For us in the planner community, this is an exciting time, yet it is overwhelming too. I’ve planned since high school. For the majority of my life this occurred in a Franklin Covey compact, then the years of the Palm Pilot I went digital. Now after my Palm Pilot crashed and I had to call to retrieve all my appointments, I haven’t been solely digital since. Now I realize today we have the cloud and things happen magically. However, I share the calendars with my husband and he has a way of deleting things that don’t pertain to him. My paper planners, just me. Besides, the act of writing down what I need to do and reading what I need to do helps me get things done (even if I don’t physically mark them off).
About five years ago I moved from a ring planner to an Erin Condren. The Life Planner is an amazing planner and I loved it, but it just wasn’t me. It was too big, I couldn’t really add to it, and I didn’t like the layout. That is when my time feeling lost in planning began. Since then, I’ve wanted a permanent home, like I had with my Franklin Covey (darn you “shiny object syndrome”). What I learned using the Erin Condren, I hate rings! At least I hate writing in rings. When it comes to reference and viewing, rings are my preferred way of doing things. So, the elusive journey for “planner peace” continues.
Here is what I learned, and I’ve heard Carie Harling and MissVickybee state the same information. I have a system that works. I can do it on a napkin, in a binder, in a notebook, in a bound book. What really matters is I write everything down and read everything. While this is common sense, this is a line from Anne Ortlund’s book “The Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman” that really stuck with me. When I forget to do things, or I just don’t do them, it is because I didn’t write it down, and/or I didn’t read it.
My journey has come to three paths. Last year I had a different “planner” every 3-4 weeks. What I learned to hate is duplication! Duplication is my nemesis. So, listening to the advice of the brilliant ladies (and gents) in the planner community, have ONE calendar. Okay, that is common sense too! Why am I making this so hard! So I decided that my personal size ring binder would be “Home Base”. This would house my monthly calendar, references for goals and planning, and has the ability to change as my needs change. By selecting “Home Base”, I can change planners weekly if I want. I can use a #2 FoxyFix this week, my Hobonichi next week, and be back in rings the following. This can be done with little duplication.
Van der Spek standard with Sew Much Crafting inserts
So, using the one calendar concept, whether I chose to use a monthly book, my Hobo, or rings, I only copy and duplicate the month. That is way less overwhelming than trying to copy days and weeks (unfortunately I have an issue with incompleteness). Also, I am less likely to let something drop through the cracks because I know where my official calendar is located. It is with me most days, though it may not go into stores and other facilities with me.
Hobonichi Planner
This method is working. It also allows me to change as my tastes change without the guilt of not using (or under using) planners. If you haven’t seen the VeganOrganizer’s video about this, I do recommend it. Future posts I will share my struggle between my Hobonichi and rings (and why the notebooks have been out of the running). I will also share what and how I duplicate, and why. I will also do a post on how I am using the Jibun Techo mini. Then I think I will do a post on paper vs. digital planning for me. While I think planning is a highly personal decision, I think it helps to read and hear the thoughts of others, so you can recognize your own thoughts.
Download of insert I created: bujo-personal-graph
My organized life 
