I think we've all made planner compromises at some point. Maybe the format wasn't quite what you wanted, but you couldn't find the perfect one for you. Most of us who have ever used a Filofax or other ring binder have had to compromise with the big book/ small page situation. Maybe the planner with your perfect weekly format doesn't have the monthly pages you need so you tape them in or create a monthly booklet. Or maybe you got fed up and ended up drawing your own version in a notebook or creating printables.
I've done all of the above. My entire planner journey has been a series of compromises. So many planners are close to what I want, but there's something they're lacking: wrong size, not enough space for lists. Many have certain components I want, but are lacking other features I need.
What planner compromises have you made?
I use DayTimer 2PPD. It is not ideal; the timed section does not encompass my full day, the line ruling is quite tight, I'm not crazy about the green ink and the paper makes fountain pen use a total and complete impossibility. But, the timed and task sections are full-page width which I really like, and there is just no other daily page on the market that works as well for me.
ReplyDeleteWhat about printing your own or having someone print them for you on better paper?
DeleteJust a thought......
Mark
Fountain Pen & Filofax User
I think you need to take a look at the Midori Travellers Notebook (or similar) as a planner.... It might offer you the flexibility close to a Filofax, but possibly in a more agreeable size format. A lot of people going in that direction now... I'm not convinced I could go to it for planning, but as a notebook or a journal it offers a lot of variety.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion Steve. I actually have a Midori Travellers Notebook but I don't use it because it does not stay open flat. Actually it doesn't stay open at all. I've heard this is typical for this type. I have to have my planner and notebook open flat on my table, so this is a dealbreaker for me.
DeleteWhat I want is a basically impossible - what I've tried is legion. So I've made some major compromises and come up with something that hobbles along. The main thing is to know what must be done all through the year. Reading The Accidental Diarist helped me refocus on working with pages at hand in unconventional ways that would meet my individual needs.
ReplyDeleteI love a 24 hour schedule in vertical with half hour marks, but that so far as I can find is only available from two businesses, but I don't like the rest of their layout for what I want. So I settle for the "business hours" layout and squish stuff in the margins. Messy, but I get what I need. I also dislike the paper they are using in planners nowadays, quality is way down to keep planners affordable I guess, but I hate sticking stuff everywhere to keep it together when its falling apart. The key is definitely to find what is closest to your needs and what makes you stop worrying/missing appts. & todo's/deadlines. Then use it.
ReplyDeleteLast year, I switched from FC Classic to FF Personal. Whoa! One was too big, the other too small. Gave the Fc compact a try. Ok, good size for me but I already had a lot of notes and lists in Personal size and was/am too lazy to rewrite. Accidentally found my system. Lists and notes, on Personal, are tucked between my FC Compact W2P, which are then tucked behind the M2P. Very happy "accident."
ReplyDeleteApologies if this posts twice.
+1 for FC Compact size pages....a great compromise for those of us that downsize from A5 and miss the feeling of having enough width on a page to write if using Personal size pages....
DeleteI "want to want" a planner. I love "the idea" of a page-per-day planner and was actually pleased with the Franklin pages I bought. But they sat unused. In part, this is because my work is more project-oriented than task- or time-oriented. I found that a blank Moleskine provided the best flexibility for me, but then I was missing the structured pages that I used to log my disciplines. I even tried printing my own pages, but found I couldn't get a paper I liked well enough--I just didn't want to use it. So I compromised by hand-drawing (with a ruler) in the blank Moleskine the logs that I wanted, starting in the back of the journal. This gives me both the structure and the flexibility I want. I know this is working for me because... I use it, and I use it regularly.
ReplyDeleteI carry a bigger planner (FC Compact) than I actually want, but I cannot deal with less space.
ReplyDeleteSize - I want the space of the classic but the compactness of the personal Filofax. So I have a FC compact.
ReplyDeleteI also want a page that will work for any type of day I might have - but that doesn't seem to be possible. So I use something that has flexibility within structure.
I want a bound planner - the slimness and finality of it are so appealing. But no one makes a layout I can use.
ReplyDeleteSo my current compromise is an A5 Boston (the slimmest A5 I can find), with my own pages.