What kind of planner are you? | Cindy Jobs

Where did 2018 go?!

The realization hit me that 2019 is right around the corner when clients wanted to start booking into January . . . yikes! Fortunately, I’d purchased my 2019 planner and was up and running, but the realization of how quickly we will be in the new year really hit me.

If you have a favorite planner, cool. If you struggle with deciding on the right planner for you, here are some thoughts.

Decision #1: Electronic or Paper?

If you are an electronic planner type and want to research something other than the app that comes with your phone, here are the top 3 according to Tom’s Guide :

Fantastical is an iOS calendar that delivers a clean presentation of events in daily, weekly, and monthly calendar views, backed up by really easy reminder and event management. Users can create events through a traditional menu-based interface, or simply type or speak a quick audio note that the app automatically parses into an event (which users can further tweak).

Readdle’s Calendars 5 is a neat iOS app that does a deft job of displaying everything you need to know about your schedule, whether you’re on an iPhone or an iPad. It’s got all the requisite views, from monthly down to daily, and natural language support means it’s easy to enter new events in plain speech.

Google Calendar service has grown to become the backbone of a variety of calendar apps, but the mobile Google Calendar app itself is no slouch, with a clean and bright interface and a variety of views, such as traditional month and week views as well as more focused schedule views.

If you are looking to coordinate family activities, Cozi may just be your ticket. “Cozi’s color-coded calendar lets you see the whole family at once or filter by an individual. Reminders keep everyone on track so no one misses an important appointment or event.”

If you prefer putting pencil to paper, here are some considerations:

Does it need to be portable?
Does it need to fit in a small space, i.e. a handbag or suit pocket?
What level of detail do you need? Monthly? Weekly? Daily? Broken down by hour or 15-minute increments?
Would it be helpful to have a daily task list built in?

Once these determinations are made, here are some suggestions:

Cambridge Weekly/Monthly: I use this planner personally and love the functionality. It gives a great overall view of the month, allows for a clear view of the week, and breaks the day down into manageable time blocks.

Some of my clients have had great success with the Planner Pad system. This planner system incorporates “to do” lists by day into the format. It comes in spiral bound and loose leaf and comes in multiple sizes. Plus, Planner Pad offers a 6-month money-back guarantee if it doesn’t work out for you.

I’ve not personally used it, but the Panda Planner is very highly rated on Amazon (4 stars with over 4,000 reviews!). This planner incorporates not only calendar features, but a purportedly “Panda Planner used proven principles of positive psychology and neuroscience. This appears to be a hybrid of a calendar and goals journal. Note: This is a generic planner, 2019 dates have not been filled in.

Life is busy, so no matter what planning format you are most comfortable with, it’s important to have some device to capture our ever-increasing commitments.

Cindy Jobs, COC, ACC

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