Paper Planner Picks for 2019

I can't believe it's already that time of year, but today is launch day for a few of the popular planner brands for their 2019 lines. If you've followed me for any amount of time, y'all know I love a paper planner. Planning on paper has really been a game-changer for me. There's a lot of power in writing something down and having it in my face instead of tucked away on my phone. I've tried a lot of different systems over the years and am always tweaking, adding, and subtracting from my current system, but I thought I'd go over what I've been using and what I plan to use in 2019.

My Current System and What I'll Be Using in 2019

Day Designer for Daily Planning

What today looks like in my planner

This year, my main planner and the hub of my system is the Day Designer, which provides a page for each day along with monthly and yearly spreads. I've found that, especially when I'm overwhelmed, I do best just looking at one day at a time. No distractions about what's coming up the rest of the week. What am I supposed to do TODAY. I also like that the Day Designer has a neutral scheme of white and gray so I can decorate it how I want (or not at all), and I'm not trying to coordinate with whatever color is in the planner. It also lets me change how it looks every day (and gives me a place to use all those stickers and all of that washi tape I collect, lol.)

A view without any washi or writing (photo courtesy of Day Designer)

So because the Day Designer has been working for me this year and in years past, I've ordered another one.  (Note: my link is an affiliate link, which means I earn a little commission if you buy through my site but that doesn't cost you anything, and I haven't been asked to promote it. I buy one every year.) They launched today if you want to see the 2019 designs. This is the one I picked. Isn't it so pretty? And I love that the inner liner on this one is navy blue.

Goal-Setting

In addition to my daily planner, I also have been using the Powersheets for a goal-setting planner. This is different than a daily planner of To Dos. This is a planner specifically geared towards long-term and monthly goal-setting. I've used this system for three years now and have found it tremendously helpful. I'll be buying another for 2019 (they go on sale in October). I work the whole system, setting annual goals (which you get a chance to update every quarter) and monthly/weekly goals that you monitor on what's called a Tending List. I keep this tending list open on my desk at all times to keep my goals in my face. Here's an example of one of my tending lists. I decorate with stickers but you can keep it simple if that's not your thing.

*One note I'd like to make about the Powersheets. The creator, Lara Casey, has a number of religious items in her shop. The Powersheets, however, are not religious, so don't be worried about it being a Bible planner or something. It's definitely not.

90- Day Business Plan

A new one I've just started using is a 90-Day Business Plan where I set business goals for the next 90 days and then record not what I have to do but what I've done. So a Done planner. I modified a Happy Planner Teacher planner to make it work for me. I separate out the days into categories so I can make sure I'm covering goals that fall under a number of different areas in my life. If this system works well, it may end up being one I can use to replace the Powersheets or merge with them in some way, but I'm still playing around with it. I've also paired it up with a new Kanban board that I made that is focused on the 90-day goals. This planner and the kanban board are ideas I got from writer, Sarra Cannon, who has done some fantastic videos on her system if you want to check those out.

I may do a more extensive blog post about this 90-day planner and the kanban board to show you exactly how I'm using it, but for now, here are a few pics.

Happy planner hard cover 

Each day has 7 columns. The categories I'm using are Writing, Readers, Business, Yoga, Input (basically how I fill the well), Budget, and Home.

I have this fully filled with post-its now but this is how it looked when I first made it. This is focused strictly on the three main goals of my 90-day plan.

Other Options

Inkwell Press

Though I'm not ordering one this year, I've used Inkwell Press for a number of years, and they're beautiful, high quality planners. There paper is to die for. This year they're introducing a disc system for the first time along with some new inserts for goal-setting, meal planning, and daily planning. If you're interested in checking out what they have, they launched the 2019 planners today as well. If you use my affiliate link, you get 10 dollars off your first order of $50. If I ever go back to a weekly layout, I'd go back to Inkwell. I also still use their meal planner.

Photo credit: Inkwell Press

Happy Planner

Happy Planner is one I know a lot of you are familiar with because they are everywhere these days: Michael's, JoAnn's, Target. I always end up buying at least one Happy Planner a year to use for some purpose (like the teacher planner I mentioned above.) I love how they're always innovating and trying new layouts and designs. They're also the most economical of the planner choices, especially with store coupons. This week they're doing some Instagram reveals of their 2019 line, so if you're interested in them, be sure to check that out. Y'all know I'll be buying ALL the sticker books from them. I have a little bit of a sticker problem... lol.

So that's the system I plan on using in 2019. Are you getting a planner for 2019? What's been working for you?

