Determine Your Planning Strategy

Weeklies, and dailies, and monthlies – oh my! If you read that like “lions, and tigers, and bears – oh my,” then you’re my people. Okay, let’s get to it! There are so many planner options out there!

Before buying, you’ll want to do a few things:

• Define your needs/preferences
• Do some planner research
• Understand how you visualize time
• Understand what level of detail you need

Lucky for you, this guide is broken down to walk you through brainstorming these questions.

Define your Needs & Preferences

While it’s easy to get overwhelmed, I find that defining the problem I’m trying to solve helps center and refocus me on the task at hand. So, turn off the noise, grab a pen and blank sheet of paper and make a list.

Some example questions that you’ll want to brainstorm & answer:

• What am I using this planner for?
  • is this a topic specific planner: i.e. isolated only to scheduling, wellness, memory keeping, budgeting, work, or something else?
    
  • is this planner supposed to hold all the things in one place?
    
  • do I need multiple planners?
    
• What are my non-negotiables in a planner?
  
• What do I dislike in a planner?
  
• Where am I going to use this planner?
  
  • is this an everyday carry item?
  • is this something that’s going to live on your desk?

Do Planner Research

Yes, I’m serious. Planner research will save you a ton of wasted time and money – not to mention sparing you from the extreme frustration of yet another “wrong planner” choice. To be clear, when I say do some research, I mean it – dig in! If you’re coming from the world of “I’ll just grab something at the local store”, be prepared. The planning community is a very passionate one and certain brands have almost a cultlike fandom. There are a ton of planner reviews and videos out there from amazing content creators. We all love the brands that we chose for various reasons.

A quick non-exhaustive list of things you’ll want to consider when researching:

Binding Type

• Does it lay flat when open?
• Can I add/remove sections?
  
• Do I have to purchase planner pieces separately (i.e. covers + discs or a ring cover)?

Additional equipment

• Do I need a punch?

Inherent covers

• Do I like how it comes or am I going to need a cover?

Paper type

• Is it thick and heavy?
• Will my pens bleed through?
• Do I know what kind of pen to use with the paper type?
  

Portability

• Is this too big for bag/desk?
• Where is this going to “live”?

Layouts

• What works for me and how I perceive time?
• Dated vs undated options
• Pre-printed vs printable options

Meaningful accessories

• Is there anything special that I’d want to use with this (i.e. clip in items for coil/ring/disc bound planners)?

How do you visualize time?

Take a moment, clear your head, and really think. Don’t cheat and look at your planner. Think. Now, answer the question “when I think about a block of time, I see _____.”

Now think back through all the planners that you’ve used in the past. Answer these questions:

• What worked and what didn’t?
  
• What were your most referenced pages?
  
• What pages did you naturally find yourself gravitating toward?
  
• What pages remained unused?

Think through each of these words & write down what comes to mind with regards to planning:

• Yearly
• Quarterly
• Monthly
• Weekly
• Daily
• Hourly
• Half hourly

You should have your answer by now. Tip: if you grimaced at hourly or half hourly – you’re probably not a daily planner. 😁

What level of detail is important to you?

After thinking about how you like to visualize information, take a moment and consider the level of detail you would like to capture in your plans. Do you just need the date and time of events, or do you also need to know the address, hostess, if you RSVP’d, and what gift you’ll be bringing?

You might be a monthly planner if:

• you have a set routine with not a lot of weekly/daily variation
• you need big picture info for appointments and weekend plans
• you don’t have time dependent tasks or manage those in another place

You might be a weekly planner if:

• you need a high level overview of your weekly schedule to navigate successfully
• you have variation in your schedule from day to day or week to week
• you have time dependent tasks and need a weekly list of action items

You might be a daily planner if:

• you need to know every single detail of the day ahead
• you have a lot of unique tasks that need to be written down
• you have time dependent tasks and need a daily list of action items

It’s worth noting that many of you might fall somewhere in between and that the answer may be situational. For instance, in your personal planner, you may just need to know “what’s different” from your normal schedule, (i.e. do I have a dental appointment this week). However, at work you may be planning daily and down to the half hour in your Outlook calendar. Additionally, the level of detail you require can fluctuate greatly from day to day. For example, I don’t need a great level of detail on a daily basis, but there are certain days were I need a really specific list because it’s an especially busy day. So for those days, I grab a daily page or a sticky note – but I don’t change my entire system for the “one-off” days.

Let me know in the comments below what part of this post helped you the most and what kind of planner you think you are!

Happy Planning!