Episode 88: How To Choose A Planner

Have you found your 2023 Planner yet? There are so many amazing options these days, and it can be hard to know how to choose a planner! So here in Episode 88 of Just One Simple Thing, you’ll learn three important things to look for in your new planner, and a little about some of my favorite planners.

If you’re anything like me, picking out your plannerfor the next year can be exciting, but at the same time it can also be daunting. There are so many good ones, and browsing through all types of planners can be time-consuming and overwhelming.

So I wanted to give you a few tips for choosing the right planner for you, and tell you about some that I love. Let’s dive into the tips first.

1. Think about how and where you’re going to use your planner.

Consider if your planner needs to be portable or will you only use it at your desk? Does it need to be in your purse or bag all the time? These things will help you decide if you can handle a bulky planner with pages for every day, or you need something more streamlined, with pages for each week or month.

2. Consider how much time you can commit to spending with your planner each day.

Carefully consider what you really need to keep track of in your “second brain”. A good planning system does include time and space to reflect, evaluate and re-plan. However, you might be tempted to spend too much time on completing all of those boxes when you could be actually getting things done.

3. Pick the most simple planner that meets your most important needs.

Most of us are pre-wired to be discouraged by un-used space. If you have a complicated planner and can’t use all the features, you may feel like you aren’t doing enough. It is demotivating and makes you not want to use the planner at all.

Keep things simple. You might even consider using an undated planner or bullet journal so when you skip a day or week, you can just start on a new page without leaving one blank.

Now, let’s talk about a few planners that I love.

My favorite is the Golden Coil planner. Using the interactive tool on their website, you can select literally every page in your planner, plus plain or designer cover prints. You can find them at goldencoil.com and follow them on IG @golden.coil.

Another of my favorites is the Spaces Planner. If you are a lover of making lists, this is the planner for you. It has spaces for several different lists to keep on the weekly spreads, some labeled with headings like Housework, Personal, and Errands, and others that are blank so you can add your own headings. You can find it at the spacesplanner.com and follow them in IG @spacesplanner.

I also love the Dream Planner from Horatio Printing. It has both vertical and horizontal versions, and plenty of space for dreaming and planning. You can find it at horatioprinting.com and follow them on IG @horatioprinting.

ACTION STEP
Before you get bombarded by the Black Friday ads, make a list of what you need from a planner next year, and set a budget. You can go to my free Facebook group Plan & Pray with Do A New Thing to grab a worksheet to help you do that, and compare features of different planners. And if you have a planner you’ve created, or one you love, share about it on social media and tag me @doanewthing. I’d love to check it out, and you just might see your post shared in my feed.

RESOURCES

Golden Coil
PlannerSpaces Planner
Dream Planner
Grace Goals