7 Reasons Why I Use a Paper Planner

I post about planners a lot. I know many of you probably think I'm ridiculous. And I am--unapologetically. But even though decorating my planner has become my hobby (some people scrapbook, I buy washi and planner stickers), I don't do this for the relaxing hobby. That's just a side benefit. The real reason I use one is because it's vital to my day. I'm running a business, writing, and being a wife and mom. It's a lot to keep track of.

But why a paper planner?

1. I have the memory the size of a garden pea.

I blame pregnancy. After I had my son, I think he took my memory with him because he can remember EVERYTHING (like to a freakish degree.) And I can't remember last week. But if I don't write something down, it's gone. The planner keeps me from forgetting the important stuff.

2. Electronic calendars don't work for everyone.

Yes, they have all kinds of fancy calendar and productivity apps and programs. That's what I tried to use before this. I learned quickly that once it's typed in, it's dead to me. I'm extremely visual so if it's not in my face, it doesn't exist. And when I set reminders, I'd just close them and then forget again. However, once I write something in my planner, even if it's not in front of me, I remember things better. Research has shown that writing things down helps us remember them and process them better, so there's some science to that. 

3. I can't hide from it. 

Yes, technically I can close my planner, but I don't. It sits open in front of me all day. There is no ignoring it. I can see clearly what I should be doing and that "mess around on twitter" is not on the To Do list.

4. Checking things off is highly satisfying.

It just is. I do something. Check mark! Maybe this comes from being a please-the-teacher student as a kid. I want the A. I want that checkmark. I don't want to look down at the end of the day and be left with a bunch of empty boxes and pending items.

5. Planning out each week makes me more intentional with my time.

Instead of sitting down and thinking, What should I do today? I already have my plan in front of me. On Sunday every week, I sit down with my planner and map out the week. Yes, there are surprises that will come up, but I have an outline of what I want to get done that week. How many words I need to write. Who I need to email. What promo I need to do. When I need to blog. What I'm cooking for dinner. What's going on with the family. With all those decisions out of the way, it clears my mind to do what I need to do and to be creative.

6. It keeps a visual record.

When did I turn in that thing? When did we go on that trip? I told you about my memory. So it's very helpful to have a physical record of what I've done. I can look back and see how many words I wrote in a month, what derailed me, where my time went, etc. And flipping through pages is way easier than scanning through an electronic calendar looking for that stuff.

7. Pretty things motivate me.

This may not be important to everyone, but for me, having something lovely that holds my plan makes me more likely to use it and stick with it. I look forward to decorating it and making it fun. It makes me smile when I see it. 

Those are my main reasons, but there are so many more. The key is finding what works best for YOU. My husband is a die hard electronic calendar guy and it totally works for him. (He also has a great memory, so that helps.). Other people rather a simple list on a steno pad. Whatever works.

But if you want to give the pretty planner a try, it's launch season for 2017 planners. Here are a few that launched this week and some others. (IWP and Day Designer are affiliate links but I don't rec anything I haven't bought for myself and loved. And I haven't been asked to feature them.)

New 2017 Planners

1. Inkwell Press (Get 10 dollars off with my link)

This is my planner of choice right now and is the one I've stuck with the longest. I just ordered my 2017 one and I couldn't be more excited. Gorgeous design. Thick paper. And the layout totally works for me. I use the three boxes each day for Blog post, Dinner, and Word Count (see the pic at top of post), but you can use them for whatever you want, which is the beauty. And I divide each day down down the middle to separate appointments or events (on the left) and my to do list (on the right.) 

2. Day Designer

I used Day Designer for a while and it's a beautiful planner and is perfect for someone who needs a daily layout instead of a weekly. So if you have a lot of daily appointments or you like to write out your full schedule along with your to do list, this is a great option. It's also nice to track your time after the fact to see where your day went.

3. Happy Planner

You can get these at Michael's and Hobby Lobby, often with a 40% off coupon. They are colorful with great paper and designs. It's also a disc bound system so you can move pages around. I used a Happy Planner for a while and really liked it, but eventually figured out that a horizontal layout worked better for me than vertical. They've since come out with a horizontal but I like the Inkwell Press layout better still. This is a great option though and is cheaper than many of the others.

4. Erin Condren

I haven't personally used an Erin Condren, but I've looked at them at Staples and they are lovely. They are also the first brand that launched the decorative planner thing.

5. Plum Paper Planner

This is another one I haven't used but have heard great things about. You can customize with a number of different layout options and I've heard the paper is very high quality.

Hope that helps! Anyone getting a new planner for 2017? Do you use a planner? An electronic calendar? How do you keep your life straight?