Writer Sanctum
Writer's Haven => Quill and Feather Pub [Public] => Topic started by: RiverRun on July 07, 2019, 09:58:43 PM
-
I am the kind of person with lots of blank, unused paper planners hanging around that I've never used. I consider myself pretty disorganized and unproductive, and have mostly resigned myself to my fate. But I can't quite resist the temptation of looking at planners. I came across this undated Productivity planner this weekend. Seems to be targeted at small business/creative type enterprises. Anyone use this or something like it?
https://www.amazon.com/Productivity-Planner-Daily-Dated-Accomplish/dp/0991846222?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_15277329011
or this?
https://www.amazon.com/Journal-BestSelf-Powerfully-Gratitude-Organizer/dp/B01C33U15A?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_15048559011
-
:goodpost: :clap: :tup3b :Tup2:
There was a time when I was obsessed with these types of planners, however, nowadays, Google Calender really works all the magic for productivity and planning. :banana: :dance:
-
I'm a planning nerd and have a bunch of organisers for different things. For my main one, which helps me plan out my writing goals and uni etc, I've been using the HB90 printable planner designed by the author Sara Cannon. So far I love it, I print them out in A5 and keep them in a ring binder filofax. It's the only planner I've found so far that is a good fit for me, and every quarter I can reprint. I find a lot of the ones from stores get wasted because they're just too generic for me. I can't speak to the ones you linked.
If interested you can find her YouTube channel, Heart Breathings, here:
She goes into how she uses it and has links to buy from her Etsy store.
Grin
-
I use the Passion Planner: www passionplanner.com
They have free downloadable PDFs of their pages and planners so you can try it out to see if it works for you before buying. Or if you don't mind printing and punching, you can do the whole year and put in a Filofax or one of the discbound covers.
They also have a lot of sales so you can always print and wait for one.
-
I opened Google Calendar once ... and immediately closed it. Too overwhelming for me. I think a lot of organizational products are for people who are already organized, and need a good tool to use. I get these things in my hands but don't use them - or can't use them. I think I just don't know how to use them. Ah well.
Passionplanner looks like more than I need, or would ever use. I'm glad it works for people. HB90 looks cool, but I actually need something more general right now. Although if I ever reach a point where I'm devoting a significant amount of time to writing, I can see how this might be useful.
Being on Etsy led me to some pretty cost effective forms that are similar to the planners I was looking at - so I might try that first. For now, I actually sat down with a notebook and binder and hand wrote some things based on the forms I was looking at. Perhaps that way I'l actually remember what's in there!
-
There are so many options for planners these days. Etsy has a whole bunch of forms and things you can download and print yourself or use digitally, many of them are even designed for writers/authors. You may also find some designers offering freebies on their sites for you to sample. Also Pinterest is a good source for freebies.
I use a combination of Google Calendar for small reminders and writing things by hand in my MAMBI Happy Planner. I keep track of family stuff too like vacations, appointments, chores, etc. This has been my system for two years now and works for me.
-
For now, I actually sat down with a notebook and binder and hand wrote some things based on the forms I was looking at. Perhaps that way I'l actually remember what's in there!
I used to bullet journal and hand design my planner, it can be a lot of fun if you're into that sort of thing. But if you're interested you can find heaps of free planner printables here:
https://www.printableplanners.net/
-
I started using this a couple of years ago because it suits the way I manage my time. I tend to think in weekly blocks: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1983682934/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also use a very large desk calendar as the family calendar. My kids know that if it's not on the calendar it does not exist for me. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079GMFV7Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
-
BULLET JOURNAL.
I've been doing it since December and I love it.
I have 100% given up on fancy spreads. These days, I simply write the date and then list in point form anything that pops into my head (using different bullets to signify tasks, notes, events, etc). I keep my journal with me during the day and write things down as they occur to me, as well as checking off any tasks I complete.
The next day, I write the new date wherever on the page I left off and do the same thing.
At the end of the week, I analyze any "open" tasks that didn't get done during the week. If they're important and urgent, I rewrite them for the first day of the next week. If they're important but far in the future (e.g. cancel a subscription in a few months) I put them into my Google calendar. If they're not that important/the value isn't worth the effort, I cross them out and they're gone forever.
