2016 Plannerisms planners first look!

Here is the first look at the 2016 Plannerisms planners!

These are the first-run samples. The final products are now shipping! Click here for ordering information. Only 100 were printed, and when they are gone they are gone! So if you want one, act fast!



The 2016 Plannerisms planners are published by X17, a German company that makes planner and notes booklets that fit into gorgeous covers. Their products are top quality, and I am extremely happy to be working with them on the new Plannerisms planners!

The 2016 Plannerisms planners will be available to ship worldwide. All stock will be available to ship from Germany to locations worldwide. I don't have the shipping price info yet but I will let you know when I do.

Just like in years past the 2016 Plannerisms planners will have month on two page grid calendars with notes pages between each month; weekly pages with space to write lists and goals; pages to write Annual, Quarterly and Monthly goals, and more. The weekly pages have holidays printed for the US and European countries, and moon phases

The 2016 Plannerisms planners are in three booklets that fit into a cover, held by elastics. The Plannerisms set will also come with a notes booklet with dotted, numbered pages. This allows you the flexibility to add notes, sketches, contacts or anything you need, and when that booklet fills up you can replace it. Each cover holds four booklets, allowing you to keep your entire year of monthly and weekly pages plus notes together in your book. Here is a video that shows how the booklets go in the cover.
 

The benefit of using booklets in a cover is you have the flexibility of being able to change out notes pages, insert your new planner pages in the new year, and remove used pages similar to a ring binder but without the weight and bulk of the metal rings. Here is my Plannerisms planner with my A5 Finsbury leather Filofax. You can see how much smaller the Plannerisms planner is, but with equivalent writing space on the pages.

The other advantage is there are no rings to get in the way of your writing, so you can easily write to the middle of the page.

The cover is amazing:  the spine is square-ish, and the edges of the booklets do not hang out of the side. It is very neat and tidy.
 

And it lies flat! No self-closing that happens with many other leather covers.



More on the covers in a minute! First, let me tell you all about the Plannerisms planners themselves. 

The three Plannerisms booklets consist of 1) month on two pages calendars with notes pages between, Annual and Quarterly Goals 2) Weekly pages January-June, and 3) Weekly pages July-December.

The booklets measure 142 by 210 mm, so the overall size of the book is A5. The paper is Munken Lynx, which is a natural white, 80 gsm. It's all of the highest quality. I absolutely love the clean, elegant design.

The Plannerisms planner is designed for maximum flexibility of use. It's not prescribed, so you don't have to use it in a particular way. Use it however works best for you. The formats can be used in multiple ways, so it's great for anyone no matter what you do. It's designed to help you incorporate goal tasks into daily actions by breaking down your big annual goals into quarterly and monthly goals, then to weekly and daily tasks.

Here is a tour through the planner! Click on photos for a larger view.

I'll start with the first booklet, which has months and goals pages. The first page has space to write personal information:

Next there are overview calendars for the current year and the future year:

Next there is an overview calendar for the whole year at a glance. This is a great place to note big events like major deadlines, holidays, and travel. It's also great for tracking things like weight, blood pressure, miles run, etc.

Next there is a two-page spread to write your goals for the year. I'll have more posts soon on ways to use the Goals pages in the planner.

Next there are pages to write your Quarterly Goals to help you focus on actions you can accomplish in three-month periods.

Next come the monthly pages. The clean, open design gives you maximum writing space. The shaded column at the left can be used for anything you need: weekly focus, budget totals, reminders of big events, etc.

The weeks begin with Mondays. Monday starts keep the weekends together, and correspond exactly to the weeks in the weekly sections. I know many people in the US are used to their monthly calendars having Sunday-start weeks. If you really want your calendar's weeks to start with Sunday, it's easy to turn that shaded column into your Sundays and use the Sunday column for your notes.

Between every month there is a two-page spread for notes. In previous years of the Plannerisms planner, there was debate among customers as to whether they wanted the notes pages before or after the corresponding month. In this version, we let you decide how to use them. There are notes pages before January, between each month, and after December. They are not designated to a particular month, so you can use the pages before or after to correspond with your month.
 

The notes pages between the months are where you break down annual and quarterly goals into your monthly goals and targets. This also gives you space to track your goals (more on that in future posts). You can write notes, outline your budget, do mind maps or master lists, or anything you want on these pages.

