Boring planners

I can't believe it's already the end of July. This whole month has flown by. To help me not only realize the passage of time, but perhaps prepare for it, I've been looking for a great planner. I've used planners before, don't get me wrong. I've bought even more that have gone unused and, unless I dig them out the next time the months align the very same way, they are now useless. I make extensive use of Google Calendar- I often joke that will be totally ready for the singularity because my brain has already basically been uploaded to my phone.

From Sunrise GIFs

I've noticed lately that my appointments have fallen off of Google calendar, and I've also become inured to the beeping reminders I set for myself. Did you know you can just press "Stop" and it goes away forever? I've decided that I need to go old-school. The written word. Pen to paper. To be more specific: a big old agenda planner. 

I've used planners before and generally write stuff down for a week and then forget all about them. But, when I was in college, I used my planner religiously- writing own every detail of my day, all my to-do lists, and important notes. I also got a lot done. I finished projects, had a job, and earned 3 degrees in 5 years. So, maybe I was onto something with the agenda planner.

Now that I decided to use a paper planner, the questions was: what kind? I've had adorable, purse sized planners and large, vision-board-ing planners that have both fallen to the wayside. This time, I knew what I needed:

1. Large format. I used to use smaller planners, and had an adorable, only mildly OCD, habit of methodically folding down each sheet as I completed that part of the week, until I had a little open triangle where all the precisely dog-eared pages folded away from the center. I tried using smaller planners recently and I realized that they're just not as comfortable for me to write in anymore.
2. Time Blocks. Ideally, I wanted 15 minute blocks, but half hours would do. I ended up with a half-hour blocked planner because it also had  . . .
3. Organizational features. My new planner has a bungee cord to keep it closed in my bag and a plastic page with two pockets so I can keep important documents close at hand. 
4. Monthly and weekly layout. I like to have an overview of the month before I get into weeks. Tabbed monthly calendars are even more helpful. 
5. A full day block for Sunday. I work Sunday-Thursday, but most planners have Sat/Sun half  block. Forget that. I need a full block to plan for it just like any weekday. 

I didn't want any bloat- no "dream planners," goal-setting sheets, probing questions, or address pages. I settled on this beauty:

It's the At-A-Glance Plan. Write. Remember. academic year planner. I really like how I can plan out my day by the half hour rather just list stuff out and constantly underestimate how much time I need to complete everything. It also has a spot for notes at the bottom of each day and along one side so I can have general to-dos and other notes right there. The only thing it doesn't have that would be nice is a placeholder/bookmark. It has tabbed calendars, so I can flip to right month, but a little clip-in book mark would just be *chef’s kiss* fantastic. 

I only just got this a couple days ago, so I'll update you when I've used it longer. I'm very hopeful that this will be a big help.