IT IS AMAZING.
Totally removes that mental clutter of "omg I have a million things to do piled up since 2004" because I'm writing each and every one of those things down and evaluating every week whether I really need to do them. This system has trained me to recognize low-priority items and given me the confidence to let them go.
Time-specific events or appointments go into my Google calendar, and I open this every morning as I set up my journal to write down anywhere I need to be for that day. But to-do lists, brain dumpings, thoughts on that movie I just saw before all my friends? Directly into the bullet jorunal, and that's where they stay.
Oh, I also have ONE special spread that is a hybrid habit tracker/mood tracker/gratitude log for the month. An easy way to see how my routine affects my mood = life-changing.
I LOVE MY BULLET JOURNAL. CAN YOU TELL.
*checks off "post in Writer Sanctum" networking task in her journal* :roll:
-
Ooooo, a discussion on planners. Let me pull up a chair.
I have tried a variety of methods and planners over the years, both for the day job and for writing.
For writing, the main problem I have with most of the printed ones is that I like to sketch out my year on the year-to-view pages, then inevitably discover I've been way too ambitious in my goals and have to start over ... So it ends up as a total mess with lots of scoring out, because there are never enough of those pages! (And I've tried erasable pens, but very few planners have paper thick enough for the multiple changes.)
Online doesn't work for me - I need something tactile for writing planning. Preferably also hardback, and minimum of A5, that I can fold flat.
At the moment, for writing, I'm using a plain week-to-view A5 diary and just resigned to being really messy for the year as I have to keep crossing out and resetting my goals / timeframes.
For work, I'm happier with online and I've also recently gone back to my cheap and cheerful version of "getting things done" which basically involves writing down absolutely everything that needs to get done, then prioritising it with different coloured highlighters, then crossing it off the list when it's done.
-
BULLET JOURNAL.
I've been doing it since December and I love it.
I have 100% given up on fancy spreads. These days, I simply write the date and then list in point form anything that pops into my head (using different bullets to signify tasks, notes, events, etc). I keep my journal with me during the day and write things down as they occur to me, as well as checking off any tasks I complete.
The next day, I write the new date wherever on the page I left off and do the same thing.
ME TOO, ME TOO.
I started a no-frills, no-nonsense bullet journal in November last year. I used the techniques from https://www.bulletjournal.com (https://www.bulletjournal.com) and it works REALLY WELL for me using a Moo hardback notebook (I use the colored sheets in the middle for my index and future log).
I applaud everyone who makes their bullet journals pretty and artistic, but people should know it can be very plain and workmanlike and still do the trick.
LOVE IT.
-
Thanks everyone for sharing what works for you.
I had looked at the Bullet Journal website but was kind of overwhelmed by the idea of learning a new system. But after two recommendations I looked at it again and I think it might work for me.
I also think it's interesting that some of you combine a planner with occasional Google calendar things. I never thought about using both. That's an idea.
-
I tend to use both as well (paper and electronic). For the paper side check out http://www.diyplanner.com/ there are tons of great templates and really good calendar generator software for creating dated calendars for any size planner. While most of the templates are not writing-centered, there are a few. Not to mention any of the generic ones work fine as well. Printing your own can save a lot of money depending on your use. Back when I used to purchase all the pre-printed refills, they added up fast.
-
Although I like the idea of the bullet journal, I find I really have to use a scruffy notebook because I don't want my notes/tentative plans to be set in stone and I think I might be afraid to cross things out and otherwise rearrange them if I'd spent any time arranging them in the first place! I have an annual writing plan which I write down just after Christmas, and I start a new monthly plan each month in the notebook, and then for fixed events and appointments in 'real life' I just use an A5 diary (and the Outlook calendar at my day job).
-
Like writing itself, you need to use the method that works best for you. :) I like electronic better for daily since it shifts around so much. But for longer deadlines or seeing "the big picture", paper works better for me.
I agree the one downside with paper it can get messy fast if you have to redo anything (which in life one usually does). I couldn't use a "journal" type system where the pages were fixed. I move things around too much, or end up redoing pages for whatever reason. I am a bit old school and I like 3 ring binders, but many like disc based systems.
