Mid-Year Planners

Here we are smack in the middle of 2010. How's it going for you?

Right now you are either in the middle of your 2010 calendar-year planner, or getting ready to start your new 2010/2011 academic year planner.

I always get very excited each year when the academic year planners come out, because it's a chance to start a new planner mid-year. (And you know I love to start a new planner!)

You don't have to be a student or teacher to use a mid-year or an academic-year planner. Parents with kids in school may find they can plan easier when their planner follows the school year schedule. Some people find, for work or personal reasons, they prefer their planner to start mid-year.

Or, you may need a new planner now for other reasons, especially if you've experienced any of these: getting married, moving, changing jobs or taking on new responsibilities. Any major life change can change your planner needs significantly, causing you to need a new planner.

And, there's always the case of Planner Fail, which will leave you searching for an alternative.

Well guess what, we're all in luck! There's a ton of excellent planners starting right now. Here are just a few:

If you're tired of your boring, restrictive planner and want something colorful and fun, look no further! The Dodo Acad-Pad will keep you engaged all year with its humor and art.
Dodo Acad-Pad Desk Diary 2010/11 2010/11: Academic Mid Year Diary - a Combined Memo-doodle-planner-message-ment-organizer Book (Dodo Pad)

The Acad-Pad comes in a variety of sizes and formats including the original desk planner, wall calendar, portable mini size and new personal size Filofax insert.

See my Acad-Pad review here.

Dodo Acad-Pad Filofax-compatible Diary 2010/11 2010/11: Academic Mid Year Diary - a Combined Memo-doodle-planner-message-ment-organizer Insert (Dodo Pad)

I recently discovered that Plan-It Fashion Planners, which I adore and raved about in my review, now come in academic year formats! I absolutely love the new Paisley Bird covers, beautiful!

2010-2011 Daily Fashion Plan-It Day Planner Organizer Agenda - August to August- Paisley Bird

And the new natural-toned covers are gorgeous too:

2010 Daily Fashion Plan-It Day Planner Organizer Agenda - Bird Stripe

These are fantastic planners with excellent features, at a great price.

If you want a planner that is minimalist and flexible to fit many different needs, check out the Moleskine 18 month planners. These come in the very popular Weekly Notebook format (click here for my review)
in pocket, large or extra large sizes:

 

Moleskine 2011 18 Month Weekly Notebook: Black Hard Cover Large (Moleskine Legendary Notebooks (Calendars))

And the horizontal weekly format in pocket or large sizes:

Moleskine 2011 18 Month Weekly Planner Horizontal: Red Hard Cover Large (Moleskine Srl)

Quo Vadis has a great selection of academic-year planners in a variety of formats, sizes and cover styles. There are too many for me to list here, so I'll mention just a few.

Their best-selling Textagenda is a day-per-page academic-year planner that is the perfect size to fit into your backpack or bag. It has an enormous selection of covers to choose from, so you're sure to find one that fits your personality.

They have an extensive range of weekly formats and sizes, including (to name just a few) the open-format Scholar, the structured Septanote (which I reviewed here and here), and new this year, the Rhodia planners in academic-year format.

If you prefer to see your entire month in one view, check out the desk size Monthly 4 planner. This is an 18 month planner that starts in July. Its large page size gives you plenty of room to write all your plans, but the super-slim book is portable enough to go in your bag with you everywhere. See my Monthly 4 review here.

See Quo Vadis's entire range of academic-year planners here.

So there are just a few of the academic-year planners available now.


Of course another option is to use an undated calendar, which you can start any time at all: mid-year, calendar year, on your birthday*, whenever. And, you can use it only during the times you need it so there are no wasted blank pages.

(*I think it would be interesting to start a new planner on my birthday and use it for that 12 month period. Has anybody ever done this?)

My favorite undated planners are:

For an undated day-per-page planner I love Parker Planners, which you can read my review of here. Parker Planners are pocket-sized and hold four months of daily pages. They have an excellent layout which will organize your appointments, notes, to-dos and ideas on a daily basis.

For an undated weekly planner, you can't beat Uncalendar, which comes spiral bound or loose leaf in a 3 ring binder, in two different sizes: Full Size with 8 1/2 by 11 inch pages, or the more portable Half Size. Uncalendar's time management tips and goal-setting pages are very motivating and helpful.  You can read my review of Uncalendar planners here.

Do you prefer to use an academic-year or calendar-year planner? Which day of the year do you like to start your planner?