The last two-page spread in the booklet is a year overview of the future year. This gives you a place to record upcoming events and appointments into the new year.

The last page is for Contacts. This is a handy spot for frequently used numbers or other information.

The next booklet has the weeks January-June. The first page is a reference calendar for the current year.

The weekly pages are designed to give you maximum writing space for your schedule, tasks, lists and notes. The daily columns are delineated by gaps between the lines. (Note, we have already had a request for lines between the day columns, would you prefer this or do you like no vertical lines? Please vote in the poll at the top of the sidebar!) This gives you the freedom to write scheduled events, lists and notes, and carry things over to multiple days (for example if a conference or trip covers multiple days, you can write it straight across those days). If you need more lines for your days, you can write down into the lists area below.

The shaded area at the left is where you write your daily intentions, so you don't have to re-write them every day. (Note, we have already had lots of requests for this shaded area to be lighter so we will definitely do that.) I like to write daily goals there and then just check them off or fill them in as I go.You can use this area any way you wish. You can write a quote for the week, write your weekly review, gratitude, week's focus, or more list space. 

Below the daily columns are lines for writing your task lists or notes. This is where I write my categorized lists.

Update: there will be lines between the daily columns, like this:

Below is an example of how I use the weekly pages. Again this is just how I use them, you can use them any way you like.

I put the week's goals and things to do daily (or nearly daily) in the shaded column at the left. In the day columns I draw a box around appointments/ scheduled events, and use a dot or asterisk to indicate tasks to be done on a specific day. I use a sticky note for garbage/ recycling days since those alternate each week. I also make a note above an event if I need to bring something.

In the space below the days I write my categorized task lists for work and personal. I use a box for tasks where an empty box means I haven't started the task; a partly-filled box means it's in progress; and a filled box means it's complete. I don't write all the steps because I can remember what still needs to be done (for example if I need to load photos for the blog post, etc.).

The space below the days is so open and free, you can use it as one big space if you like, or divide it as I do. I'll have another post soon with more tips and ideas on ways to use the weekly pages.

Holidays for US and European countries are indicated on the days with the country symbol, with the details of the holiday above. This means you don't have to write your holidays in yourself, while still leaving maximum writing space. Moon phases are also indicated.


At the end of the January-June booklet there is space to write your half-year review. This is where you go back and evaluate your progress toward your annual goals. You can note any roadblocks, and think of ways to work through them to maximize your productivity for the rest of the year.

The end of the July-December booklet has pages for your annual review. This is where you evaluate your annual goals, celebrate what you accomplished, discard what became irrelevant, and decide what to focus on in the coming year.

The very last page in each of the weekly booklets is a notes page. Here you can carry over your reviews, draw a mind map, write summaries, or anything else you like.

Update: since the planners will ship directly from the company in Germany, you will be able to choose any of their covers including leather, recycled, and man-made materials. You will also be able to choose from any of their accessories, additional notes booklets, etc. More on that below:

This is the brown vegetable dyed Belgian leather cover, I love it. It has a great rugged look, feels wonderful, and has that great leather smell. It's held shut with an elastic, and I added a stick-on pen loop. I also added a red ribbon placemarker that easily loops through the cover's elastics. It creates a double bookmark so you can mark your current month and week. There are loads of ribbon colors to choose from, click here to see them and click on all three images to see all the color families. There are other accessories available like pockets, pen loops (in lots of colors), replacement elastics etc.

 

Here are the websites that show the Belgian vegetable dyed leathers, and the Italian leathers in various colors.

There are also recycled leather covers that are a more affordable option. The black recycled leather one looks professional and classy in any circumstances.  The uncoated Graphite and Natural ones are very nice too. Here are some photos of those three:

Below is an image showing all the leather cover options. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

There are some non-leather, inexpensive options too: polypropylene in lots of color choices, or a moleskine-like black cover.

Below is a look at the entire Plannerisms package!

Let me take a moment to thank everyone for all of your support throughout the years in making my planner dream come true. I appreciate everyone who has ever bought a Plannerisms planner and sent me supportive words throughout this whole process.

And enormous thanks to Matthias at X17 who reached out to me to publish the Plannerisms planners this year! Thank you Matthias for making this happen!

Click here for ordering information.