I love planners. I love them so much that I used to start at least three or four every year – shopping for them was too much fun! I made my own too. I don’t remember how I first learned about Passion Planners, but it was over 3 years ago, and I haven’t bought another kind of planner since. It just works so well for me! [and no, they’re not paying me to say any of this]
I didn’t have the awesome Blur Photo app (to take out personal stuff) when I added these photos, so here are some far-in-the-future ones that are mostly empty. The pages get much messier as I use them!
In previous years, I spent a lot of time on lettering and doodling and colouring. I use a more minimal style now, doing my creative work elsewhere… most of the time… I still love planning trips on the blank pages at the back.
The grid pages are well-used too – I have layouts that work great for me. Some are fancy, others plain – but year after year, I add them to my new planner. I have a few others I like, e.g., for tracking how many vacation days I have left, long-term planning, and also a weekly spending money chart (that goes in the weekly spread). I get inspiration from #planner and #bujo (stands for bullet journal) hashtags on Instagram, mostly the minimalist ones (#minimalistbujo is awesome) – there are very talented people sharing their beautiful, functional ideas!
I buy the undated planners because I start my year in April (it’s a work thing) and a fun little bonus with that is where I’m supposed to write in the dates for the week, I choose to use the “Week Of” box to name my week instead 🙂 I love having a ‘Focus’ for the week too, and of course, a list of great things that happened.
They changed the size of planner this year, and I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with that – I bought two extras of the current (PERFECT) size so I don’t have to figure it out for awhile, and I’m hopeful they’ll bring back my (REALLY PERFECT) size before I run out.
I’ve realized that for me, having a written planner isn’t about effectiveness or efficiency. It’s because I like having it. I like writing things down (pens!) – it helps me think through what’s coming up, what to prepare for or recover from. It helps me visualize my time better than anything electronic, and some things – my meditation for the week, lists of what to kijiji or packages I’m expecting – are simply easier to jot down (with a lovely pen).
So that’s my treasured planner – I find writing in it to be a joy, its focus on self-reflection so powerful, and the fact that it helps me stay organized is a bonus!
