Choosing The Perfect Planner
The Social Media department decided to go on the “quest to find the perfect planner” by asking everyone in the office what planner they used to stay on top of their schedule. Our team had tons of reasons why they loved their planners and some of the things they didn’t like. Stay tuned to see what they had to say!
Director of Accounts, Shelly
“My perfect planner would have the week split Monday and Tuesday on the bottom of the left page, Wednesday-Friday on the right combining Saturday and Sunday to one line.
On the top of the left page bullet points for a must-do list. The following two pages would be lined note pages for that week. So four total pages for each week. Of course the full month calendar at the beginning of the weekly pages.
Don’t need a full page dedicated to personal, health, financial goals.”
Account Manager, Marie
Dislikes:
I don’t think that any have a good way to mark what day you are on, allowing you to quickly flip to the current page. The planner I had came with this plastic marker that said today that you could move from page to page, but by like April the plastic tips that connected it to the spiral part of the planner had broken off and it was useless.
Likes:
I like when the monthly calendar is large enough that you can write due dates in each square.
I like the daily pages to have dual columns so I can write follow-ups on one side and to-dos on the other
Wishes:
For each weekly section to have a full week’s calendar at the top (to write due dates) and then the break down of days below.
Possibly not including Saturday and Sunday since I only use for work, I don’t need those days and then the other days could be given a larger space.
Graphic Designer, Melanie
“I like my monthly planner (it’s a desk jotter, but whatever). It’s designed by one of my favorite designers, Mary Kate McDevitt. The handwritten parts give me ideas for my hand lettering stuff and it has room for a few notes if I were to take notes on there. Usually, I would just use a notebook because they allow more space. Plus it has fun little cut out things, like Instant Good Mood cards with a funny cartoon and stuff like that that I give out to people at work sometimes. I know Pedro, Megan, and I have one and Taylor and Jami had some from me as well. (Planner: Work It! 17-Month Desk Jotter)
I like the size of my weekly planner, but the columns are skinny so it’s hard to fit much info on there. (Planner: Rifle Paper Co. Weekly Desk Pad)
I prefer having a separate monthly/weekly planner out because if I just went with the monthly calendar I would get overwhelmed seeing everything I have due in one place even if it’s not all due at the same time. The weekly planner makes me focus more on the immediate tasks, but the monthly planner gives me a bigger picture for upcoming deadlines.
Also if I have a particularly detailed project/campaign that has multiple parts to it I will make a completely separate list for it on a sticky note… if you couldn’t tell, I like lists. Haha!”
Graphic Designer, Braiden
“I use the Rifle Paper Company, it’s cute and well designed. It has a monthly overview and days of the week pages so I can write down more detailed notes when things are due.”
Social Media Manager, Oshianna
“I have the May Designs for Blue Sky planner from Target. It is a 5” x 8” daily/monthly hardcover. My favorite thing about my planner is that it comes with two pages of stickers! No matter how filled out the monthly layout looks I enjoy seeing the cute stickers on there making it look less boring.
What I look for in a planner are thick pages so that the ink in my pens do not bleed through.
I love/hate that my planner has an hourly breakdown for each day. It’s helpful for my meetings but not for the rest of the day because as you know, nothing is ever done at its exact time.
Overall I love that each day is given a page due to how busy I am.
I would not be able to function without a planner, that’s for sure!”
Digital Marketing Director, Nicole
“I use a general notebook to keep track of my days. I track tasks with To-Do lists, things I’ve accomplished and upcoming tasks. I like the freedom to write these lists on a blank piece of paper. So much can happen in a day, so it makes it easier to break it up into segments”
Everyone has a different style whether it’s a monthly, weekly, or daily overview of his or her workdays. All we know is that writing your day down in any form will keep you organized and sane.
What kind of planners do you find helpful?