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I’m trying out an experiment. I’ve changed my planner… AGAIN!
If there’s one thing you can learn from the planer community, it’s the art jof experimenting with your planner and all things planning related.
This year has been my most turbulent year yet. I’ve changed planners 8 times this year! Something I’ve never done since I started with planners almost 20 years ago.
I suppose the number of planner changes is a reflection of the year I’m having. Earlier this year, I quite my corporate job and started my own consulting practice. As I get used to the lifestyle of working for myself, I’m also trying to find a planner system that works for me.
And now I’m finally on my 9th experiment for the year.
I’ve decided to give strings a go.
I had bought a Midori TN almost 6 years ago and it was an epic fail as a planner for me at the time. It didn’t lie flat on my desk as I needed and somehow just found it very inconvenient for my needs.
Earlier this year, I bought the Erin Condren On-the-Go Portfolio Bundle. Honestly, I bought it mainly for the daily planner books and the cover just with the bundle. I kept the cover aside and didn’t give it much thought at all. The daily planner inserts didn’t work particularly well for me either because I was always a weekly planning person.
A few weeks ago, I felt like I needed a daily planner. I wanted to track my time more closely and ensure that I was more focused on the goals to grow my business and my blog. I started to feel like time was slipping away from me since I stopped working in an office. (Check out my recent post on my move to Daily Planning)
But, I didn’t want to transfer everything from my Hobonichi Techo Cousin Avec, which was what I had reverted to in my last planner change. To my delight, the book fit perfectly in the cover.
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on inserts in case I didn’t like the system so I went to my favorite Daiso and picked up some notebooks for about $2 that fit perfectly. I got an A5 plastic folder insert as well at Daiso… again for about $2.
Finally, I’m using the Erin Condren Daily Planner in Petite size. Here’s a customizable version which I will probably buy next. I’ve written about how I’m using the layout in a previous post.
Other than the EC insert, the books lay flat and it doesn’t have the additional height or width of an A5 Filofax. The elastic on the outside holds the books in to form a pretty compact system that I’m having no problem carrying around so far.
I’m in my third week as a I write this post and I’m still quite happy with the system so far.
I may however, just think about moving to the Midori TN, to make my number of planners for the year, an even 10!!
Looking through a frosty window... 