since our first PC back in 1989!
For general life I’ve been using the Clever fox planner I found on Amazon for the last several years. Seems to have enough space for me to write what I need. I go in spurts of actively using it especially since I retired. I haven’t ordered one for 2024…thanks for the prompt to get on it!
In my sewing room I like a large calendar that I can track what I do in the date boxes. I still forget 😱. I bought a journal book to keep by my longarm that I’m going to try and record what I do there. I need to get sense of how much time it takes me to quilt things and I always forget what batting is inside. I haven’t settled on a favorite batting yet and have multiple types, rolls and packages. Maybe I can get that sorted out and reduce the space I’m using to store batting…one can hope😊.
Happy New Year Shelly! Sounds like 2024 will be an exciting year of changes for you.
I’m a planner nerd too! I’ve kept a personal planner ever since I retired. But I’ve been thinking about doing something to track my quilting. My kids gave me a journal for Xmas: Shit I Can’t Remember. That might be a good place to start😂😂😂
Ah planners! I’ve tried to like them; I really have but I just don’t.
I keep my calendar on my phone. Together with notes and reminders that’s all I really use.
I also have a Leucturm 1917 that I use for more extensive notes — after 3 years it’s just about full and I will be deploying volume 2 shortly.
I went through this quandary for a few years and I finally decided that (after seeing about everything there is out there and trying some) there IS NO perfect planner. The closest I could get to it was to create my own which meant starting with a binder-type–for me, the A5 size. I get a new one every 3-ish years (depending on how they wear), my latest is just from Hobby Lobby and holding up very well! I choose the yearly calendar pages (for me–weekly inserts with plenty of lines/space per day) from Amazon, along with some extra tabs, fillers etc and then make it my own. Everything goes in there. My best days are the ones I leave it laying open and in sight so I can check tasks off as I go. I find it impossible to conform my life-organization into someone else’s system so for me, it’s gotta be a binder!
The only planner I have is for the longarm – I make notes of everything used and quilt design, who designed the quilt and the book if necessary. Date started and date completed – which is more than I did for the actual quilts!
I am pretty bad with regard to diaries. The longest one went from January to September and I was amazed I kept going for so long! Then any plans for anything is usually scuppered somehow, although it would be nice to keep track of what I’ve partially done and have a designated space for them rather than here there and everywhere!