-
Planning? What's that? :n2Str17:
-
I made up my own half size planner sheets (and a sprint one, which I barely use at the moment) because most planners have too much stuff I don't need, and not enough of what I do. I like the week in advance, so that's what I came up with, making my own sections and fiddling until I got them right. Or right, for now.
I tried bullet journalling, but I can't write that much, and drawing my own pictures and stuff is hard because of my hands. My solution was to use small stamps. I can color in things with pens and markers, use washi tape (which I recently dropped behind the printer, so I can't do any of that until I dig them out). I might start using small stickers, too, not sure if I want to add something else.
I find it's quite enjoyable to start each week's spread, filling it in and decorating it. It's helpful to do some things by hand, rather than on the computer. I don't keep up with entering data on the computer.
-
Here's a pic of one week where I had drawn stuff and used washi tape. I had a good writing week, too!
(https://photos.app.goo.gl/9u9xkz7s4yeQPPZEA)
-
Not sure why the image doesn't show. I think you can click on it, though (it worked for me).
-
This is a fascinating thread because I am also planner challenged. The sheer number of abandoned planners and notebooks in my house is alarming.
The problem is that I spent the entirety of my adult life in the military, where my planning was organized by their organization. At the executive level, I had assistants to organize my calendar and print each day for me to leave on my desk. (That's not indulgent, but necessary when your days are 18 hours long at a minimum).
Once I retired to write full time, my ability to plan took a serious nosedive. What the heck? I can keep it in my head...generally...but that isn't actually conducive to productivity or my enormously long, and growing, to-do list.
I do have a planner, 5x8, spiral, with months, then the days in the next pages timed out, plus notes pages, which I use for lists. It just doesn't work for writing well though.
So...I recently changed everything. I put all my completed books in their own binders with all their backups on chip, plus data sheets on their status...etc. New binders for all WIP and upcoming projects, with sections for blurb, ad plans, the drafts, the data log...etc. It works like magical magic.
I have a single binder with my Writing Work, which has my task lists for each book, series, etc. It also has worked to make me forget fewer things and be more organized at getting things done in the right order at the right time.
I think I found myself trying so hard to have ONE single place where all my info was that I was making a mess of it. The truth for me was that I have a life, a house, and a writing career, so I needed to separate those things.
Bullet journals are very cool, but not enough for me. I naturally do something like that with my task lists anyway, so a hybrid works for me.
I love to see how others manage, because yeah, there's always a better way. :)
-
Planning? What's that? :n2Str17:
This!
-
This is a fascinating thread because I am also planner challenged. The sheer number of abandoned planners and notebooks in my house is alarming.
The problem is that I spent the entirety of my adult life in the military, where my planning was organized by their organization. At the executive level, I had assistants to organize my calendar and print each day for me to leave on my desk. (That's not indulgent, but necessary when your days are 18 hours long at a minimum).
Once I retired to write full time, my ability to plan took a serious nosedive. What the heck? I can keep it in my head...generally...but that isn't actually conducive to productivity or my enormously long, and growing, to-do list.
I do have a planner, 5x8, spiral, with months, then the days in the next pages timed out, plus notes pages, which I use for lists. It just doesn't work for writing well though.
So...I recently changed everything. I put all my completed books in their own binders with all their backups on chip, plus data sheets on their status...etc. New binders for all WIP and upcoming projects, with sections for blurb, ad plans, the drafts, the data log...etc. It works like magical magic.
I have a single binder with my Writing Work, which has my task lists for each book, series, etc. It also has worked to make me forget fewer things and be more organized at getting things done in the right order at the right time.
I think I found myself trying so hard to have ONE single place where all my info was that I was making a mess of it. The truth for me was that I have a life, a house, and a writing career, so I needed to separate those things.
Bullet journals are very cool, but not enough for me. I naturally do something like that with my task lists anyway, so a hybrid works for me.
I love to see how others manage, because yeah, there's always a better way. :)
Actually, when/if you have time, would you be able to share more info? Maybe pictures? Because your system sounds like it would be very helpful to a LOT of people.