What Planner Is Best For You?

Welcome back everyone!

I'm so glad that you can join me today.  I know you have been noticing a lot of changes happening and it's all for the best. 

That being said, I wanted to lead into helping you decide what planner is best for you.  I'm lucky enough that I have two major planner companies in my area.   

BUT...that is not to say that these planners will work specifically for you.  To help you choose what the planner you will need I suggest you make a list of what the planner should do for you.

• What will I primarily be using the planner for?
• Do I want something that is spiral bound, disc bound, or ring bound?
• Do I want a pre-printed design or a dot print.
• What size do I want?
• Do I want something plain that I can decorate any way I want or do I want it with some print that I can add a few things to?
• How much do I want to spend?

So before I continue on...I just want to let you know, that just because I have listed the above two companies, that in no way means I'm going to stick just to these two.  There are so many planners out there and I hope that this helps you to determine which is the best for you regardless of where you get yours from. 

What will I be using the planner for?

This is the first question you want to ask your self.  When I started looking for planners I went about searching the web like crazy.  While planners are not by any means new, the whole life planning movement changed how we use planners. I have two separate planners myself.  I have one that I use to track what I need for work and the other for my daily life (including my HeartcraftPaper schedule).  Knowing what you are looking to use the planner for will allow you to know which producer would best suit your needs.  Here are some examples

• Sports Mom/Dad Planner
• Teacher Planner
• Life Planner
• Studen Planner
• Work Planner
• Fitness Planner
• Meal Planner

Do I want a spiral, disk or binder bound planner?

Right about now you probably thinking that you never knew there were so many different options.   First let's go over the different types.

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The Spiral Bound

This type of planner is fixed.  You get what you get and that's it. 

• Pros:  You will not loose any pages
• Cons: You really can't add in much unless you get special punches (typically made by that specific company).  

This type though has a variety of different suppliers.  Because of this whole life planning movement, the major planner companies are now modifying their layouts differently than how they used to.

Here are some planner companies to look out for:

• Erin Condren (comes in 18 month sections in both horz, vert & hrly layouts)  $$$
• Peyton Planners (coming out with 18 month sections and horizontal layouts, Staples, Target, Amazon, Walmart) $$
• Patchwork Planning (comes in 12 month variety and horizontal layouts, Staples, Office Depot) $
• Simplified Planners (comes in 12 month sections, daily or weekly layouts, Staples, Target, Amazon) $$$

The Disc Bound

This is one of my favorite type of planners. This allows for so many modifications.   

• Pros:  You can add anything to it using a disc punch.  You can thin it out too!
• Cons;  There is the possibility of loosing items.

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Again this type of planner has several supplies, but not as many as you would think.  The best part of this is just how customizable it can be. 

Here are some planner companies to look out for:

• The Happy Planner by MAMBI (Comes in 12 & 18 months, horz & vert Layouts) $$
• Martha Stewart (no surprise there...everything is sold separately) $$$
• TUL (mostly for note taking but can customize, sells punch, Office Depot, Amazon) $$
• Arc (mostly for note taking but can customize, sells punch, Stamples, Amazon) $$

This type is not fixed at all.  This was the first customizable planner out there. 

• Pros:  you can pretty much add in anything you want
• Cons:  space for adding in is limited

​This type of planner is useful and the classic type of planner.  You can customize it to your hearts content knowing that you are limited in as much as what the binding can hold.

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Here are some planner companies to look out for:

• Erin Condren (comes in 18 month sections in both horz, vert & hrly layouts, same size as spiral planner 7 ring binding) $$$
• ​Day Designer (comes in 12 month sections in A5 size, 6 ring binding, horz layout) $$$$
  
• ​Carpe Diem (comes in 12 month sections in A5 & persona, 6 ring binding, horz layout) $$​

Do I want a pre-printed layout or a dot layout?

You're probably asking yourself what a Dot Layout is.  Well, let me take you back to elementary school when you had rainy days and had to play indoors.  Two or three of you would gather around a sheet of paper and play the game of Dots.  You would make out a whole grid of dots to connect forming squares as you went along and the person with the most squares won. 

​VS.

Because the dot layout is a blank canvas, and if you are the artistic type that likes to hand font or draw, then this would be the type of planner you would love.  Otherwise a structured type is much easier.

What size do I want?

Click on the image below to see the size you would like. 

Do I want something plain that I can decorate any way I want or do I want it with some print that I can add a few things to?

If you are anything like me, and you like to bling out everything in your house, then your planner will be no different.  This just means that you love to decorate and add a touch of cuteness.   On the flip side maybe you like the minimalist approach to keep a clean and well organized planner.  Several planners offer some with decorated pages and other are basic and this allows for adding your own touch or keeping as is.  I think it's important to have a planner that suits your personality.  If not you may end up getting sick of it.   

Been there and done that...Moving on.

How much do I want to spend?

Out of everything I think this is the most important question of all.  What is your budget and are you going to be spending on your planner after the fact?  As much as I love having a cheap planner, I always end up spending on tons of stickers, washi tapes and stamps.  There are several budget friendly planners that you can bling out on your own if you can't afford the $50 variety.  Look for deals and sales.  Michael's and Hobby Lobby constantly have coupons that can be used to bring down the price of your planner to a budget friendly cost as well.  You can even make your own by getting downloadable planners online.  Search around since there are so many places you can get great deals!

I hope that this has helped in some way to simplify the decision making process of purchasing a planner.  It's usually daunting and then you buy one planner that you don't like and have to buy a new one.  I won't lie...it's happened to me several times...SHHHHH!

I hope that you come and visit me again soon

xoxo - HeartcraftPaper

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