Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to choose your planner for next year.
Speaker 1: Having a good planner that meets your needs vastly increases
Speaker 1: the chances that you make planning into a regular ritual, and,
Speaker 1: as longtime listeners know, planning is the key to making
Speaker 1: a complicated life work. Today's tip comes from Sarah hart Unger,
Speaker 1: who is my co host on the Best of Both
Speaker 1: Worlds podcast and who recently launched her own podcast called
Speaker 1: Best Laid Plans. Best Laid Plans covers all things planners
Speaker 1: and planning, from reviews of products and systems to interviews
Speaker 1: with productivity pros. October is a great time to choose
Speaker 1: a planner for the upcoming year. You don't have too
Speaker 1: many commitments yet, so you can still think about time holistically,
Speaker 1: but you may be starting to have some things that
Speaker 1: go on there. If you start thinking about this now,
Speaker 1: you can choose something great for two one. Sarah says
Speaker 1: that before diving into a storefront, online or real, think
Speaker 1: about what you want your planner to do for you.
Speaker 1: Some people rely on electronic calendars for scheduling and what
Speaker 1: their planner to mostly organize daily to do lists and
Speaker 1: provide an analog place for goal setting. Other people love
Speaker 1: being able to sketch out their week's schedule on paper,
Speaker 1: so think about which best describes you. In my case,
Speaker 1: I use a paper calendar for time specific stuff, and
Speaker 1: I use a planner for listing priorities and notes. The
Speaker 1: options might seem endless, and Sarah notes that several brands
Speaker 1: allow for nearly infinite customization, so it can be easy
Speaker 1: to get bogged down, she says, but here's the truth.
Speaker 1: There is no planner piece, she says. You can choose
Speaker 1: something that feels good enough rather than hunting for something
Speaker 1: that is perfect. Because it's likely that a number of
Speaker 1: systems will work just fine. You can try it out
Speaker 1: and if you hate it, there is no law against
Speaker 1: ordering a different planner and starting in February seriously, So,
Speaker 1: as Sarah says, you just have to make sure your
Speaker 1: essentials are there. The top things to consider are the
Speaker 1: size and weight. Do you need this to fit in
Speaker 1: a bag you take to and from work or will
Speaker 1: it just sit on your home office desk all the time.
Speaker 1: You might also note the paper quality, though Some people
Speaker 1: care more or less about this note the format, is
Speaker 1: it bound or does it have the option to move
Speaker 1: pages around? Again, some care more or less about this.
Speaker 1: But if you can't move any of the pages, you
Speaker 1: might have to think a little bit harder about how
Speaker 1: you organize the whole thing. And let's be honest, we
Speaker 1: all want our planners to look nice. As Sarah says,
Speaker 1: a beautiful planner with a great layout is more likely
Speaker 1: to get used. She uses products from Hobanici that she
Speaker 1: orders from Japan. There are lots of great products from
Speaker 1: Golden coil, inkwell Press, full Focus, Planner, Amplify, and so forth.
Speaker 1: Me well, I use a notebook that I bought at Target.
Speaker 1: You probably need to know yourself here. Finally, Sarah says,
Speaker 1: don't short change yourself when it comes to writing instruments.
Speaker 1: Decent pens are in the grand scheme of things, not
Speaker 1: terribly expensive, but a good pen can make writing more fun.
Speaker 1: I always say life is too short for bad pens,
Speaker 1: and there we are in absolute agreement. So today, take
Speaker 1: a little time to look at the planner market. Think
Speaker 1: about whether you need something that's more like a calendar
Speaker 1: or more like open pages. Think about what size you need,
Speaker 1: and sure, go ahead and judge your planner by its cover,
Speaker 1: but know that whatever you choose, it will most likely
Speaker 1: be a KAY, and if not, you can change it.
Speaker 1: The key, as Sarah says frequently on her Best Blade
Speaker 1: Plans podcast, is to have something you want to look
Speaker 1: at frequently, so you start looking at your planner frequently.
Speaker 1: When you think about how you'd like to spend your time,
Speaker 1: you vastly increase the chances of spending time well. And
Speaker 1: that is something we can all get behind. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.