Planner thoughts/advice?

[umadoshi]

I've never had great luck(/discipline) when it comes to actually using planners, but lately I've been tempted to give them another try. I've been looking at both the Passion Planner and the Ink + Volt planners, but so far haven't been able to choose.

Do any of you have experience with both of them? Or if you've used either, are there any glowing reasons I should choose the one you've used, or any glaring reasons I should avoid it?

[ETA: I'm passingly familiar with bullet journaling, but am pretty sure it's not the right thing for me.

I've also just remembered a local friend talking about Traveler's Notebooks; any anecdata about those would also be appreciated.]

Comments

[annofowlshire]

What results are you looking to get out of your planner? A place to keep track of upcoming events? Goal tracking? A to-do list?

[umadoshi]

What results are you looking to get out of your planner?

Hmm...the main specific reasons are probably habit tracking (in hopes that physically ticking things off will help with establishing/maintaining new habits) and having something to easily look back at and see what's been happening/what patterns might show up.

I crossposted this to my own account and have now found out about Agendio, and I'm simultaneously intrigued and overwhelmed by all the customization options.

[annofowlshire]

I'm a fan of TN because I can change out notebooks when I need to and I can do all the customization I want. (I'm very minimalist.) At the moment I just do daily to-do lists and more ephemeral stuff in a spiral notebook that I can tear pages out of and lays flat, and longer term thoughts and ideas in my TN.

Agendio looks cool, I just find that my life often shifts and the old system I had stops working, so I need to be able to adjust a new one on the fly. (Hence the beauty of little 60 page notebooks housed in the same folder, so at least that part stays consistent.) If you have the time to invest in figuring out your system (and how to configure it) and your life doesn't tend to experience radical shifts (internally or externally)... it may be worth the investment.

Good luck!

[umadoshi]

If you have the time to invest in figuring out your system (and how to configure it) and your life doesn't tend to experience radical shifts (internally or externally)... it may be worth the investment.

Radical shifts aren't usually a thing I'm dealing with (which is good in my case, because I'm not great at unexpected change).

I haven't yet figured out Agendio pricing (I mainly just have the strong suspicion it's not cheap), but they do offer six-month planners, so there's a chance I'll try that...if they're actually only about half the price of twelve-month planners. Which seems unlikely. >.> We shall see.

[spindle_ella]

I'm a big fan of traveler's notebooks, mainly because you can switch out the interior books, so if a certain planner outlay isn't working for you it's nbd, you can try a different one without buying a whole new planner. I print off my own planner spreads and change my set-up from month to month, depending on what my needs will be: week to one page for lazy months; week spread over four pages for busy ones; kinda bored of these standard spreads let's do chronodexes this month. There's no long-term commitment to how someone else's brain works unless you want there to be. If you use the notes in the back of your planner a lot they're also ideal, as you can switch the notebook part out once it's full.

(full disclosure, I actually make TNs, but I started doing that because I like them so much, so the info is coming from a genuine place).

[umadoshi]

That's good to know, and I do like the flexibility of traveler's notebooks. I do worry that my chronic lack of focus would reduce my odds of going through the steps of changing it up and making decisions about it, though.

(I've also just found out about Agendio, which involves a ton of decision-making all at the outset, but then it'd be done...at least for the life of that planner.)

[spindle_ella]

I hear you - I think it's always better to take your own way of doing things into account, rather than try to fit to a planner (planners are like dogs, I think: need to consider what's fit for your own needs, otherwise you end up with a great dane in a handbag or a chihuahua trying to herd sheep).

The Agendio looks cool, almost makes me wish I wasn't into month-by-month customisation ;)

[tryslora]

I've been hunting printables for my bujo because I like the concepts, but don't have the time or ability to do layouts constantly. I found a bunch of things on how to create your own custom printed planner that does the things you need it to do, via printables. I've been combining my daily to do lists with that lately, so it's possible to get what i really need out of it with a minimum of wasted time.

I did like that it was basically like--find a monthly layout that works for you, a weekly layout, and a daily layout. Organize into a PDF with the amount of months you need, then have it printed at Staples and spiral bound or print it duplex yourself and hole punch & shove it in a binder. So it was whatever felt like would work.

My daughter had a Passion Planner last year but didn't find it worth it and didn't use it to full extent. She keeps switching back to just a calendar.

[umadoshi]

The Passion Planner seems to have more focus on GOALS and PLANS TO REACH THE GOALS (and fair enough, given its name) than I feel likely to use, but it's awfully shiny.

I've just been linked to Agendio, and the sheer array of customization options is mindblowing. (And I shudder to think what the final price is likely to be, but I may be on the path to finding out.)

[tryslora]

Wow. WOW. Okay, so, I just emailed that link to my daughter. I'm not sure I have the patience to go through that, but that's amazing and kind of overwhelming. And looks really really cool for folks looking for a customizable planner.

[umadoshi]

that's amazing and kind of overwhelming. And looks really really cool for folks looking for a customizable planner.

I foresee strong odds of my spending way too much time trying to figure out the ~perfect(-for-me) customization~.

[lunabee34]

I have salivate over both of those but not actually used either. Hopefully someone who has will comment.

[umadoshi]

*_* Did you see the Agendio thing jenett mentioned on the crosspost in my journal? WOW.

[lunabee34]

OMG, wow. What a thing of beauty.

*admires*

*sits on pocketbook*

[reynardine]

I've been using Passion Planner for the last few years and like it. They did a design change last year that backfired on them, and for 2019, they went with a size change, discontinuing the full size (which I like) and the compact size for an in-between size. Lots of complaints. I'm getting one anyway because I'm used to the system, but we'll see how that goes.

I like that it is both date and goal oriented, and I can keep ongoing task lists, plus there is room in the back (blank pages) for whatever you need. Plus the company does offer customization pages that you can tape in (extra hours, various trackers, etc). It's structured enough to be useful to me (I tried bullet-journal and it didn't work for me. I didn't feel artistic enough?)

[umadoshi]

I'm getting one anyway because I'm used to the system, but we'll see how that goes.

Good luck! I hope it still works for you.

I now have a bunch of the Passion Planner sample downloads to take a look at (and I really like that they offer that).